The final hearing block at the Royal Commission on Anti-Semitism and Social Cohesion began on Monday, where academic and strategic adviser Ahmed Hegazi testified alongside friend Joel Lazar, the Jewish Climate Network chief executive.
The pair said they were concerned about polarisation demonstrated through language usage, and being prevented from dialogue after being trapped in a "silo".
Community-led early intervention and de-escalation are key tools in the fight against polarisation, the duo said while stressing the importance of building trust during peacetime.
"Humans who know their neighbours don't feel they are threats and they don't fear them, they feel connected to them," Mr Hegazi said.
The pair have collaborated on a community mediation model, where representative from communities experiencing conflict work to calm disputes and find common ground.
"We need to break the cycle," Mr Hegazi said.
"We want to be together helping each other, and we're not doing it for ourselves, we're doing it for younger generations and the generations to come."
Mr Lazar admitted the task would challenge all communities involved.
"But there's basically no alternative to trying new things even if they're hard … as fathers of young children, we know important things are always hard," Lazar said.
The pair ended their appearance before the royal commission with an emotional hug.
The commission also heard from Rozana Australia chief executive Panos Massouris, whose international organisation oversees joint healthcare initiatives between communities in conflicts.
Mr Massouris detailed a consultation model which would bring participants from the Jewish, Palestinian, Lebanese and Syrian communities together over the next 18 months.
"This is the time to do it," he told the commission.
"The risk is bigger if we don't do it … we are confident us and other organisations can actually make an impact, because there is a lot of willingness to actually do so."
Somali Society of NSW president Mohamed Hassan spoke of systemic racism faced by Somali-Australians and the importance of social cohesion in a multicultural society.
Following the conclusion of the final hearing block, Commissioner Virginia Bell will table her report in December.
Other witnesses expected to speak on Monday include representatives from the Scanlon Foundation Research Institute as well as academics from the Australian National University.
The commission will hear evidence from various sectors in order to "better understand how social cohesion is built and sustained", Ms Bell said ahead of the hearings.
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