Israelis And Palestinians Plead For Peace Via Ronny Edry's Facebook Group (PICTURES, VIDEO)

'We Don't Want Your War'

The Tel Aviv creator of the successful Israel-Loves-Iran campaign has turned his creative movement's focus to the ongoing conflict in Gaza, to plead with both sides to stop the violence.

Ronny Edry, who set up pro-peace Facebook movement "Israel Loves Iran" with wife Michal, which has more than 100,000 members has asked followers to send pictures of themselves, which he puts up with the slogan "Please Stop The War".

The husband-and-wife team have had to spend evenings in make-shift rocket shelters in Tel Aviv, shot at from militants in Gaza, but Edry told The Huffington Post UK they felt they were the lucky ones, compared to those in southern Israel and Gaza.

Some of the pictures posted on the Israel loves Iran Facebook page

He posted a video of his family, sheltering from rockets, but is adamant more people need to come out from hiding to oppose ongoing conflict: "Obviously we are really stressed. It has become kind of a ritual, we are waiting for the sirens to go off so we can get it over with for today. So we are placing bets, joking about when it will happen. It's a way to help us process.

"But we are really OK. There's just the stress of the siren. We are lucky. In the south, it is a total mess. It never stops for them. So far the streets of Tel Aviv, it looks like a normal day, although people look worried."

The campaign to stop the current conflict, where more than 90 Palestinians and three Israelis have died since Wednesday, has been one of the most popular so far. Many Israelis and Palestinians have written messages to each other via the Facebook group's wall.

A video posted by Ronny Edry of his family sheltering from rockets

One Palestinian, identifying as JouJou, wrote: "It's easier to dehumanize the 'enemy' than to acknowledge his pain when we are so full of fear.

"But the moment when we see each others pain and acknowledge each others right to exist - we can have peace. We must show this to our leaders. We must unite together for peace and for an end of the violence.

"For many of us, who are watching this war from far away, it is such a helpless feeling. All we can do is to encourage you and send our love. Our thougts are with you always."

Israelis and Palestinians have posted pictures, with the words: "Please stop the rockets. Please don't enter Gaza. It will lead only to more death. On both side people are going to die. We are going to lose friends, family, children.

"We are going to get trapped in another bloody circle and at the end it will serve no one. Today can be the last day of this war if you want it."

An Israeli posts an image on the page

Edry told The Huffington Post UK: "We are receiving so many hundreds of images, I don't even have time to process images.

"We get them from all over the world, from Europe, from the US, but I wanted to concentrate on putting up pictures of Palestinians and Israelis, it concerns them the most. Unfortunately, we don't have as many as we want from the Palestinians, we put up as many as we have.

"We want to show Israelis who want peace and want to stop the cycle of violence, even as it's happening. There are still a lot of Israelis raising their voice for peace, we want to show that first.

On both sides, there are people who want to take the other sides land, to eliminate the other side. That is the extreme minority. Most people are just tired of it. In the middle of rockets falling, bombs falling, it gets harder to explain why peace is the best option."

One of the Palestinian posters on the Facebook page

Edry said he feels that Operation Pillar of Defence is reaching a crossroads, and time is running out to make the voice of peace heard: "To me it is really clear, if you look at what happened four years ago in Gaza, we are at the turning point now.

"We want to find the Palestinians like us who really want peace. The Israeli government over the last four years have done absolutely nothing for peace, but to be honest, it is the same with the Palestinians. There is no leadership.

"I think most Israelis and Palestinians, when you talk to people on the street, most want peace, they just want it to be over, they are tired of it and they really just don't understand why it isn't over already.

"We want it to be over so much. Most of the young generation too, in Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, they are the same. They want it over with."

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