Separation Barrier
Meir Margalit
Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions
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Interview Highlights »
“ One of the horrible things that happened over this last decade is that the Green Line was erased; it became so natural that people forgot we are occupiers and that we've got a problem. Now, because of the debate regarding the separation barrier, people grasp the meaning; they understand we need separation. Even thought they're talking about physical separation and not about political separation, it's clear that the separation barrier is the basis for future political separation. The wall will come down eventually, but even when it does, it will be etched in people's minds that we need to separate the two peoples. Given my dialectical approach, it's a paradox that it can make people understand that we need total separation: two states for two peoples.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Gila Svirsky
Coalition of Women for Peace, Women in Black
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Interview Highlights »
“ We [the Women's Coalition for a Just Peace] do not in any sense justify suicide bombing or terrorism, or violence of any sort, not by us and not by them. We certainly understand that and, I speak for myself, I understand that Israel has to defend itself. I know Israel has enemies. I would understand Israel building a wall to protect itself even though I don't agree that it's the best way to go about protecting itself. But the need for a wall does not mean that you go about building it in the territory of the other party. It just inflames the situation even more.” [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 not Israelis of the Islamic persuasion, they're Palestinians. 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]
Inas Radwan
Building Bridges for Peace
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Interview Highlights »
“ They don't let us go to Jerusalem even though it is a holy place, but I realize that not everybody is religious. All our needs are in Jerusalem, like the church court for example. [...] I am not a religious person, though I do believe in my religion, but I love being in that place, I feel comfort and purity from the inside. You feel that the place is sacred; you can feel it in its air. They cannot forbid us from going there, it's impossible. Every time I go I find that they've made it even harder. The last time I was there the wall had not gotten to Beit Hanina, but now it's so close to being closed completely. Maybe the next time I will come I will have to jump over the wall.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Itamar Shapira
Combatants for Peace
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Interview Highlights »
“ I can’t imagine peace here in the near future. I hope that it will happen because without hope there is no reason to work for peace, but I don’t expect my generation to witness us living together, doing business with each other, blossoming relations. I think there needs to be separation; I think that a separation barrier is a good idea in theory -- not its current contour obviously, the way it closes off tiny ghettos -- but a fence that high, of similar intimidating proportions on the 1967 borders; that would be fine.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Walid Salem
Panorama
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Interview Highlights »
“ I think, based on my experience of 30 years in this field, that we have two options. One is to continue the violence from both sides, which will results in the building of walls: the physical wall Sharon is building and the more important walls that are the mental walls. The mental walls will cause the Palestinians to reject any connections with the Israelis. The violence has already resulted in the creation of a mental wall among the Israelis, which makes them want to stop seeing the Palestinians and stop dealing with them altogether. The other way is building peace from the bottom up in order to transform the conflict in a way that will lead to future cooperation.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Daniel Seidemann
Ir Amim
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Interview Highlights »
“ We are trying to convince the authorities that number one, the wall must be temporary, it can't be a border, and that a convincing cease-fire will always be more effective than any kind of physical measure. That's an uphill battle.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Salwa Abu Libdeh
Dialogue On The Road
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Interview Highlights »
“ I know one boy in the ninth grade who can’t go to school because of the wall and is now crying because he has to change schools and leave his friends. His mother told me that he is having psychological problems because he had to change schools. So how will you convince this boy that the Jews are good? The Israelis need to give me the reasons to convince him. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
Riyad Faraj
Parents Circle-Bereaved Families Forum
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Interview Highlights »
“ Today if you watch the news or the political situation that we live in, you will find that even the extreme Palestinian parties like the Jihad and Hamas are asking for the lands of '67. It's the Israelis who don't want to give it to us. There's no way that a state will be established in the lands of '67, even though that is what we are asking for now. I mean, there's a settlement one kilometer away from me and there's no way that the Israelis will remove it. It's taking up more than half of Bethlehem's area. The wall that they are building has taken in more land than the lands of '67! So how much is left of the lands of '67?” [Source in Complete Interview]
Professor Sami Adwan
PRIME (Peace Research Institute in the Middle East)
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Interview Highlights »
“ The situation will worsen in the years to come, and the Palestinian condition in particular will get much worse. I am not very optimistic these days. The fear that I have now is similar to the fear that existed in 1948. That is to say, I fear that I will become like a Native American Indian, or like one of the indigenous peoples of Australia or Canada. When I was in Canada, natives there said, “our places are disappearing.” As a Palestinian, I also feel that my places are disappearing. Now, when I look out my office window, I see the wall. I cannot see beyond it. The wall is also very close to my house, no more than 100 meters away. So I feel like my land and the places that should belong to me have begun to disappear.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Meir Margalit
Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions
Portrait »
Interview Highlights »
“ People say, "but there will be suicide bombings," and I can't promise them that there won't be suicide attacks on buses. I can promise them though that if we don't reach a solution, thousands of terrorists will detonate bombs in the streets of Jerusalem. That's clear to me. There is no wall that can prevent that, no targeted killings or checkpoints either; people who are motivated to do such a thing will slip by easily. I can't promise that there won't be suicide bombings or that there will be peace, yet I can assure you that if we don't reach a solution there will be unprecedented bloodshed.” [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 »
“ We take university students from Hebrew University on weekly tours. The only thing these students know about the wall is that it is a means to stop terrorists and provide security. They don't know that it has other human consequences. We take these students and arrange meetings between them and their Arab neighbors in Al-Ram who are affected by the wall. For the first time, as civilians and not soldiers, they see and listen to Palestinians. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
Daniel Seidemann
Ir Amim
Portrait »
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]
Orly Noy
All For Peace Radio
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Interview Highlights »
“ Even if [the wall] could really stop terrorist activities, it would still be evil to do this, because not all means are legitimate to use. If you have a terrorism problem, deal with it the way you should deal with it: by negotiations, by I don't care how really. You cannot deal with your problems by really destroying the lives of others. You don't have the right to do that. And I hate the way the only discussion in Israel about the wall is whether it works or if it doesn't work. That's not the question at all. I don't care if it works. I don't care if it stops 100% of terrorist activities, because for me it's like going and bombing everybody from the air. That would stop the terrorist activities as well. We don't do this.” [Source in Complete Interview]
Ibrahim Issa
Hope Flowers School
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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]
Helmi Kittani
Center for Jewish-Arab Economic Development
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Interview Highlights »
“ Look, the conflict impacts my personal life in a harsh manner. I'm in Baka el-Gharbiye and it is located on the seam line, just on the Green Line. My mother is from a village that is over the Green Line. So my family is located on the other side of the wall and it is difficult for me to keep up natural and normal contact with them. Even if a relative dies I cannot always participate in the mourning - if they live on the other side of the Green Line. And likewise, it is hard for my relatives, my cousins, to come and participate in my happy events or, mourning, God forbid. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
Kobi Snitz
Anarchists Against the Wall
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Interview Highlights »
“ [Residents of] Budrus, a village west of Ramallah, very close to the Green Line, were demonstrating. Over the course of six months, I think they counted something like close to sixty demonstrations. The planners decided to move the fence to the Green Line almost completely. It deviates from the Green Line at some point, but the significance was that it wasn't a court decision. It was the demonstrations that forced a rethinking of the route. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
