As an officer in a combatant unit in the Israeli army, Chen Alon thought he was defending his people by taking up arms. He had been educated by a father who had also served in the 1967 and 1973 wars, and a grandfather who was a holocaust survivor. He began to see things differently after becoming a father and seeing the disparity between the life of his children, and the life of the children he met at checkpoints in the West Bank. Chen Alon decided to refuse to serve in the occupied territories and became a member of several organizations and theater groups that seek to end the occupation. He has been heavily involved in reconciliation efforts and in peaceful protests for the past 15 years.