Obstacles and Challenges
Nader Khatib
Water and Environmental Development Organization, Friends of the Earth Middle East
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ Politics and the current political situation are obstacles. An example is the issue of permits. Our crews can't freely meet. If our Jordanian colleagues want to come here, they need visas, and this is a very complicated process. In order for us to meet our Israeli colleagues in Jerusalem we must obtain permits, and during closures this is nearly impossible. Our Israeli colleagues work hard to help us get permits, but political circumstances are beyond our control. Our Israeli colleagues are very devoted to the work and are keen on visiting the Palestinian Territories, but the same Israeli restrictions that prevent Palestinians from entering Israel or Jerusalem prevent Israelis from entering the Palestinian Territories. These obstacles greatly affect our activities and make them harder and more challenging.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Ayelet Shahak
Association for the Commemoration of Bat-Chen Shahak, Bereaved Families Forum
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ The family of one of Bat-Chen's girlfriends that was killed with her very much disagrees with our way. They even threw at us once that because of us the audience identifies all three girls with the Left. It was very hard to hear that. I never use their name, and if I do so it is for the respect that I want them to have. But I certainly do not include them with Bat-Chen.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Dr. Ron Pundak
Peres Center for Peace, Peace NGOs Forum
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Interview Highlights »
“ Today, the biggest challenge is to make it happen. It's much easier today to say it's impossible because almost every activity is like crossing the ocean. With permits, with allowing them [Palestinians] to enter [Israel], with communication, every activity today is really full of hurdles, expected and unexpected. In spite of this we find that we are able to do it and even where we are not successful, we try again on the same issue, and in most cases we are eventually able to break the ice.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Professor Sami Adwan
PRIME (Peace Research Institute in the Middle East)
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Interview Highlights »
“ We [Israelis and Palestinians] work together, as the Peace Research Institute in the Middle East [PRIME] is an institute based on the principles of balance and equality. In other words, all the tasks and positions are divided equally, whether these are related to planning, implementing the project, supervision, or the management of the Center. It is not an Israeli institute that just brought in a few Palestinians to work with them. On the contrary, we try as much as possible to prevent one party from dominating the other. There are other associations in which Israelis came up with the idea and designed the organization, and then needed Palestinian partners to join them. In organizations such as these, a sort of domination remains until this day. In contrast, from the very beginning we were extremely aware that there is no equivalence between the Palestinian reality and the Israeli reality. This is something that we recognized and admitted from the start. Through our work, however, we try to create and maintain a kind of balance. Of course, regardless of how good we are at this, it will never be good enough. The Israelis simply have greater opportunities; their universities and institutions are more developed, they have the ability to travel, they have freedom, they have resources, and we have less.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Professor Sami Adwan
PRIME (Peace Research Institute in the Middle East)
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ One of the weak points that causes us a lot of agony, for example, is the fact that we must rely upon the Israelis in order to obtain permits. In a way, this highlights the imbalance in the relationship. On the one hand, it is good that we can receive help when we need it. On the other hand, this reliance reinforces the idea that there is "one who can" and "one who cannot." In one way or another, dependence upon Israelis for obtaining permits affects Palestinians' participation.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Ayelet Shahak
Association for the Commemoration of Bat-Chen Shahak, Bereaved Families Forum
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ [Fear affects peace work] very much. The damage of the second intifada in the Israeli public is immeasurable. The fear caused many people to move to the Right. Many. I'm talking about people from the Left - not people who were undecided or from the Center. The fear, the distrust, the slap in the face. We are in a very deep crisis.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Ayelet Shahak
Association for the Commemoration of Bat-Chen Shahak, Bereaved Families Forum
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ I remember the first meeting of the Bereaved Families Forum, close to twenty Israeli bereaved families gathered in Jerusalem, and Yitzhak Frankenthal, who was the advisor and the organizer, turned to us and said that tomorrow all of us that were gathered there would go to meet with Palestinian bereaved families. I remember that there were some families there that were really shocked by the idea, and they actually quit, they didn't continue with us anymore. To me also it seemed very scary and not really right to go to Gaza. Yitzhak tried to explain that it wasn't scary, that he had already gone a lot of times. He had arranged it, and there was a group that wanted to meet that was already expecting us. I got up and said that I was afraid. Yitzhak then understood that he had to do some preparation with us. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
Kitty O. Cohen
Folklore of the Other: The Institute for the Study of Religion and Communities in Israel
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Interview Highlights »
“ I worked very quietly to be able to carry out projects with the Palestinians. When the intifada broke out, it was practically taboo. There were many parents who didn’t want it. I had a group of children and a group of parents and the parents said, “No. Our children meet with Palestinians? No, not at this time”. So I went to another group. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
Professor Sami Adwan
PRIME (Peace Research Institute in the Middle East)
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ Another issue is one of the key expressions used in the Israeli curriculum to this day: the term "Eretz Israel." Palestinians call this land "Palestine." A question thus becomes: what is the definition of "Eretz Israel?" Is it from the Nile to the Euphrates or from the [Mediterranean] sea to the [Jordan] river? If this term continues to be used, it signifies a complete denial of the existence of Palestine. On the other hand, if the term Palestine, as it has been used historically, remains identified as the land from the sea to the river, then it also signifies denial of the existence of Israel. Thus, there are differences in the terms that are employed, as well as what is meant by those terms. The Palestinians consider the revolts that took place in the late twenties and thirties to be revolutions and resistance. Israelis, in contrast, view them as riots and disturbances. He who is a hero in the eyes of one group may be a saboteur in the eyes of another.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Robi Damelin
Parents Circle - Bereaved Families Forum
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Interview Highlights »
“ It is a challenge for me because I've always been a very independent person. I was my own boss; I did whatever I wanted and if I made a decision that's what would happen… Now I have to work in a team. That's a huge lesson for me. I can't just wake up tomorrow morning and decide to do a project without consulting with anybody else, which is something foreign to me. I have to sell it to them, so they understand. That's a very different way of working. I also have to listen to what other people say all the time, which is another exercise for me: to sit in meetings and listen for hours to what other people have to say, when I'm very impatient and want to do everything now. That's my nature…. It's different when you're working with other people to create a dream, which is a shared dream. It's not just my dream anymore.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Walid Salem
Panorama
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Interview Highlights »
“ One of the problems of Israeli-Palestinian cooperation is that people from the West Bank can't participate in meetings. The only way to meet is via video conference or if Israelis come to Palestinian cities or towns. It is hard to meet with Israelis now because the Israelis can't go into West Bank cities and the Palestinians can't move freely.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Walid Salem
Panorama
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Interview Highlights »
“ The challenges facing me in Palestinian society are the un-democratic political elites. The people are democratic, but the leadership isn't. My problem regarding democratic society isn't with the people, but with the leaders-- not only the PA, but all the leaders. One of the challenges for a national democracy in Palestinian society is democratization of the leading political powers in terms of their work and decision-making. If they are democratized, they will encourage social involvement and not presume that they should work instead of the people. If they are democratized they will start working in popular ways that are mainly non-violent. The challenges and problems facing democracy and popular involvement strategies are the political elites that are not used to sharing control and think that they should determine the agenda and make decisions for the people, not with the people.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Khulood Badawi
Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), Ta'ayush, Coalition of Women for Peace, Bat Shalom
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Interview Highlights »
“ The basic, main activities are traditional demonstrations. Despite the doubts about their effectiveness and necessity, there is always a need to demonstrate and express a collective cry of protest. The demonstration is an old and traditional method, but it is irreplaceable and we are determined to preserve it. It is a challenge, and a well-organized demonstration is a big success, especially in the current conditions that prevent any connection between the two peoples on either side of the Green Line.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Melisse Lewine-Boskovich
Peace Child Israel
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Interview Highlights »
“ Cross-border folks [people working together from opposite sides of the Green Line] who work in this field have pretty much arrived at an agreement: two states for two nations, a two-state solution. The ones who are still talking or doing peace building agree on that. They agree. They may not totally agree on the refugees and right of return, but basically most of them agree to two states. There are many people inside the country for whom that is not a solution. For Arabs and Jews inside Israel who are working on bi-lateral processes with adults or kids, I can say for sure, there hasn't been a reality check to see if we're on the same page. What do we want to see at the end of the day? The reason there hasn't been one is that they're afraid that if they had that process, everything would fall apart, and it probably would.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Yafit Gamila Biso
The Olive Tree
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Interview Highlights »
“ I didn't see my grandchildren, my son's children, for a year. He is religious and the rabbis told him -- I don't know who told my son's rabbis, though during the activities we attend we're photographed everywhere we go -- that "your mother associates with Arabs." They thought they would apply some pressure. I kept calling my son for a month saying I was coming to see the kids and he found reasons, "mother don't come, we're going, we're coming, we're cleaning." Finally I said, "What's the story? Can't I come visit my grandchildren?" And he said, "To tell the truth mother, I'm miserable, it's hard for me, and one of the rabbis said last week that as long as my mother associates with Arabs my life won't get easier." I said, "You know what? You, and your children and your rabbi won't change my opinion."” [Source in Complete Interview]
Yana Knopova
Coalition of Women For Peace
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Interview Highlights »
“ The Oslo Accords pushed many coexistence groups into being. As one of our members likes to tell us, she had a coexistence meeting when she was at school and the Palestinians wanted to talk about the Nakba while the Jews wanted to do belly dancing. Enough. That period is over and I think it's for the best. I think that one good thing the intifada and the events of October 2000 did was that now at least we know what we're up against. At least I learned [the lesson]; I hope I'm not addressing people that want to eat hummus with Palestinians and think that's the way to bring peace. It doesn't work that way.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Melisse Lewine-Boskovich
Peace Child Israel
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Interview Highlights »
“ I don’t have a resounding distaste for the target population that I want to change. [...] I think the processes have to come from a small core of heroes within the population that needs to go through the change. I can tell you specifically why. Here, my experience is that the people who are doing this work, for the most part, are condescending snobs towards the exact target population they feel needs to go through a change. They’re right that they need to go through a change, but their attitude to them is so condescending. So all logic says they are not the right people to be providing the process for the change.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Dr. Khuloud Dajani
People's Campaign for Peace and Democracy
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Interview Highlights »
“ I noticed that it is hard for many people to listen to the women of our society. A woman and a man may talk about the same topic, but when the man speaks, all people listen and understand, whereas when the woman speaks, it is not the same thing. It would be good for women to be heard, yet it is even better to be understood. This means that half of our society is marginalized.[…] Traditional women in our society, rather than the working women, embrace their role of being mothers more than being professionally productive, even though as human beings they should appreciate their role of being productive in addition to their role as mothers. This does not only make them equal to men, but rather puts them before men.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Shlomo Zagman
Realistic Religious Zionism, Mosaica
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Interview Highlights »
“ I left [Allon Shevut] with my wife and daughter. My reason was ideological, in order not to live under occupation sponsorship. We moved closer to where my wife’s parents live, so for her it was because of practical rather than political reasons. It was a very difficult decision, financially. Housing in Israel is much more expensive and it was hard for us to afford an apartment in Israel. The state encourages people to live in Judea and Samaria and there are grants and loans from the government. It amazes me is that even today when the Prime Minister talks of paying a price for unilateral separation; there is still a very attractive offer to settle in the Jordan Valley, including settlements in Samaria. People who go to live there today get a grant from the state, the state pays their tuition fees, and they get help with rent. Even in Gaza, people received all sorts of financial benefits to settle there. How can the state talk one way and act another? It's very strange.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Dr. Khuloud Dajani
People's Campaign for Peace and Democracy
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ The main misconception is that Israelis think this is their promised land, given to them by God, and that they should have this land without a people. Even educated professors and doctors still believe that it is their promised land.[…] I met with Israeli scholars and very high ranking individuals in higher education etc. Some of them come with an illogical argument of the land promised to them by God and ignore the issue of the people who are living in the land with all the historical, social, cultural dimensions of life and mainly their basic human right of existing and living in their own homes and lands, as well as having the right to justice and equality!” [Source in Complete Interview]
George Sa'adeh
Bereaved Families Forum
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Interview Highlights »
“ Due to political reasons and the current conditions, there's fear that prevents visit exchange. But we hope that it will get better and we will get to real peace where we can coexist, as I said, in mutual respect. Real peace will give the Palestinian people their right to live on their land in their country, and enjoy rights as human beings.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Gershon Baskin
IPCRI (Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information)
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Interview Highlights »
“ Last week we had meetings of our strategic working groups, and we had 80 people-we were supposed to be in Turkey and we couldn't get permits for people to go to Turkey, and we decided to hold the meeting anyway, and we held it in Haifa. Thursday night when we got the permits for the West Bankers, the army told us to wait until Friday morning for the permits for the Gazans. Friday morning we called, and we were told that any of the Gazans from the north of Gaza who could get to the Erez checkpoint would be allowed to go.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Yehuda Stolov
Interfaith Encounter Association
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Interview Highlights »
“ First of all, there was a period when it wasn't possible to work with the Palestinians. I think that within Israel the work has become easier in some ways, because it is clear to people that something like this needs to be done. The events of October 2000 deeply shocked the Arab population in Israel and the Jewish one too; it became clear to everyone that the collective "together" needs deeper foundations. In that aspect it became easier. On the other hand, there was a period at the beginning when people didn't really want to take part in the meetings.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Adina Shapiro
Middle East Children's Association (MECA)
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Interview Highlights »
“ The context of going to speak to the other side has subversive elements to it and I don't think that we can ignore that. I think that it has a lot of impact on what takes place, especially in a meeting of both sides when everyone feels the need to be loyal to their own group. Because, when we are in despair, why should I show my weakness to the other side? I think that part of the mission that we have to be able to work on is how to not see questioning and feedback as a breach in loyalty.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Daniel Seidemann
Ir Amim
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Interview Highlights »
“ The wall in Jerusalem is hugely problematic, and I think ultimately could well be counter-productive. There are going to be 200,000 to a quarter of a million Palestinians on the Israeli side of the wall…They're being cut off from their hinterland in the surroundings, Bethlehem to the south and Ramallah to the north. This has stark humanitarian implications. Almost invariably--not always, but almost invariably--the wall cuts off Palestinians from other Palestinians in a rather arbitrary route, and there's no non-arbitrary route in Jerusalem except by political agreement. So I think the possibility of the wall having grave detrimental effects is very real. I think it's already happening.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Gershon Baskin
IPCRI (Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information)
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ We [my Palestinian partner and I] fought all the time, politically. In a lot of ways the office became a kind of microcosm of the conflict. Often, for strange, probably psychological unknown reasons, we felt a need to express to each other positions that were actually much more extreme than we both held. There were patterns of behavior that developed that were very difficult to break. For me it was very difficult to share power. This was my baby; I created it. It became very symptomatic of relations between people in groups with different levels of power. Rather than creating an alternative model, we mirrored the outside model. […] It took a long time to learn how to do it and to do it well. Periodically even up to today we have major differences. We disagree politically on a lot of things, we disagree on our analysis of a lot of things, but we learned how to disagree.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Melisse Lewine-Boskovich
Peace Child Israel
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Interview Highlights »
“ [...w]e've had conferences with people in this field and people admit that there are some moments when something happens and you just want to say screw them. That's just what you want to say at that particular moment, but I have too many deep, close friends. So when you have these kinds of friendships, it makes it harder. There are moments when I want to just be so free and clear and just to be angry, to be furious with no feelings of guilt at all. It's hard when you see the other person's narrative and know that if not myself personally, then my people had something to do with their pain. It makes it more difficult for us, which is why more Jewish kids don't come to the programs. It's a lousy position to be in, to be the Jew in dialogue these days.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Ayelet Shahak
Association for the Commemoration of Bat-Chen Shahak, Bereaved Families Forum
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ The family of one of Bat-Chen's girlfriends that was killed with her very much disagrees with our way. They even threw at us once that because of us the audience identifies all three girls with the Left. It was very hard to hear that. I never use their name, and if I do so it is for the respect that I want them to have. But I certainly do not include them with Bat-Chen.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Itamar Shapira
Combatants for Peace
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Interview Highlights »
“ Many people view my work as “talking to the enemy” or think I hate the Israeli people or that I am a traitor; every person has their own views. At first it bothered me more and I felt as though I was no longer considered the salt of the earth. I used to be in a social position that always landed me jobs. Every time you apply for a job or interview with a company and tell that you were a brave soldier, it’s taken into consideration because it has some glory or status in Israeli society. That’s something you give up because you aren’t in the consensus anymore; people view me as part of the radical Left.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Yana Knopova
Coalition of Women For Peace
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Interview Highlights »
“ [T]he Palestinians endure harsher financial constraints than the Jews, and it's evident. These organizations have Jews that are professors and Palestinians who are working class. How long can a person hold it together? The professors can contribute their time, make phone calls, but the working class people have to work.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Shlomi Daskal
The People's Voice, Realistic Religious Zionism
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Interview Highlights »
“ The most difficult thing is to convince the Israelis that there is a Palestinian partner. That’s the most difficult thing. They don’t believe it because there’s a problem: The media in Israel airs only negative things, just as I see the Palestinian media covering a lot of negative affairs here. I believe that the Palestinian and Israeli societies are a mirror image of each other and that identical processes are taking place in both societies. They can’t believe there’s an Israeli partner and we can’t believe there’s a Palestinian partner. That’s why convincing them that there’s a Palestinian partner is the most difficult thing.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Rutie Atsmon
Windows
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Interview Highlights »
“ So the Israelis are not aware of a Palestinian peace camp, and Palestinian society is hardly aware of an Israeli peace camp, and this is part of what keeps the cycle of violence going, because people on both sides don't have hope, people are desperate and they think that there is no one to talk to on the other side. There is, and we know. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
Ihsan Turkiyyeh
Arab-Hebrew Theatre in Jaffa
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Interview Highlights »
“ […How] do we convince a kid when everyday he is throwing stones and he is attacked by the Israeli army? How do you convince him about peace? There has to be a little of it on the ground, if there is a little hope the people will feel it. In Israel it's not every minute that a bus is blown up. They can live their life, but for us, every minute, every second you feel like something is happening. […] How can we tell them... how can I go convince my child that we are for peace? He will be getting out of school and the Israeli army is coming and, you know, teasing them. How can we convince them? How, when everyday there are people killed and houses demolished-- how do you convince them? It's more difficult.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Yana Knopova
Coalition of Women For Peace
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Interview Highlights »
“ I think that groups must undergo a process of self-composition before they can integrate with other groups. Moreover, I think that disadvantaged groups have to undergo their own processes and not be integrated into other groups. I think that other groups will emerge, and will remain apart until they initiate some sort of dialogue with other groups [...] The intentions are good, but the process is as follows: there are good intentions; it all begins with the best of intentions! After that start you have the unequal numbers of Arabs and Jews, and the Ashkenazi Jews, mostly men, who are more eloquent speakers, for example, take up more space in the discussions, and influence it more than the Palestinians or Mizrachis or women or any other group. Secondly, who makes the decisions during the meetings? Who does the scheduling? There are more Jews so they do the schedule. Take this meeting [the Coalition's meeting Yana is about to enter], it's just before Eid el Adha. Why? Not because we are mean people-- we didn't know about it. It's not because of bad intentions. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
Helmi Kittani
Center for Jewish-Arab Economic Development
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Interview Highlights »
“ In order to get to Ramallah I had to arrange for an entrance permit from the Israeli army and this is not easy. We also help those who want to visit us and the students participating in our program who need to enter Israel, we help them get into Israel. Sometimes we meet in Jerusalem. Sometimes we meet abroad. But, once again, I hope, in my optimism concerning this place, that in a short period we will be able to hold meetings on a more frequent basis to advance our common interests.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Ariel Huler
Seeds of Peace
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Interview Highlights »
“ I always use this analogy when people that are coming from outside the conflict don't understand the context: I tell them to try and imagine what kind of relationship a traumatized couple would have. And I think this is the case with the Israeli and Palestinian societies. I think honest leaders should do as much as they can to show their societies what are the essentials, what is the trauma that the other side is suffering, because this conflict is not only about borders, it's about traumas. Both societies have different traumas. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
Helmi Kittani
Center for Jewish-Arab Economic Development
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Interview Highlights »
“ […From] my personal, financial position I knew I would be taking a drastic pay cut. To be a senior manager in a bank and then to own a private business that had good earnings, and then to move on to an association, an NGO, would clearly lead to a substantive reduction in my personal income. However, I thought about the future of my children, who were still in high school then, and I thought about what I would have to learn in order to help them develop their personal careers. I thought that for the sake of my community, and for the sake of building one society in the State of Israel with regards to Arabs and Jews, it is worth sacrificing money for the sake of making a contribution. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
George Sa'adeh
Bereaved Families Forum
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Interview Highlights »
“ The hardest part was to meet with people from the other side despite all the pain they caused us. It was difficult to clear our hearts of hatred, have a clear conscience and face the other side with forgiveness. It isn't easy to control ourselves; this requires strong determination, deep belief and a high level of forgiveness.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Gila Svirsky
Coalition of Women for Peace, Women in Black
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Interview Highlights »
“ We're in a climate that is in great fear of Palestinians, and a belief that they don't share our worldview. President Katsav, our current President, said shortly after this intifada began, "We are dealing here with people who are not only not from the same frame of mind as we are, they are people who are outside our entire realm of being, they don't even act like they come from the planet earth." Those were his words. And that's the message that Israelis get. Palestinians are aliens who don't share our values, they're aggressive, primitive, cruel, etc. So it's very hard when your President and Prime Minister and the entire government are saying things like that, and you're trying to say, "Look, they are people just like us." Nobody hears that message.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Rutie Atsmon
Windows
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Interview Highlights »
“ It's not a question of just crossing the physical boundary. It's also a question of overcoming the suspicion and the fear, not only the fear of Palestinians that some people feel, but also the fear of seeing the truth. I think that the biggest boundary between our nations is the fear of seeing the reality as it is, and coping with it as it is. It says a lot about what we are, what we do, what we are responsible for. It's on both sides; it's in every situation. When we look in the mirror, how many of us as human beings are able to tell ourselves the truth about what we are and who we are and what we do. It's so easy to find excuses. If I do something wrong, then it's not my fault. I do it because I have no other choice, I have a good excuse, something bad was done to me and this was the only way I could react. We always find ways to give ourselves a break. It's not our fault; we're not responsible. Especially in a situation like this where so many terrible things are happening.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Robi Damelin
Parents Circle - Bereaved Families Forum
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Interview Highlights »
“ One of the biggest problems in the situation here is that people are either pro-Palestinian or pro-Israeli. When you're pro something it makes you feel very good about yourself. I remember I was with Nadwa at a meeting at a Presbyterian church somewhere in Chicago where they weren't too keen on me. We were sitting at the dinner table and this guy leaned over to her and said, "You know, I'm very pro-Palestinian." So she said, "Well I don't know, where has that gotten me up to now?" There was something very deep in what she said, because being pro-Israeli or pro-Palestinian is like saying, the poor Palestinians or the poor Israelis and waving a flag. When somebody recognizes that the Palestinians and the Israelis aren't going to disappear and says, "Let's support Israel to get out of the Occupied Territories," I say they are supporting both sides. If this kind of non-judgmental interference would come from outside, I would be very happy.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Salwa Abu Libdeh
Dialogue On The Road
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Interview Highlights »
“ The biggest challenge to joint work] was the language. I can't speak Hebrew, so I decided to start learning Hebrew. If I want to understand the other and try to create a link together, I need to understand his language. There's a proverb in Arabic that says, "If you learn the language of a nation, you guarantee that they can't harm you." So I followed the same idea, to understand him more to be able to deal with him better. So my first goal now is to learn the Hebrew language.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Majed Tbeileh
Nablus Youth Federation, The Future Generation Hands Committee
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Interview Highlights »
“ As a Palestinian association, we are caught in the middle. As the saying goes, “The enemy is ahead of you and the sea is behind you.” We have been working for nine years and still don't have an official license from the Palestinian Authority. This is a problem. We tried to use our contacts to obtain an official license, but we didn't manage to achieve it. There is no problem in finding funding for joint work with the Israelis; the Israeli organizations receive the funding and provide for our side of it. A Palestinian organization aiming to do joint work with Israelis cannot get funding on it's own because it cannot get licensed, even with clear objectives. We appealed to the PA many times, but their terms for a license and funding required that we stop working with the Israelis.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Adi Dagan
Coalition of Women for Peace, Machsom Watch
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Interview Highlights »
“ 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]
Khulood Badawi
Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), Ta'ayush, Coalition of Women for Peace, Bat Shalom
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Interview Highlights »
“ There are certain voices that aren't against me personally, but are against the idea of Arab-Jewish cooperation and communication. Because of their bitter historical experience, the Palestinian people have the right to have doubts about joint work. These experiences include Oslo and experience with political movements that were fashionable after Oslo. It was easy to found an Israeli-Palestinian organization that wasn't based on an equal or shared foundation. This failed model scared many people. This raised the question "what is co-existence"-- Israelis and Palestinians eating a meal together, or Israelis and Palestinians together resisting the uprooting of olive trees?” [Source in Complete Interview]
Gila Svirsky
Coalition of Women for Peace, Women in Black
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ [...We] had an all women demonstration of Israeli, Palestinian and international women. About 70 women went to a Palestinian village and held a non-violent demonstration against the wall. The border police exploded with stun grenades and tear gas and horses, and Molly was hurt by a baton, as she was fleeing the action, we have photographs of this, the horse rider, the horse person ran after her and then dropped a baton on her head and shoulders and broke her shoulder. I sent out an e-mail about this. The problem is it's not an isolated incident. Consistently in recent weeks all hell has broken loose at non-violent demonstrations because the soldiers allow themselves to do this. Today I read a very angry response in Hebrew from an Israeli who read my report and accused me of looking for ways to harm Israel from within and to bring the wrath of the world against Israel. So I see that and I hear it. We're not immune from it; it's very painful.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Majed Tbeileh
Nablus Youth Federation, The Future Generation Hands Committee
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ It is possible to have a dialogue with an educated person and convince him even if he has an opposite ideology, but an ignorant person might just pull out a gun and shoot you in accusation of betrayal. Another challenge is our encounters with Israeli forces. If I am caught in the Israeli territories, I will serve six months in prison because I don’t have a permit. Despite all the challenges, I personally feel obliged to perform my role in this battle.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Eliyahu McLean
The Sulha Peace Project, Jerusalem Peacemakers, Middleway
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ Both societies are committing violence-Israel sending in missiles to kill Hamas leaders and Hamas sending in bombers. Ibrahim Abu El Hawal from the Mount of Olives, with whom I also work, says, "God chose two of the most stubborn people in the world, the Arabs and the Jews, to live in this land." We both refuse to budge. We are two deeply wounded peoples sharing this land. We act out of wounded-ness and fear, not what's really in our best interest, and in fact we make the wounds deeper. We Israelis are traumatized by our history, the Shoah, the Holocaust. Palestinians have been displaced and traumatized. You can't talk rationality to someone who's traumatized. I think it's a huge obstacle, the collective national traumas that we are both oozing, and it's perpetuating the way we behave.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Rutie Atsmon
Windows
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ Many of our members will tell you, "Yeah I trust the Palestinian members [of the organization], but what about the neighbors, what if someone you know, does something?" And it's very hard to discuss it, what are the options, how to do it, what can happen, to make people feel comfortable enough to do it [go to Palestinian villages]. And of course, I cannot take the responsibility to tell anyone nothing is going to happen, because I don't know. So the question is, are we willing to take the risk? Do we trust our host Windows members that they will do all they can to protect us and to make sure that nothing will happen. And you can never know.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Itamar Shapira
Combatants for Peace
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ Many people view my work as “talking to the enemy” or think I hate the Israeli people or that I am a traitor; every person has their own views. At first it bothered me more and I felt as though I was no longer considered the salt of the earth. I used to be in a social position that always landed me jobs. Every time you apply for a job or interview with a company and tell that you were a brave soldier, it’s taken into consideration because it has some glory or status in Israeli society. That’s something you give up because you aren’t in the consensus anymore; people view me as part of the radical Left.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Rami Nasrallah
International Peace and Cooperation Center (IPCC)
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ I didn't have doubts about my work itself; I had doubts about the timing. Sometimes I have a feeling that we are not prepared, as Palestinians and Israelis, for a historical compromise. Each side, especially the Israelis, has its interests as terms of reference before reaching an agreement. They are scared of demography, they want to keep occupying the land and that's why they want to pull out of Gaza, not because they want a real peace process. With this mentality of building walls and eliminating a threat, we will not have peace. They consider us a demographic and terrorist threat. They accuse us of not belonging to the area. Their solution is to build a wall.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Dr. Khuloud Dajani
People's Campaign for Peace and Democracy
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ I am sure that a large percentage of the people who know the word “Oslo” know it just by name. They are not aware of what exactly Oslo was, even the people who signed Oslo. I am serious. I wish that people would carefully study the papers they sign, and be able to discuss and explain them to the people. There are many missing, unclear issues. Secondly, the different treaties--take for instance Camp David-- there was a chance, but the Palestinian resistance movement was not mature at that time. We are always backwards and we never carefully study our opportunities. We constantly refuse some opportunities illogically. We do not deal with opportunities in a tactical way. […] we are not mature enough in politics, negotiations, and in different roles. Centrality exists here.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Yafit Gamila Biso
The Olive Tree
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ I have many problems with my family because I help Arabs. One of the most significant things took place about a year ago. I didn't see my grandchildren, my son's children, for a year…. He said, "To tell the truth mother, I'm miserable, it's hard for me, and one of the rabbis said last week that as long as my mother associates with Arabs my life won't get easier." I said, "You know what? You, and your children and your rabbi won't change my opinion."” [Source in Complete Interview]
Inas Radwan
Building Bridges for Peace
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ There is no support at all from the ones around you, your friends. Maybe family supports me a little but they are always afraid, and keep warning me not to talk about certain things or to say certain things. Same with the follow-up meetings that are close to being impossible; I mean, I need to take six taxis to get to Jerusalem and it's all illegal. In a normal situation, going to Jerusalem usually takes around an hour and a half but now it takes me five to six hours.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Dr. Khuloud Dajani
People's Campaign for Peace and Democracy
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ I noticed that it is hard for many people to listen to the women of our society. A woman and a man may talk about the same topic, but when the man speaks, all people listen and understand, whereas when the woman speaks, it is not the same thing. It would be good for women to be heard, yet it is even better to be understood. This means that half of our society is marginalized.[…] Traditional women in our society, rather than the working women, embrace their role of being mothers more than being professionally productive, even though as human beings they should appreciate their role of being productive in addition to their role as mothers. This does not only make them equal to men, but rather puts them before men.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Ibrahim Issa
Hope Flowers School
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ In 1999 we received [a demolition warning] and after a long process in the Israeli military court in Beit El, the demolition was cancelled, and we applied for a building permit. So far as I know, it was approved. The problem then was the financial problem; we couldn't afford the Israeli fees for the building permit. […] [I]n November 2003, we received another warning saying the building was built without a permit. But when we looked through the plans we saw that the Israelis are planning to build the separation fence-or the separation wall-here nearby. So the maps are not clear. Whether they are going to build it on this side to isolate the school from the Palestinian students, or to build it down the hill and demolish the cafeteria building, is not clear for us. So we think that the demolition now has to do somehow with the separation fence that the Israelis plan to build here.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Majed Tbeileh
Nablus Youth Federation, The Future Generation Hands Committee
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ There is a group of Palestinians and Israelis that are planning to meet in Europe. The Israelis reach the airport in two hours, and after a few hours on the plane they reach Europe. The Palestinians are forced to wake up at four in the morning. They reach the checkpoint in Hawara at seven or eight o’clock. When they reach the border crossing in Jericho they are searched by the Palestinian police who pass them on to the Israelis. The Israelis decide who can cross into Jordan and who can’t. You can do nothing without Israeli approval -- it is beyond our control. The Jordanians may also refuse your entrance as one now needs a permit to enter Jordan. The whole journey will take you about 48 hours, while it takes the Israelis only a few hours.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Itamar Shapira
Combatants for Peace
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ Supporters of the Labor party want to end the occupation and the conflict but they claim that the moment we put down our arms they will shoot at us, and cite Oslo as an example of this. The other side also says that too -- if we stop terrorism they will forget because they don’t care that people are living this way. If we stop using terrorism it won’t sink in, they won’t comprehend that something is wrong, that people are being oppressed and it will take hundreds of years to gain independence. Both sides are right. This is how it is in most places. The goal is to put an end to this cycle.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Gidon Bromberg
EcoPeace/Friends of the Earth Middle East
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ Our Jordanian director was shot at in Amman outside our office at the very start of the intifada. That was incredibly scary. I was calling from Tel Aviv saying, "Well, let's close the office for a few days until we find out from the police what's happening," maybe they would arrest the individuals concerned, because the bullet missed two of our staff members by millimeters. But to the credit of the office as a whole, the staff said, "No, if we close the office, we're giving in, and we're not giving in." They didn't close the office, not even for a day. They changed the way they came to work, they didn't come at the same hours, they didn't come together so that they wouldn't be a large target. For a while we had a security person in front of our offices. Several of our Palestinian staff have been threatened by representatives of their own communities. This office has received not quite threats, but certainly ugly messages that we're collaborators, that we're despicable. I've had my tires slashed. But I have no doubt that our Palestinian and Jordanian staff face the greatest risks.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Wafa Srour
The School for Peace
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ The question of how to design a bi-national, bilingual school requires more thought, and it is something that we can continue to work on. We need first to attend to the issue of a bi-national school, and then perhaps to the issue of an interfaith school. Here in the Waha, we asked for a bi-national school that does not deal at all with religion. We wanted to put the religious issue aside. The Jewish residents objected, however, because for them religion is part of their national identity. In the end, what we have here seems to be a typical Jewish school, with some Arabs added in. If we want a genuinely Arab-Jewish school, on the other hand, we must create it from scratch. It must be Arab-Jewish from its very foundations and basic principles.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Melisse Lewine-Boskovich
Peace Child Israel
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ I questioned how much one would have to forfeit in order to be involved in resolving the conflict. I also questioned how to go about letting go of the anger, letting go of the fears, and letting go of the mistrust. But also, I had the sense that I was going to have to admit that everything I had always believed in was wrong, which is not a simple thing for anyone to do, on any kind of issue. So it took some time.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Adi Dagan
Coalition of Women for Peace, Machsom Watch
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ [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]
Meir Margalit
Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ There was a period in which there were hundreds or thousands of Palestinians [residents of Jerusalem] who lived here without IDs. The state confiscated their IDs. They were walking around Jerusalem without any identification and if a policeman or border policeman stopped them they would go through hell. Some would get beaten up, some would be arrested, some got fined. The person would say, "I'm a resident of Jerusalem," but the policeman would tell them to prove it. That is how it went. I tried to obtain alternative papers for them to prove their residency using all the means I could, and I really do mean that. I tried through the Municipality, the Ministry of Interior Affairs, the Prime Minister's Office, and the Ministry of Defense. When I couldn't bear it any longer, I myself wrote letters using the Municipality's logo, attesting to that person being a resident of Jerusalem despite not having an ID. I signed my name as council member. I was told that sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't. If in 50% of the cases a policeman read the letter and was satisfied, then I was happy. When the Mayor found out he was very angry. He filed a complaint with the police for me overstepping my authority. [He said] my responsibilities didn't include giving IDs to people. A journalist wrote "who knows who Meir Margalit gave these letters to, who knows who got their hands on them." This was during a period of suicide bombings, and their supposition was that more than one suicide bomber slipped in using my letters.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Ibtisam Mahameed
Interfaith Encounter Association, Middleway
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ If I go to Tel Aviv in this outfit [the traditional Muslim woman's attire], I will feel unwanted. They will fear me and wonder what is in my bag. I also get checked more because of my dress, especially before getting on a bus or in a train station or just walking on the street. Once I was waiting at the lights and there was a woman who walked away from me, she thought I might do something. I felt her fear and felt sorry for her so I tried to comfort her with a smile. I was just waiting for a minute for the light to cross the street. Those are things you face on the streets, it is not written on my forehead that I am a peace activist, so everyone looks at me the way they want. I still become afraid when I pass a Jewish street or neighborhood. You never know how the other will respond.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Adina Shapiro
Middle East Children's Association (MECA)
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ I think that a lot of the Palestinians are very considerate, and it's not that they necessarily expect me to work according to their working methods, but it's hard to turn back and to lose knowledge. That is also said with the backdrop of being the perceived oppressor or the perceived dominant person, and when I come in with fifteen different ideas for what has to be done, and in my mind they are all great ideas and maybe they'll be accepted by all the Palestinians I am working with, that still is too strong. Taking into consideration that the climate we live in is that the Israelis are dominating the Palestinians. So I am more careful about that, and slower in the process, giving more time for there to be buy-in.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Ester Golan
Interfaith Encounter Association
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ I wish people from abroad would see us in the light of a human being rather than a political entity. Because we are first and foremost and right at the bottom and right at the top, human beings. I think that anyone who has been here to Israel begins to realize that they didn't understand what it's all about from far away. And anybody who enters my home realizes who I am, and I'm no longer an anonymous number. So I think people who think they know the answer to all of our troubles, they should come first and meet us, and then maybe they'll be able to help us cope better with life. Because there is no one answer.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Orly Noy
All For Peace Radio
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ I had the funniest experience. A couple of weeks ago Adele asked me if I knew an Israeli settler who speaks Arabic. She really, genuinely wanted to listen to what the other side had to say, which I thought was really commendable, it was really nice of her, because I wouldn't speak with these people on my program, for sure. But she was willing to fairly listen to the other side. So I said, "I'll do it by the book. I'll call the Yesha spokesman, and I'll ask him." This is the craziest person I've spoken with for a very long time. I introduced myself very politely and I said, "I was wondering if maybe you could connect us to somebody from your organization that speaks Arabic and can speak with us." He says, "Are you from a terrorist radio?!" That's what he said. I was shocked, I couldn't speak, and I said, "Do I sound like a terrorist to you?" And he said, "Well, the fact that there are Israelis that cooperate with these terrorists, it's none of my business." And I said, "Okay, get out of my ear." It was so immature.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Ihsan Turkiyyeh
Arab-Hebrew Theatre in Jaffa
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ It was difficult, it was difficult [the first time I worked with Israelis]. Because you feel like every word they say to you is because you are Palestinian, you are not Ihsan. This is very humiliating. And when you become liberated from this idea, when I talk to you as an individual, it's not like I talk to you as from where you belong, from your group. This is the main problem of the Palestinians and the Israelis. They talk to you in the name of your group. But you have to talk to me as a person. I learned this, to talk to a person as a person.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Inas Radwan
Building Bridges for Peace
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ It's not easy at all to say I have a Jewish friend or say that I am going to a camp in America with Jews. First of all they will think that you sold your cause. There are a lot of closed-minded people that think like that. I had a friend that knew about the program, so when I told her I was going, she said: are you crazy? Do you still want to go meet them when they want to bomb the Aqsa? How can you still think of peace with them?” [Source in Complete Interview]
Helmi Kittani
Center for Jewish-Arab Economic Development
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ We thought that through the joint [economic] ventures of Jews and Israeli Arabs with the Palestinian Authority there was an opportunity for Israeli Arabs to integrate into the Israeli economy and into the mainstream. Ultimately Israeli Arabs and Palestinians are the same people, and thus it is possible for them to coordinate a joint deal. […] It was part of our belief that a long-term peace cannot be sustained if Palestinians live in poverty while Israelis are rich. It cannot exist, it is just impossible.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Helmi Kittani
Center for Jewish-Arab Economic Development
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ The hardest, from our perspective, are psychological matters and not matter-of-fact issues. From a business perspective, we have proved that one plus one, in this situation Palestine and Israel, equals much more than two. They equal three or maybe more than three. From a strategic and business perspectives, as soon as there's peace here, it will be possible to open the region to foreign investments. This will raise the region and people will be able to live in prosperity. The difficulty stems more from psychological reasons, from concern, from fear, from hatred and from the uncertainty about whether other people are willing to accept me as a partner in this region. This is what must be broken, the stigma. The stereotypes must be broken and it must be proven that we can overcome the psychological barriers and live together and that we can earn a lot of money together. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
Yoa'ad Shbita
Building Bridges for Peace, Reut-Sedaka
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ [The most serious issues that come up in dialogue are] for example, if we're talking about the refugees, the mess we have here now. Or when we talk about the military-- even now that I'm living with Jews in a different environment, I can't understand someone who tells me, "I'm enlisting," now, in this situation. The issues of the refugees and the military are what I'm very passionate about. Maybe I'm so passionate about the refugee thing because I have relatives who are refugees, and it's something that's never been solved.” [Source in Complete Interview]
The Late Professor Dan Bar-On
PRIME (Peace Research Institute in the Middle East)
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ The fear that listening to the other will de-legitimize their own position... their own experiences, their own feelings... that [is] a major fear of both groups, I think. The success was that they could listen to each other and not de-legitimize either their own or the other point of view. It's very difficult to contain in yourself both stories.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Gidon Bromberg
EcoPeace/Friends of the Earth Middle East
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ People from outside shouldn't be coming here in order to tell one or the other of us off. They should be coming here in order to help both. Of course they can be critical, but if the attitude is not "We're here to help both of you resolve this horrible conflict," then they're not doing any good. They're not helping anyone by being biased for the benefit of one or the other. [...] People come out here with great intentions to help the process, but they haven't been trained to work in a conflict situation. And I've seen it first hand; they become haters. They hate the other side sometimes even more than the Israelis or the Palestinians, and therefore they become of no value. They become really damaging to the process, to any prospects of peace building. And that is terrible.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Ariel Huler
Seeds of Peace
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ I just had a discussion today about the media, that was trying to deal with the fact that in surveys Israelis reflect some understanding that a solution would be a two-state solution and that they are willing to withdraw from all the settlements in order to achieve this. When they do surveys you can see that the majority of the Israeli public, around 65%-70%, thinks more or a less that that's the deal. They're prepared for this. But when elections come around they don't vote for parties that represent these ideas. And that's a paradox in Israeli society. Voting originates in a lot of places. There is this Ashkenazi - Sephardi conflict, and many Sephardi people, even though they support the idea on the whole, or understand that there should be some compromise, would never elect a leftist party.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Shlomo Zagman
Realistic Religious Zionism, Mosaica
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ The war [Lebanon war July 2006] created a problem. Suddenly war broke out and in the Jewish group people felt united and a sense of shared fate though we know that [Palestinian Arab Citizens of Israel] also were hurt by the war – missiles were fired at the Galilee killing Arabs too. You would assume that the [Israeli] Arabs would then be on your side and regard Nasrallah and Hezbollah as enemies, while what you hear is that this isn't true, and [your perspective] shouldn't take that for granted, it isn't necessarily a logical inference. Then [Jewish] people say, 'If you identify with my enemy, how can I talk to you?' [...] It makes people desperate and they feel dialogue doesn't contribute much and is therefore unnecessary – a waste of energy and emotions.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Shwanesh Maniov
Seeds of Peace, Children of Abraham
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ There aren't many organizations that operate in the periphery [outlying areas]. I think in order to do real outreach you have to ignore the people who are already convinced… [Peace] organizations are not making the effort to break the pattern, or go beyond the usual circles. It's easier to work with the same circle of left-wing activists, peace activists who go from one activity to the next.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Gidon Bromberg
EcoPeace/Friends of the Earth Middle East
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ I think that every dollar that has been allocated to this region-and we're talking about billions of dollars a year-should identify a peace dividend, and they don't. The whole concept of "how is a given activity going to help create peace" is not sufficiently thought through.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Adina Shapiro
Middle East Children's Association (MECA)
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ when the violence began and it became more difficult to meet, the uni-national meetings became a very structured element because that was maybe the most definite part that we could continue with. We also have the bi-national meetings, less than some people would like, but it is a critical component of the process. Meeting with the other side and discussing matters is essential to being able to cope and even actually model to students what they [educators] went through, even if they don't directly tell the students what they went through [...] the teachers can only be critical teachers if they experience it for themselves” [Source in Complete Interview]
Ibrahim Issa
Hope Flowers School
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ Three hundred of our students can no longer come to school because they come from villages in the neighborhood here, and after the Intifada all roads and all Palestinian cities and villages became isolated from one other. They have become like islands, there is no connection. So we have lost 300 students.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Ihsan Turkiyyeh
Arab-Hebrew Theatre in Jaffa
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ We have a problem here: they [Palestinians] don't like to talk about their issues; they want to work on putting their force against the enemy. But I don't believe it works like this. We have to build ourselves, to clean ourselves, to fight corruption, to create new democratic thinking, where people can express themselves. So I feel that changes can't start except from here. Before we go to fight an enemy like Israelis, we have to start with our house. You don't go to clean your neighbor's house; you have to clean your own house first. So that's what I believe.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Dimitri Diliani
People's Campaign for Peace and Democracy
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ The occupation is our biggest challenge. When there is a massacre, like the one that happened in Gaza a short while ago, people are angry and it is difficult to talk to them about peace. When there are killings, it is hard to talk about peace. This presents a major obstacle for our work. So if we were to put the challenges that we face in order, the occupation comes first, the lack of financial support comes second, and the lack of popular awareness about the importance of the Initiative comes third.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Ibtisam Mahameed
Interfaith Encounter Association, Middleway
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ I feel like I am giving too much and not taking anything, or in other words that I am used by the people that work with me. I spend so much of my time and I get exhausted so I isolate myself for a week or so to take a break to rest. When I get back I find 50 emails or calls, people looking for me. There are also people that love me that come to me for who I am, Ibtisam. They call me to go out, or call me to talk. Some say, "Do not always take the initiative to listen, you have to talk as well." Those friends are what push me forward, they tell me not to give up. If you plant, you harvest.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Adina Shapiro
Middle East Children's Association (MECA)
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ The Israeli curriculum has been around for fifty years, the Palestinian curriculum is just being developed. You can't even put them on an equal basis for comparing, and definitely not work on them together as a joint curricular activity and say "let's all sit down and write curriculum together." I think that might also be seen as one side trying to impose curriculum on the others. So, I think that our goal would be to work within the existing curriculum hoping that as the changes in the curricula take place, that the kinds of things that we're doing will impact those changes. And the teachers we're working with will be able to teach a changed curriculum because the problem many times is not the curriculum. The curriculum for the most part is reflective of what most people are saying, it's not creating something new.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Adele Zumot
All for Peace Radio
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ The challenge is to get an extreme right-winger to talk to a station that is talking about peace, a station that is composed of a Palestinian and Israeli team that are working for peace. The challenge is in convincing extremists that oppose all kinds of joint work including organizations that promote peace, to talk on the radio station knowing that it is a joint Palestinian Israeli project working for the promotion of peace.” [Source in Complete Interview]
