Going Home To Palestine-Israel

A collection of letters by Fadi Elsalameen - Director and founder of the Voice of Arab Youth project. Palestinian by nationality, he came to the United States first on the Seeds of Peace International organization program and is now at Earlham College in Indiana. Fadi is double majoring in biochemistry and political science. He has spoken to audiences around the world on conflict resolution and the importance of coexistence and dialogue in the Middle East.

Being in the West Bank and Israel, and watching our leaders talk-the-talk about bringing peace and security to their people have raised and destroyed at the same time the hopes of many people who have seen neither peace nor security. Peace has lost its value, and "talking" about making peace no longer interests anyone. People are angry, frustrated, and by and large depressed. The only thing I hear people talk about on the streets is work, death, and Ariel Sharon. There is no such thing as a source of income; most kids from my town and neighboring towns spend their time looking for metal scraps to sell, or food to eat in the garbage dumpsters of neighboring Israeli settlements. The parents of my friends who were shot by the IDF one or two years ago are still mourning. They wipe tears from their eyes, and at their homes, pictures from the funerals and posters showing their dead sons as heroes are still hanging on the walls. The brothers and sisters in their homes are banned from watching TV or listening to music because of one reason: to never let anything make them forget about their loved ones and the way they were killed. Each meal they gather for, the Fatiha and other versus from the Quran are read to remind them of their shahid or martyr. My close friend Mohammed was killed in Hebron a year ago and until today his older brother wakes up at night and stares at the videotape from Mohammed's funeral. Until this day, Mohammed's mother tells me that every time she passes by a soldier near a checkpoint, she shivers and sometimes cries. In most cases she is tempted to slap the soldiers across the face for killing her son and harassing her every time she crosses--if they let her cross at all.

As long as Palestinians feel as if they are in the biggest prison in the world, there will be no peace.

So, is it true people don't believe in peace any more? What are we to do then? Could it be that we are used to violence and war to the point were it has become a normal part of our lives? To answer these questions, we must look at the situation on the ground. The cease-fire at first raised the hopes of many Palestinians and Israelis to the point where I would hear Palestinians pray and wish that Hamas will not blow up anything, and Israel will let people go to work. Unfortunately, neither of the two prayers has been answered so far. There is no real change on the ground and an opportunity to nourish the hopes of people for peace is being killed. As long as the main roads on the Palestinian side are being blocked, and soldiers' harassment of women, children, and old men is continued, there will be no peace. And as long as the only way to move around, is by taking a dirt road that has donkeys, people, sheep, trucks, taxis, and everything you can imagine driving and walking on the same road at the same time there will be no peace. As long as Palestinians feel as if they are in the biggest prison in the world, there will be no peace. And as long as Israel's security is threatened by suicide missions, there will be no peace. Both peoples have to understand that peace comes with concessions, compromises, and understanding, not with greediness, and killing. And that is not such an easy task to achieve. "In order to make peace with your enemy, you must go to war with yourself" one of my friends once said.

Americans have tried to give both Palestinians and Israelis the chance to see the point behind the cease-fire and the road map. Unfortunately, the American role was perceived by many as a step motivated by self-interest alone. On the Palestinians streets, people who are fifty and sixty years old talk about how the Americans are setting another trap for the Palestinians. Americans are only interested in themselves and their allies. The only reason they intervened in this "road map" is because they know that creating quietness - and not peace by any one's standards - between Palestinians and Israelis is key to their success in the war in Iraq, and a necessary step to save Israel's economy. These are not words they read in papers published by scholars in Washington's think tanks. These are the words of people who have-for a long time-been watching what American policy inflicted on them; so guessing the reason behind the American intervention this time was not such a hard task. American interests: This is the only reason most Palestinians saw behind the road map. And of course, it is very hard to see that there is another benefit from the road map when the only thing on the ground progressing or increasing is Sharon's determination to build a wall around the West Bank. As for the Israelis, they are about as depressed and frustrated as it can get. You hear two things on the Israeli streets: first, "this mess will never end, and its a waste of time, Hamas is just regrouping, preparing, etc." or you hear " The only solution, is to bomb every single Palestinian city."

The issue, is not whether or not the US acts to further US interests - of course it does; this is what states do. The issue, rather, is how to make sure that the US interests, the Palestinian interests, and the Israeli interest coincide and agree with each other. Any Palestinian - or any Israeli, for that matter - who sits and waits for the US to act not in its own interests is going to wait for ever. This should not be allowed to happen. Unless the people's hopes are raised for the right intentions and they are given a chance to look forward to a new reality with a clear political horizon, even for a short time, peace will mean nothing. Cease-fire and breaches of the cease-fire will be as far as we can go before violence breaks out again. Hamas and Sharon should not be allowed to use each other as excuses to achieve their goals, which are far removed from the interests of both Palestinians and Israelis. Sharon must give up the ambition of eradicating a Palestinian national movement, and Hamas should accept the fact that peace with Israel is in the best interest of the Palestinians and is in the only way to avoid hitting the hard surface after almost three years of free falling. The destruction of Israel is an outdated currency that no longer sells on the Palestinian streets. Palestinians and Israelis should be given the chance not only to see but also experience what the road map carries for them, and the best way to do so is by allowing changes to take place on the ground. The time to do so is now.

The Confinement Wall

The Palestinians so far have seen a clear will and vision on the Israeli side to place every single Palestinian under control and- if possible- eradicate anything that resembles a Palestinian entity. This is the reality that Palestinians are facing today. From the day the ?road map? was announced until this day, the current Israeli government has been speaking about its desire for peace with the Palestinians. Yet, until today Palestinians have seen the Israeli government go on with its cruel policies and collective punishment as if the destruction of the Palestinian people is the way to peace. The will to build a wall that will make it impossible for Palestinians to establish a state of their own, is a clear sign of Israel?s intentions towards the Palestinians; placing everyone under tight confinement is what seems to be the next step.

I just spoke to my friends at Alquds University, and they tell me that things are getting heated very soon. The Israeli government has decided to expropriate all the playgrounds, and half of the University?s area for the Separation Wall. They have demolished many buildings, and are continuing to do so. Today, students are studying in tents. And what is being done to prevent this? Nothing. The only thing occurring today is that students, lead by the president of the university Dr. Sari Nusseibeh, are organizing daily non-violent protests to prevent the wall from cutting the University into half.

The least one can say about the Separation wall that it is making everyone?s life miserable. In areas such as Qalqiliaya, where the Separation wall has been almost completed, the 40,000 People that make up the entire city of Qalgiliaya can enter or leave the city from only one electronic gate. And at the gate they can only pass if they present an ID card to the soldiers guarding the gate. And if-for some reason- the address written on the ID card mentions a different city than Qalqiliaya, people are automatically denied entry, even though the only place they live in is Qalqiliaya. 40, 000 people are forced to enter and exit from one gate? Since when did this become acceptable?

This is not only happening in Qalqiliaya, but also Tulkarim, and tomorrow it will be in Ramallah and every other Palestinian city. My family who lives in south Hebron tell me that the Israeli government are issuing warnings for a number of families telling them that their houses will be demolished, and most of their farming land will be confiscated because of the space needed for the separation wall. Not to mention the amount of land being confiscated for no other reason than giving in to the pressure by settlements lobbying groups to include them within the borders of the wall would be an underestimation of the amount of damage this wall is causing.

I do not see how president Bush?s vision of a Palestinian state will become possible in a year or two from today--if at all. The wall will divide my town like many other towns into two parts: The empty land part and that will belong to the Israelis; Palestinians will have a wall that confines them into their crowded homes and streets. And if we are lucky we too will get an electronic gate just like Qalgiliaya to enter and exit the town. A number of people have already started looking for housing in different areas. People feel they are being chased and locked up to the point where they feel restricted from moving even in their own homes. Israelis are making us feel so crowded.
They are pushing us beyond limits.
And so I ask again, since when did this also become acceptable?

All the best, Fadi - 9/2003