« Thematic Highlights

Violence

Nasser Laham
Maan News, Bethlehem Television Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ There is no revenge, this is a political conflict. We are stupid to think about revenge. I do not relate to revenge, revenge is akin to spreading poison in your own kitchen. Maybe one of your children will take it and put it in his mouth. Revenge and hatred are toxic, who would be stupid enough to put out poison in their kitchen and then go off to work? We have young children; I don’t want them to learn about vengeance, hatred or incitement. If the Israelis want that, it’s not my problem -- I’m not responsible for Israeli society. As a journalist and as a father, I am responsible for my children and for my society.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Ibtisam Mahameed
Interfaith Encounter Association, Middleway Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ One of the reasons I became a peace activist is that I came to realize that there is no point to what's going on here. Violence creates more violence. Killing after killing, until when will this circle of violence go on? I got to know about the people that are working on bringing the different sides together.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Ibrahim Issa
Hope Flowers School Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ We believe here [at the Hope Flowers School] that every act of violence is the result of an unhealed wound. And in order to prevent violence we have to get deeper to the wounds.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Itamar Shapira
Combatants for Peace Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ Shovrim Shtika’s central concept is that there is a conspiracy of silence inside Israeli society that initially starts between a soldier and his family. When a soldier is on leave, he never talks about exactly what he’s doing and how many people he beat up or if he killed anybody, or how many people or their identity, or how many houses he blasted. These issues are kept between a soldier and his friends; there is also a more profound conspiracy of silence within a soldier himself in that he doesn’t consider his own actions. People reach different states of aggression as a result of being in control, yet they are tired and frustrated and just kids. Society is silent about what appears in the papers, about the little that is published. There are other pacts of silence, but this is the main one we want to call attention to and get out in the open.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Ibrahim Issa
Hope Flowers School Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ [My Father] believed in freedom but he saw that violence brings only violence. What we need is to create a new generation of Palestinians and Israelis who believe in peace, coexistence and respecting each other's rights. ”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Adi Dagan
Coalition of Women for Peace, Machsom Watch Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ [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]

Ayelet Shahak
Association for the Commemoration of Bat-Chen Shahak, Bereaved Families Forum Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ Khaled [a member of the Bereaved Families Forum] is a very wise man and he even says that he knows they made a mistake in this intifada. That this intifada caused them more harm. To hear it from him makes it easier for us. Because at the bottom line, as a left-wing person who was slapped in the face with this Intifada, to hear someone from the other side say that they were mistaken, that they did the wrong thing, makes it easier to think about the future.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Ibtisam Mahameed
Interfaith Encounter Association, Middleway Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ [As] I got to be in touch with others [in the Interfaith Encounter Association] I found that they also have their stories. For example, Elana [an Israeli member of the IEA] had a 16-year-old son that was injured in a bus explosion and stayed in the hospital for 6 months. She suffered a lot with him. He couldn't go to school. She was in a lot of pain because he was mentally exhausted and his whole body was a mess. She slept on a mattress next to him for six months until he came back home. When I heard her story, it touched me as a human and I cried. You can also hear the same story from a Palestinian woman. The suffering and pain are the same. A mother raises her son whether she is a Jew or Christian or Muslim or whatever. Our children pay the price.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Tzvika Shahak
Association for the Commemoration of Bat-Chen Shahak, Bereaved Families Forum Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ Why was the murderer sent to murder Bat-Chen along with those other people at Dizengoff Center? The situation is chaotic, vengeful; people are angry, and so there is no peace. Whoever sent the suicide bomber meant to wreck havoc and create a situation in which people in Israel object to peace and react violently. Violence is matched with violence and the situation escalates until war breaks out. ”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Kobi Snitz
Anarchists Against the Wall Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ Even ten Israelis at a demonstration can make a real difference. We know from the army's own declarations that their open fire regulations change as soon as they think there are Israelis around. For example, they are not to use live fire when there are Israelis around, and they are not to fire rubber bullets in a direction where they think there are Israelis. So even a small number of Israelis can make a difference, and a large number obviously can make a big difference.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Tzvika Shahak
Association for the Commemoration of Bat-Chen Shahak, Bereaved Families Forum Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ The Palestinians must understand that there is always the alternative of violence and that we need to keep that. If we are weak we could lose much of our ability to negotiate. I think we need to learn to use our power in a controlled way so it is practical and focused. If we do that, we can harness our power for peace. If we don't, we're harnessing it for war. At the end of the day, all our leaders, including the Israelis, want peace. They don't want to send soldiers to be wounded or to lose their lives. They are doing what they are doing because they understand there is no other way, because they understand that if we don't react to a Qassam rocket being fired from Gaza, if we don't operate and find the head of Hamas or a local organization, if we don't prevent a Palestinian from passing at a checkpoint to blow himself up, our lives here won't be safe. There will be chaos and mayhem and people won't be willing to talk about peace.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Dr. Khuloud Dajani
People's Campaign for Peace and Democracy Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ My red line is the shedding one drop of blood from a human being. I hope that tomorrow the violence will end and then we can sit and try to resolve the problems. Because we are fighting over nonsense; we are fighting over sand and stones. This is the red line, especially when children are involved. Sooner or later, problems will be resolved and all the people who have been killed would be a waste to us and to the Israelis.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Ali Abu Awwad
Bereaved Families Forum, Al Tareek (The Way) Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ Why do the extremists carry out explosions? They carry out explosions because they want to convey that they are suffering, to an extent that life and death have the same value. We talk in order to exploit the suffering in a more efficient way. Our work presents a greater danger to the Israeli state. An Israeli general said that nonviolence is the most dangerous weapon possessed by the Palestinians, because it undermines all the excuses for the occupation and the legitimacy they claim to have when destroying a house or assassinating someone.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Ofer Shinar
Independent advisor and researcher in Transitional Justice, former consultant to the Bereaved Families' Forum Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ How do you start a reconciliation process when a bus explodes and 15 Israelis are killed? How can you start the process when the IDF kills Palestinian babies, even if by mistake? It's extremely difficult.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Yoa'ad Shbita
Building Bridges for Peace, Reut-Sedaka Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ We were sitting on the grass and there were very, very young children with us- one, one and a half year olds. One of the guys asked, "What are you, Arabs?" And my mother said, "Yes. Do you have a problem with that?" Then they attacked us. [...] a man who was with us had his hand broken; he had a cast for about four months. My father was stabbed in the stomach and by some miracle it wasn't anything serious, except the trauma caused to the young children who were with us [...] And if it had happened to a Jewish family? Would it go over so quietly?”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Rutie Atsmon
Windows Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ What gives me hope is knowing there is no choice. We are here, both nations, and we want to live here. We have the right to live here-- both of us-- and people will not be able to accept the status quo much longer, because a lot of people are fed up with violence… A lot of people here, and also on the Palestinian side, were led to believe that using power, using violence, could bring about a political solution. More and more people understand that it doesn't. Violence brings more violence. We need to end it.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Riyad Faraj
Parents Circle-Bereaved Families Forum Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ Early on, while growing up, we saw people’s fathers or brothers beaten up. We were humiliated in our homes. There was no educational atmosphere and no means for living. All of that generated the desire within us to improve our condition. There was no method we could think of to improve our condition through dialogue; the only way was to fight.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Rutie Atsmon
Windows Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ We don't judge people if they support the army or if they support attacks. What we try to do is work with them to see why they feel that way, why they support this way or that way. We try to lead people to believe that the best way is to talk to each other, that the best way to solve the problems is without violence. But in order to bring people to feel this way, we have to understand why people support, if they do, acts of violence, on any side of the conflict. And part of it will be to understand the fears, the anger, the frustration that people on both sides feel that leads them to support violence. ”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Riyad Faraj
Parents Circle-Bereaved Families Forum Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ Those who militarized this intifada are the bad ones. It wasn't right to militarize the intifada, meaning the involvement of weapons. Had it stayed a civil uprising, we would have had the public opinion on our side, but now we have lost everything. Now we are perceived as terrorists and criminals when we used to be the righteous. Now we have lost everything. No one can stand to hear about a Palestinian. We used to be respected anywhere we went because we used to ask for our rights in legal ways--we used to protest or throw stones at tanks, but now we are shooting and bombing and killing. The responsibility lies with all of us. No one can stand to live in such circumstances without doing something about it.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Walid Salem
Panorama Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ A new misunderstanding I discovered is that Palestinians are violent by nature. I discovered that the Israeli and international public think that we are a violent society. This belief is connected to the view that Islam is the religion of death - that it regards death as holy. These conceptions are wrong. Islam is a religion that regards life as holy. According to Islam life is given as a gift by God and man doesn't have the right to harm that gift. When a person kills another person he harms a gift given by God. There is a misconception among the international community that Islam believes in violence and killing. We have a misconception about the Israeli society that all of Israeli society is soldiers and settlers, and therefore targets for killing.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Nasser Laham
Maan News, Bethlehem Television Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ Have the Israelis forgotten Hayyim Nahman Bialik? 'Arise, come forth from the desert, still the road is long and the war is longer.' Have you forgotten? Every people has wishes, beliefs, culture and sensitivities, just like the Israelis, we do too. The Israelis have the poet Bialik just as we have Mahmoud Darwish. People have lost their minds. Is whoever kills the most children the biggest hero?!”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Majed Tbeileh
Nablus Youth Federation, The Future Generation Hands Committee Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ In the current situation, the conflict, in which children face tanks and are sometimes caught in the middle of the armed struggle, we forget that children are still children despite the tragedy. We should enable children to enjoy their childhood as much as possible so that they won’t become violent in the future, not in terms of political violence only but in terms of domestic violence as well. Many Palestinian children who grow up in this situation become violent domestically. Personally, I am more concerned about the issues of youth and children than about the other issues I mentioned.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Melisse Lewine-Boskovich
Peace Child Israel Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ I believe that the Jews are behaving as those who suffered from child abuse: if you were hit, you hit back, and you hit before you get hit again. And it's going to take a huge, monumental effort to be able to let that go. That's going to also require the discriminated, downtrodden minority to kick in and help and prove that it can happen.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Tzvika Shahak
Association for the Commemoration of Bat-Chen Shahak, Bereaved Families Forum Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ I do the opposite of what's expected of me and don't seek revenge, don't run straight to the barracks and declare war, but rather I decided to seek a different way, a path different from war, from violence and the road of aggressive response. We tried that; I'm searching for another way. This may not be the standard response but it does make a whole lot of sense. Say I take the violent approach. Say I were to kill a Palestinian girl. Would that bring Bat-Chen back? No. It would only make someone on the other side angry at me, and maybe they would send the next suicide bomber. ”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Khulood Badawi
Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), Ta'ayush, Coalition of Women for Peace, Bat Shalom Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ My optimism about Palestinians and the Palestinian State is challenged by my pessimism about Israeli society, which has lost basic and simple human values as a result of the occupation. They have brought this upon themselves. Examples of this are the issues of violence against women, rape, verbal violence and the number of weapons used within the society. These issues are becoming normal for the society I live in. Some think that if we, as Palestinian citizens of Israel, separate ourselves from this negative society, we will be liberated. This is a mistake. We are two peoples that live together, and all the negativity of one group negatively influences the other.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Yehuda Stolov
Interfaith Encounter Association Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ I think the Jews believe that the Arabs can't be trusted, and that they only understand the language of force, that dialogue conveys weakness. That's obviously not true. I think the Arabs have the same prejudices. They also believe the Jews can't be trusted, that they'll cheat them if given the opportunity, that force can change their approach. The matter of force is pretty amazing. Both sides are wrong big time because force only causes the other side to become entrenched in its prejudices.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Kobi Snitz
Anarchists Against the Wall Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ In late 2003, the first time I came was for direct action in Mas'ha. We cut the fence and opened the gate and it was made famous by the army shooting live rounds at us from a short distance. One of the guys got shot in both legs, nearly bled to death and nearly lost one of his legs. He's fine now. Direct action became a lot more dangerous after that.”  [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]

Inas Radwan
Building Bridges for Peace Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ The Israeli participants [in Building Bridges for Peace] used to think that only the Palestinian fighters are the ones killed in those operations and I used to think that only soldiers carrying guns die in those explosions. It never occurred to me that they might be normal people, just like me.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Riyad Faraj
Parents Circle-Bereaved Families Forum Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ […During] the invasion of the Bethlehem church, no one was allowed outside their homes. My father, at age 56, went out to get some groceries. My brothers and I were playing cards at home. We had longed so much to be with each other. We have local TV stations, and I was facing the TV and I read my father's name on the screen--that he had been killed. We hadn't yet heard about it. I'm telling you this now but I still don't believe it. People had started calling us, and they were worried but didn't want to tell us. They wanted to check first to see if we knew about what had happened. We didn't have a clue as to why they were behaving like this until we read his name on TV. We went to identify his body but we couldn't--he had been shot by 36 bullets of the 500 type. His body was ripped apart. It was horrible. This was only six months after my brother's funeral.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Meir Margalit
Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ I remember that when I was in youth group there was a classic question we debated. A soldier stands outside a cave in which a terrorist is hiding; he debates whether to throw a grenade because there are also a woman and child there, both innocent. He enters instead, and is wounded. The matter of the purity of arms used to be an important issue, as well as army morale, and it was very clear that when facing a terrorist accompanied by an innocent woman you wouldn't throw a grenade and kill her. Today we have a Chief of Staff who is capable of admitting he launched a one-tone bomb that killed 14 people and sensing only a slight jar in the plane.”  [Source in Complete Interview]