Choose a year, or use the arrows, to walk through 25 years of Encounter.
1 of 25 2001
Ten months into the Second Intifada, as the Oslo process collapsed, Dr. Yehuda Stolov and his partners founded IEA – as an interfaith partnership from day one, not one faith inviting the others.
2 of 25 2001
IEA's board convened for the second time on the afternoon of September 11, 2001 – at the very hour the Twin Towers were attacked in New York. A coincidence, Yehuda says, that may carry symbolic meaning.
3 of 25 2001
About fifty people came to IEA's first event, in Nazareth. The next day, Ilana Rosenman founded our first group: a women's group in Jerusalem whose Encounters went on for 15 years.
4 of 25 2002–2005
Together with the Nablus Youth Association, IEA held its first Israeli–Palestinian conference. About 35 more followed, with partners from the Nablus, Ramallah, Bethlehem and Hebron areas.
5 of 25 2002–2005
The Reut-Tzedaka group in Jerusalem held its Encounters continuously from 2003 to 2023 – IEA's longest-running group so far.
6 of 25 2002–2005
IEA's first two university groups opened at Tel Aviv University and on the Hebrew University's Mount Scopus campus.
7 of 25 2006–2008
On the recommendation of Dr. Jane Goodall, Dr. Yehuda Stolov and IEA received the Immortal Chaplains Prize for Humanity.
8 of 25 2006–2008
Young people from Yatta and Jerusalem formed IEA's first joint Israeli–Palestinian Encounter group. Their Encounters continued until October 7, 2023.
9 of 25 2006–2008
Residents of Ma'ale Adumim and of Abu Dis/Sawahra formed IEA's first group of settlers and Palestinians. Eighteen years later, their Encounters still go on.
10 of 25 2009–2013
Two more Israeli–Palestinian groups were founded, one of them in the Gush Etzion area.
11 of 25 2009–2013
IEA's first group of religious leaders – settlers and Palestinians – sat down together. Their Encounters continued for ten years.
12 of 25 2009–2013
Three Israeli–Palestinian young adult groups were founded with yeshiva students.
13 of 25 2014–2018
A group of Jewish and Muslim residents of Hebron began their Encounters. It is still active today.
14 of 25 2014–2018
IEA's director and deputy director received the IIE Victor J. Goldberg Prize for Peace in the Middle East.
15 of 25 2014–2018
IEA's first music groups formed: Jerusalem high-school students, whose Encounters ran for about two years, and Israeli and Palestinian musicians, who played together until October 7, 2023.
16 of 25 2014–2018
A group at Bar-Ilan University became a credit-bearing academic course – still taught today.
17 of 25 2014–2018
Seventeen years after its founding, IEA founded its 100th group, in the Mount Tabor area.
18 of 25 2019–2022
A group of Jewish and Muslim residents of the Nablus area began their Encounters. It is still active today.
19 of 25 2019–2022
Religious leaders in the Galilee formed their own Encounter group.
20 of 25 2019–2022
A group of Jews and Christians began studying the New Testament together.
21 of 25 2019–2022
IEA received the President's Award for Volunteering from Israel's President, Isaac Herzog.
22 of 25 2023–2026
Less than three weeks after October 7, women came together to found a language-exchange group. Encounter did not stop.
23 of 25 2023–2026
A group of Jerusalem teenagers began their Encounters – the next generation choosing to know each other face to face.
24 of 25 2023–2026
Jews and Arabs in Jerusalem began Encounters over frisbee – IEA's 138th group in 25 years.
25 of 25 2023–2026
Friends and partners from every era gathered to celebrate – among them Ilana Rosenman, who founded IEA's very first group in 2001.