Jewish Students at the forefront of the Saatchi and Saatchi 'Blood Relations' project launch in the UK

The blood donations happened at the headquarters of the National Blood Service at 26 Margaret Street in London where many students wilfully donated blood as a symbol of the blood relations.

In the evening, students were hosted by LSE's International Officer, LSE Israel Society and Kings' College London's Israel Palestine Forum. Here members of the Parents Circle Bereaved Families Forum (PCFF), a joint Israeli-Palestinian organisation for people who have lost an immediate family member in the conflict addressed the students with their stories and experiences.

Palestinian Seham Abu Awwad and Israeli Robi Damelin spoke at the LSE in a heartfelt talk about their shared mutual loss and how to move forward. Most importantly, they stressed their utter distress at the notion that the conflict had been imported into UK campuses and how this did not help anyone actually caught in the conflict in the middle-east.

PCFF in Israel launched the project at the end of September while the UN met to decide the Palestinian Authority's bid for statehood. Ali Abu Awwad, the spokesperson and project manager on behalf of the PCFF said that, 'Blood Relations seek to provide a catalyst for dialog by demonstrating two people's shared humanity through the common bond of blood. It is incumbent upon us to stress the need for an ongoing dialog towards peace, whatever the result of the Palestinian quest for an independent viable state.'

The video of the 'impossible brief' can be seen here: Click here to watch

The Israeli Ambassador H.E. Daniel Taub, who came to participate in the blood drive, welcomed the initiative. "As a combat medic in the IDF I learned that issues of life and death can help bridge the divide. I am very moved to see people reaching out to each other in such an important and creative way."

Aimee Riese, President of LSE Israel Society, said of yesterday's events, 'This project brings the conflict back to the human level. Seham and Robi are beacons of hope and have allowed us to see the conflict for what it is really about, real people and real pain. They offered important ideas about not 'exporting' the conflict out of the region, becoming part of the solution, not the problem. This is something we can all learn from on campus.

Charlotte Karp, Communications Director at UJS said, 'Yesterday's events have shown that many students are keen to participate in the project and the concepts behind it. This was demonstrated in the physical act of giving their own blood in the pursuit of peace. We feel very honoured to have helped spearhead the project in the UK and wish to publicly thank all those involved.'
To read more about the history of the project and the background behind the project Click here

Photos and Video footage to follow shortly.