Adi DaganCoalition of Women for Peace, Machsom Watch |
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Personal Story and Occupation:
“ I stopped going to [monitor] checkpoints because I just couldn't take it anymore. I did it for two years and it became unbearable. It was mainly a feeling of being crushed, as though someone were stepping on you. It was a sense of a lack of control over life, of someone taking your life away from you, just taking it away, a very bad feeling of helplessness and identifying with the people who need to cross the checkpoint then. Young soldiers stand there and they decide who passes and who doesn't. It feels very bad. After two years of seeing that I think that rather than improving, the situation is only getting worse. I couldn't bear it any longer, now I'm dedicating my experience in the field to the issue of the media because I hope maybe that will be successful. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
“ [One day at the end of March 2003] I arrived at Kalandia checkpoint with another woman from Machsom Watch and a child was shot there. The soldiers shot a child, killing him; we were there when it happened. That was very, very, very traumatic and it was very difficult for me to return there afterwards. I kept imagining it happening all over again. Every soldier seemed potentially capable of killing a child. The tension was horrible. There was also the feeling that we hadn't managed to prevent it. That was difficult to deal with. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
Personal Story and Perceptions of the Other:
“ When I started going to checkpoints, one of the reasons that I did it for two years was the desire not to refer to the Palestinians as 'them,' and to maintain relationships with individual people. In today's state of affairs it's so easy to turn people into the collective 'they' and to believe that all this is taking place somewhere else when actually everything is very close by. We have to continuously keep in mind that it's not something that's taking place far away from here. It's happening to people like us. We can't think about it in abstract terms. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
Obstacles and Challenges and Occupation:
“ [From] the army's perspective our presence [a group of Israeli women who monitor checkpoints] isn't so comfortable for them because we publish stories that maybe they would prefer people not to know about. On the other hand, they use us. They claim that because they allow us to be there that shows they support our work. That's a little like us being their fig leaf and they can then claim that there's a human rights organization basically saying that things are alright. On the other hand, we don't want to cooperate because we oppose the policies that the army is implementing, and yet we do turn to them and submit complaints. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
Occupation and Security:
“ I think we all have our own red line for what we are prepared the army do for the sake of security. We could also bomb the cities and be done with it! So the issue is that it seems to be a total imbalance, and to a certain extent, a lie. I say a lie because there aren't physical searches at the checkpoints; rather, the checkpoints pen people into all sorts of areas. Why is this done? That's what a military occupation looks like, that's what control likes like. It states who's in charge; the Israelis army is in charge and that's the situation and "you" must accept that, "you" must let go of your aspirations, we're the strong side and that's the story. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
“ I don't think that I ever thought that the checkpoints were a security measure, because as I said, this was at a time when all the bombings in Jerusalem were taking place five minutes away from my house, and the last thing I felt was secure. I truly believe that the issue of security is symptomatic, meaning that it's superficial and that one must take a profound look in order to view the deeper issues. I think that if we remain at the level of security we won't ever get out of this. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
Community Responses to Peace Work and Occupation and Media:
“ […In] general I see that making the Israeli public take an interest in what happens on the Palestinian side isn't working that well…I'm debating the matter. It's undecided. There's another approach that's gaining momentum: showing the effects of the checkpoints and the occupation on soldiers and on the army, showing the extent of the harm to our side. Perhaps this is an effective approach but it doesn't really appeal to me; however I see that it's something the press is always interested in. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
Obstacles and Challenges and Media:
“ It's also difficult finding a statement that the Israeli public will be able to relate to. And then there's the constant tension between what we really think - our most profound truths - and what the public can grasp and digest. I think what we lack is strategy, as well as a better connection with the Israeli public. That's a difficult matter because we're a radical organization that is very distant from the consensus. The million dollar question is how to relate-how to influence people and not alienate ourselves-without deterring people. There is the sense of being perceived as an out of touch minority. […] There are people that think that if they simply state their truth then people will say "wow--" they'll faint dead away and say, "Now, why didn't I think of that!?" But things don't work that way. You have to go the route of persuasion, and for that you need to touch upon things that worry people and not things they aren't concerned with. It's a difficult matter, but I think that if we want to work with the Israeli public that's what needs to be done. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
“ I think that women, drawing on feminist approaches - not necessarily every woman by default - contribute to solutions that aren't based on force in which the strong side imposes its will on the other side, but rather to a more equality-based approach. This approach addresses the other side's needs. It doesn't just focus on how I can convince the other side to relinquish those needs. It's an approach that views the range of aspects of life and not just security, territory, things like that; it asks rather what the implications are on other aspects of life. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
“ Unfortunately, what preserves the state's character is the conflict; it is the conflict that enables people to use excuses and become entrenched in a collective identity that would be likely to melt away and diverge in a state of peace. Currently there isn't much of a collective identity; there are specific groups and sectors - Russian speakers, Arab citizens, Mizrachis, Ashkenazis - but the sense of besiegement and risk is something that unites these people. At the checkpoints you can see a soldier who just arrived from the Ukraine; he isn't even Jewish and barely speaks a word of Hebrew yet he is yelling 'don't pass' at a Palestinian. This is a form of socialization that keeps people together here. I think that once the conflict is resolved we will have to face all the internal conflicts, and that includes such intense conflicts that who knows what will happen. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
“ I think that before the state's establishment the goal was to create a normal state for the Jews. From that aspect Zionism served its purpose, it did create a state where Jews live as equal citizens. I think that after a certain point, after Zionism achieved the state's establishment and aliyah, the immigration that brought so many Jews here, and greatly reduced security risks by making peace with some of the neighboring countries, it became an obstacle for normal life here. To me living in a normal country can't include adopting apartheid and racist and religious discrimination. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
“ I think Zionism is an obstacle to normal life here and that's why I'm not in favor of retaining the definition of a Jewish state. I assume there can be a state with a Jewish majority; I'm not opposed to that. I'm not saying we need to get rid of the Jewish majority at any cost. I think that my aspirations have changed, and that I want this to be a normal country where equality isn't sanctioned by religion and for there not to be an ever present census - how many of them and how many of us. I feel I'm always being reminded I'm Jewish; if it isn't in the religious sense then it's in the ethnic sense and I'm very uncomfortable living this way. I want to live somewhere where nobody will care about my religion. That was also Zionism's aspiration: a normal life, people not being conscious which group they belong to, that's what really went on in the Diaspora. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
Vision and Perceptions of the Other:
“ What needs to change is the perception of "us" and "them," Jews versus others. We need to use civic concepts, and this does happen quite often in practice. I have Arab friends and I feel we are close in terms of being Israeli. I feel there is a lot in common with Israeli Arabs - a certain closeness. We really do live in the same place. Culturally we share a lot, but on the level of consciousness there is a very large barrier between "us" and "them." ” [Source in Complete Interview]
“ As an initial stage I think [the two-state solution is] pretty much the only solution that can be considered because I think that most Israelis and most Palestinians wouldn't want to live in a joint framework; it's problematic after a history of prolonged struggle and imbalance. I think that in the long term separation will be difficult to maintain, especially in such a small area that is so densely populated, and also according to my vision. Peace means cooperation and open borders and much more freedom. Take the EU, where people can live in any of the countries, work in any country there. I think that's the meaning of peace. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
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