The concept of 'Blood Relations' was born out of an initiative called the 'Impossible Brief'. Creative minds all over the world were invited to present ideas that would bring Israelis and Palestinians closer together. The winning idea from France, as judged by a panel of Palestinians and Israelis, inspired 'Blood Relations'.

This stalemate of politics and thought called for a daring and inspiring PR activity which would touch people profoundly and change the conversation from one of conflict to one of humanity.People who couldn’t donate blood physically, donated virtual blood on Facebook.We organised mutual blood donations, starting with those with the most reason to hate: bereaved Israeli and Palestinian families.We produced an 8-minute documentary about the project and submitted it to international film festivals.The project was shared with social activists at universities, conferences and exhibitions around the world, including at LSE in London, which was attended by the Israeli Ambassador and senior Palestinian officials.The activity inspired mutual blood donations between Jews and Muslims across the world, to show their support.

- The Blood Relations campaign was featured on national news, reaching a staggering 24% rating (approx. 1,600,000 people),- Blood Relations was covered internationally by news channels, hundreds of blogs, websites and street teams,- The activity inspired mutual blood donations between Jews and Muslims across the world, to show their support.

The objective of Blood Relations was to use creative thinking to help bring the Israeli and Palestinian communities closer together.Success would be measured in the number and the profile of stakeholders who would take part in the activity, the extent of media coverage, and the degree of engagement of governments, officials and other high-level decision-makers.The activity targeted both those directly in involved in the conflict as well as stakeholders and other concerned citizens around the world.The real-life insights and experiences of ordinary Israelis and Palestinians, some of whom have lost loved ones in the conflict, formed the basis of the research for the campaign.

We organised mutual blood donations for bereaved Israeli and Palestinian families.We asked people to stop spilling blood and to start sharing it.We produced an 8-minute documentary about the project and submitted it to international film festivals.The project was shared with social activists at universities, conferences and exhibitions around the world, including at LSE in London, which was attended by the Israeli Ambassador and senior Palestinian officials.Street teams were deployed in different cities to spread the message, armed with branded campaign tool kits.The activity inspired mutual blood donations between Jews and Muslims across the world, to show their support.

People who couldn’t donate blood physically showed their support by donating virtual blood on Facebook.Many donors tweeted, which helped spread the message.

- The Blood Relations campaign was featured on national news, reaching a staggering 24% rating (approx. 1,600,000 people),- Blood Relations was covered internationally by NBC, BBC, Reuters, Associated Press, Vanity Fair, L'espresso and other leading media outlets,- Featured on hundreds of blogs and websites,- The activity inspired mutual blood donations between Jews and Muslims across the world, to show their support,- The campaign elicited a direct response from the United Nations and the White House and other organisations are coming forward to take part such as the US Congress, US State Department and The International Red Cross, The British Parliament, and the Islamic Society of Britain.

The strategy was to bypass the official, long-stagnating peace process, and engage the 2 communities at a grassroots level by drawing attention to their common humanity, not their political differences.By side-stepping the many intractable political and historical issues that separate the 2 sides, we wanted to encourage people to look at one another as human beings, all of the same flesh and blood, with a shared destiny.The insight: 'Could you hurt someone who has your blood running through their veins?'

The Blood Relations project was devised for The Peres Center for Peace, a non-profit, non-governmental organisation dedicated to furthering peace in the Middle East through socio-economic cooperation and people-to-people interaction.The background to the campaign is the 64-year Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the prevailing sense of hopelessness among ordinary people from both sides.This stalemate of politics and thought called for a daring and inspiring PR activity which would touch people profoundly and change the conversation from one of conflict to one of humanity