“So many things motivated me to look for ways to bring people closer together, but I never thought I’d be an entrepreneur in a women’s fashion project,” Whit Jones, a clinical psychologist from Idaho, tells Al-Monitor with a smile. Throughout his professional career and along with volunteer work in the United States, Jones has been striving to bring together people in conflict zones. His aspiration gave birth to a fashion label called "Two Neighbors" that brings together Israeli and Palestinian women who jointly design unique dresses.

“I’ve always been involved in charity work and wanted to know what goes on in bloody conflict zones,” says Jones. “I remember as an American kid growing up, the anxiety and horror of China. Today I can say that my grandson no longer sees the Chinese as a threat, but as business partners. That’s where I got the idea, that by getting involved in productive business ventures, people can overcome everything, including psychological obstacles.”

Jones first came to Israel more than 10 years ago, after meeting two young people — an Israeli and a Palestinian — at a leadership seminar in the United States. He heard from them about the pain and despair of the conflict. The Palestinian had been imprisoned in an Israeli jail; the young Israeli man had been shot twice by Palestinians. These encounters led to the creation of The Center for Emerging Futures.

“At the initial encounters that I conducted between the Israelis and Palestinians, it seemed that each side wanted to prove that the other was to blame for the conflict. I said to them, ‘Excuse me, this is not our goal. We came here to get acquainted.’ After that we started talking about joint business ventures, and it was amazing how each one had some idea that he had thought about and wanted to present to all the others.”