The authors of “The Future Is Peace: A Shared Journey Across the Holy Land” will host a gathering and discussion described as an intimate evening of hope on Saturday from 6 to 7:30 at the Islamic Center of the Hamptons, at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the South Fork in Bridgehampton.
Aziz Abu Sarah, a Palestinian, and Maoz Inon, an Israeli, are co-authors of “The Future Is Peace,” which The New York Times called an “immensely poignant account of a shared journey across Israel and the West Bank” that “remains true to the horror while refusing to be defeated by it. It is raw with pain and rage and yet bravely insistent on the imperative of hope.”
The evening is organized by Asma Rashid, D.O., a physician with Hamptons Boutique Medicine in Bridgehampton, and Jim Vrettos, a sociologist and criminologist and the host of “The Radical Imagination” on LTV. In October 2025 they moderated a discussion featuring local clergy that aimed to heal the growing divide between the political left and right and the religious faiths that throughout history have often been at odds.
Mr. Sarah and Mr. Inon are co-chief executive officers of InterAct International, a nonprofit organization dedicated to Middle East peace. Both have lost family members to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Mr. Sarah’s brother was arrested during the First Intifada in 1990, beaten in custody, and died of his injuries weeks after his release. Mr. Inon’s parents were killed in the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
The activists are also affiliated with Combatants for Peace, “a grassroots movement of Israelis and Palestinians working together to end the occupation and bring peace, freedom, and safety for all people between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea,” according to the organization’s website. Their book is described as an exploration of “how compassion and unity can pull humanity back from the precipice of blind hatred.”
“They’re so moving,” Mr. Vrettos said of the authors. He spoke last week of “this never-ending cycle of violence . . . the profound sadness, anger, frustration,” and the importance of “working out another way. There’s got to be some reconciliation, some peace. We can’t keep going on and on like this.”
Dr. Rashid and her husband, who is a trauma surgeon, recently returned from a medical mission in Ethiopia, where widespread armed insurgencies and violent ethnic clashes continue despite the cessation of a civil war between the government and the Tigray region. Their efforts, which included more than 100 surgeries, “felt like a drop in the sea,” Dr. Rashid said, “but was very satisfying.” Despite fear, she said, “we need to face it and make a move, even a small move of attending a lecture. We just can’t stand still.”
A V.I.P. “peace gathering” with the authors at a Water Mill residence will precede the discussion from 4 to 5:30 p.m. The donation to attend that gathering is $500 per person, and the donation to attend the author talk and a question-and-answer session at the Islamic Center is $70. All who attend will receive a signed copy of “The Future Is Peace.” Space is limited, and R.S.V.P.s can be made by emailing [email protected].
