« Thematic Highlights

Israeli/Palestinian Power Dynamics

Adina Shapiro
Middle East Children's Association (MECA) Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ I don't have any regrets about not asking the Palestinians to accept my point of view, my Israeli point of view. We're going to disagree, I take that for granted. I don't even expect necessarily for there to be a mutual recognition of my historical right to be here, I'm going to settle for my right to be here now.”  [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]

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

“ It was the first time in my life that I met, sat with and listened to an Israeli that was suffering like me. I used to hear on the news or from friends who worked for Israelis about how Israelis had lost a son or family member. This was the first time I experienced seeing an Israeli emotionally touched by knowing that I had lost someone and so had he, and he was willing to sit with a Palestinian who felt the same way. At the same time, he is the cause of what happened to me, but I wasn't the cause of what had happened to him. I mean, I didn't take his land; he took mine. For example, the Israeli Roni that came to the Forum has lost his two sons. That's not because of me, but he is the reason I lost my father and brother. [As an Israeli] he was imposed on me.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Yana Knopova
Coalition of Women For Peace Portrait »
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]

Rami Nasrallah
International Peace and Cooperation Center (IPCC) Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ We and the Israelis are neighbors; one living in a posh villa with a swimming pool and guards, and the other living in a situation worthy of animals. […]The poor neighbor will always try to steal from his rich neighbor. In this situation there can be no peace. If the Palestinians don't reach the same level as Israelis, there will be no peace. My work aims to strengthen the Palestinian side on all levels. When we started working in Jerusalem, we met people who felt inferior to Israelis. We have the feeling that the Israelis are subcontracting the Palestinians. The Israeli peace activists approach peace as a kind of mental therapy. They say "Ah, there is a good Palestinian."”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Michal Zak
The School for Peace Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ The popular approach at the time [the 1970s] was very North-American oriented, such as the inter-personal encounter approach that says, "you get to know me and I get to know you and then we understand we're all humans and then we kiss and hug," and things don't fundamentally change. In the eighties there was a sense of a lack of satisfaction regarding the existing models, both here and abroad. The main advocates for a different model were the Arab facilitators here; they claimed that this approach doesn't address power relations; it presumes a non-existent kind of egalitarianism.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Michal Zak
The School for Peace Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ We understand that the fact that [the meetings] are conducted entirely in Hebrew is no trivial matter; it's not that "language doesn't matter as long as we're talking to each other." The fact that everything goes on in Hebrew proves that there isn't an equal opportunity environment here, and that we are sticking to inequity. Language is far more than just a medium for communication; it's a matter of culture, identity, lots of things. Not only does it mean that the Arabs are giving up so much within our dialogue but also that by not speaking Arabic I'm not taking the important steps that I'm supposed to be taking. I can talk all I want about how I support equality, but it's limited because there's a difference between someone who speaks only their own language and between someone who's bilingual. It hurts because it's a difficult criterion. It's not easy learning a language. But I think that's the way it is, and we need to address it.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Kobi Snitz
Anarchists Against the Wall Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ My impression of some dialogue groups is that sometimes the starting premise is that in order to get along, in order to make this pleasant for everybody, we need to start from a position of parity: Palestinians suffer, Israelis suffer. If we start from that position, it will be easier to get along. But I think as far as relating to the political situation I think it's quite misleading. Israelis and Palestinians are not in the same position.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Inas Radwan
Building Bridges for Peace Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ The first time I really felt that I was forced to listen, it really was a problem because I didn't want to listen. They insisted that they wanted to talk about their pain and what was hurting them. At last I gave in, not because I wanted to listen but because I became curious. If they wanted to talk, so be it, I didn't have to understand or feel their pain, I would just listen if they wanted to talk. When they started talking, I realized that they were saying the same things I say only from a different perspective. The way they talked was different; they were saying the same things I would say.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Shwanesh Maniov
Seeds of Peace, Children of Abraham Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ There was a child of settlers [at the Seeds of Peace summer camp] and it was very difficult for him all the time. He cried because he couldn't understand how suddenly he had Palestinian friends. It was very difficult for him. Some might say that it's not a process, but to me, to recognize that the other side exists, and to cry so forcefully, signifies a change. It doesn't matter, that when he goes back to the Territories he will be on the powerful side again, he'll always have what he went through here.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Yehuda Stolov
Interfaith Encounter Association Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ We make time for people to sit down together for two and a half days in order to talk to one another. Perhaps the most important issue is that we set aside politics. Elsewhere people head straight for politics, which stems from the naïve urge to convince the other side to change, and pretty soon leads to fights that go nowhere. Potentially that could have happened quite often at our meetings, because we bring people from all over the political range. Instead they discuss issues that are linked to every person's existential experiences. It works very easily, it becomes profound and powerful.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Yana Knopova
Coalition of Women For Peace Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ [O]nly women participate in our meetings. Look, there is a lot to it. Mixed meetings are more aggressive, there is less emphasis on what others [in the group] think, and usually it is the case that Ashkenazi men don't really identify the existence of an "other". It's not because of bad intentions. It's important to remember that the strong can go through life never noticing the weak. The weak have no choice but to see the strong. A Palestinian in Israel cannot go through life without constantly seeing Jews everywhere, there is no choice in the matter. A Jew in Israel can, however, live in Ramat Hasharon or Tel-Aviv without ever seeing an Arab. Ever.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Rami Nasrallah
International Peace and Cooperation Center (IPCC) Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ Understanding them doesn't mean we have to love them. I don't want to love the Israelis or for them to love us, but there are interests. If we are strong as a society and as an economy, we can be part of the equation, if we are not strong we can't. Therefore what attracted me was how to learn from the Israelis how to build myself, how to enhance our collective intellect and qualifications and how to deal with issues not only based on sentimental considerations. Their return to this land was not based only on sentimental values; they had a complete agenda. Regardless of how this agenda affected me and of the tragedy it caused the Palestinians, it was an effective program. If we want to deal with the Israelis as equal counterparts we can't do it without absolute knowledge of the Israeli side.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Wafa Srour
The School for Peace Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ When people ask me why I bring students to meet each other, I tell them that in my own experience participating in such encounters has strengthened my sense of identity. Palestinian students grow up hearing that Israeli students are stronger, better, and smarter than they are. When they meet Israeli students, however, they discover that they are not as they are portrayed in books and so on. When I came face-to-face with real Israelis, it caused me to reflect upon myself.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Yana Knopova
Coalition of Women For Peace Portrait »
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]

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]

Wafa Srour
The School for Peace Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ If I am weak, then I will not achieve a thing. I must become more powerful in order to make change. This is not a lesson, as much as it is a given. I cannot expect a tyrant and an occupier to act humanely all of a sudden: to apologize and ask to make amends. I wish it were that easy, but it's not. So the lesson we learn is that we must increase our own strength. It is similar to marriage; men will never understand women's concerns unless women reveal them. This can be difficult and even excruciating, but this is the way things are.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Prof. Sami Adwan
PRIME (Peace Research Institute of the Middle East) Portrait »
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]

Yafit Gamila Biso
The Olive Tree Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ In order to build peace you need to take the steps - human rights is one step for instance. Over the past few years, peace movements would come to a village for demonstrations. Very few keep in touch, and that's usually the organizers or people who have close relations with the village, but the 300-400 participants who come to the demonstration don't. […] Keeping in touch means slowly building a relationship with our neighbors; it's not just coming when we are needed and playing the role of the stronger older brother. I want us to be in touch regardless of whether I'm strong and you're weak, or the opposite. […] Palestinian people appreciate that-not people coming, demonstrating and running away.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

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

“ I truly believe that the Israeli people are victims; they are victims of Herzl and Ben Gurion because they told them that Israel is the safest place in the world for them. When they were brought here they spoiled and sullied this place. Israel is now the most dangerous place in the world for the Jews and is the opposite of Zionism. I think that the Israeli people need the Palestinians' help; if we say we forgive them, then the whole world will forgive them -- not because we are very important, but because we are weak and wretched. We are a tiny people, like the Israelis are. The Israelis want to emerge from this cycle but cannot because it is their generals that make the decisions.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Wafa Srour
The School for Peace Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ All Jewish Israelis, even racists, claim that they want peace. But what they actually mean by peace is that they continue to keep the Palestinians under occupation and the Palestinians say, "OK." Our view of peace is different. For us, peace is based upon equality: not you in a position of superiority and me in a position of inferiority. Even during Oslo, the feeling of superiority on the part of Jews was something unbelievable. How can that be considered to be peace? Peace will only be achieved when the two sides are treated as equals. That means that Israel has to give up its feeling of superiority. Only when both sides are equal, can each think of making concessions to the other. That is genuine peace.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Michal Zak
The School for Peace Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ I think that over the past few years we simply adopted a stance that questions the reality and deconstructs the idea of equality which we were formerly naïve about, the idea that equality is a balance - of fifty/fifty. At some point you see that it's simply not true, that the reality is so unequal that much more drastic means are necessary for there to be equality. So you need to turn reality around, and for the group that's empowered it's a very difficult switch. Suddenly they feel they're being asked to give up so much. And that's true. It's difficult, but it's what needs to be done. It's true that if we establish the fifty-fifty type of equality here it's better than what goes on outside. But reality is so powerful that that alone won't lead to equality.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Shwanesh Maniov
Seeds of Peace, Children of Abraham Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ During these first meetings the [Israeli] kids are at war with the Palestinians; they came to represent the Palestinians and we came to represent the Israelis. We tell them, "You won't gain anything from that!" Nobody is going to win here. There are no winners or losers. We're only trying to get to a better understanding of ourselves and the other side.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Michal Zak
The School for Peace Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ …I believe we must listen to what the minority says so we can have a better understanding of the reality. I think in general that they have access to the truth, not because they're Arabs, but because they're a repressed minority within the power structures. They know how they live, and they also know the nature of the majority and we, the majority, aren't really familiar with the minority, because of what I said about the language, and because we're not politically or economically dependent on them. We have a lesser understanding, in my opinion. It doesn't necessarily have to be that way, it's the outcome of this reality.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Aziz Abu Sarah
Bereaved Families Forum, All For Peace Radio Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ Take for example the checkpoints and the soldiers who stand at checkpoints. One of my friends refused to enroll in the army,so I asked him why he did so. He said: “when I am at the checkpoint, I become a god. I don’t feel like a soldier. It doesn’t matter what is right or wrong. I feel like I am god and I decide everything. As a human being, I can’t take the place of God, so I refuse to stand at checkpoints.” I look at those who do stand at the checkpoint, as victims, because after they come out of a place like that, they can never be normal human beings. It becomes hard to act like one. If you’re 18 years old and you’re taught that it’s OK to humiliate someone aged 60, you will think the same way when you go back home, it’s not going to change. Both societies think that they need to destroy the other but they don’t see that they are destroying themselves along the way.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Itamar Shapira
Combatants for Peace Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ There is a certain imbalance in the meetings; at first it seemed the Israelis came with a more apologetic approach -- allegedly -- because the Palestinians in our organization are still in the middle of a struggle, not a violent one, but nevertheless a struggle. That evened out gradually when we understood that it is also important for us to emphasize our own national identity as Israelis. These aren’t two societies seeking a solution with “no countries – no opposition” as its slogan. We emphasize each side’s national identity; coming from this recognition of national identity we want to end the occupation and the violence.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Michal Eskenazi
Young Israeli Forum for Cooperation Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ Perhaps it is linked to their background and daily life, but they [Palestinians] come and very much want to make an immediate change. We hold our dialogue sessions yet nothing changes, as though for the Palestinians we Israelis are the representatives of the State of Israel and we are responsible for changing the situation. I would like to instigate change but I have yet to take up a post in the Prime Minister’s office, so right now I can’t…I am also just a civilian, I do have the power allotted to citizens but it isn’t the same power the state has, not yet.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Orly Noy
All For Peace Radio Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ Hebrew is an occupying power over the Palestinians. It's funny how it's almost taken for granted by us that they would speak Hebrew and we wouldn't speak Arabic. Even between the languages the Hebrew occupies the Arabic, even at our radio station. I wish I could speak… I'm sure that, you know what, it's not even a good excuse, because if I had spoken Arabic with them it would have improved, obviously, but somehow you know it just turned out this way that we all speak Hebrew.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Michal Zak
The School for Peace Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ The evolving approach [to facilitated dialogue addresses Arab-Jewish relations as group relations and not as individual dynamics. That's because the conflict is between groups and not individuals, because the collective identities are so important. The former approach tries to negate that, tries to say, let it lie, leave being Jews or Arabs out of it, let's just be human beings in here. And we say, no. Bring it with you. It's true we're all human beings! Fine, but bring everything in and we'll deal with it. Bring the other parts because they produce conflict, it's not just between us on the level of being human beings, but rather a very politicized approach. It addresses the reality in terms of power relations and the asymmetrical nature of reality, so it resembles reality and doesn't try to contradict reality; that's why we can learn about reality from it. It can serve as a lab that reflects contemporary reality. As an educator I can accept this approach, because you might as well do pottery workshops otherwise.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Adina Shapiro
Middle East Children's Association (MECA) Portrait »
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]

George Sa'adeh
Bereaved Families Forum Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ Our relationship is based on common humanity, so we need to let the Israelis understand what the Palestinians go through. In addition, we need to understand how the Israelis think, and we need to let them know we suffer and they suffer with us. This is the best way to understand each other so that we can get mutual respect and the rights to live in two states safely. ”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Prof. Sami Adwan
PRIME (Peace Research Institute of 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]

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]

Kobi Snitz
Anarchists Against the Wall Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ I think a deeper political issue is Israelis' position in organizing the demonstration. It is a partnership, and we do work together with Palestinians, and yet it is their village, and they should be leading the demonstration. It's not the Israelis' place to lecture Palestinians about how to conduct their struggle… I find that sometimes Israelis, especially those who are not experienced or aren't in close contact with the village, would take more charge than they should: go this way, don't throw stones, that's the sort of tension that could come up with larger groups that don't have a long history of joint action.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Wafa Srour
The School for Peace Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ The point is not to bring youth together so that they can get to know each other and have fun. Our aim is to raise awareness. They can have fun later. Imagine that a Palestinian student comes out of a meeting and says, "Yeah I had a good time in there, but out here nothing has changed." I would feel as if I had fooled him. This is something that I, as part of a nation that is suffering under the rule of another nation, cannot accept. As such, we have changed the methods that we use. We say that there is a state called Israel that forced out and oppressed the Palestinian people. As the Palestinian minority in Israel we also face oppression and the denial of our rights. The point is to get everything out on the table and to deal with it.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Michal Eskenazi
Young Israeli Forum for Cooperation Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ Towards the end of the conference, after having undergone a very significant process together and many discussions, something happened in Gaza and eleven Palestinians were killed... The Palestinians refused to speak to us. We tried to explain that we were there and that we hadn’t done anything, but their perspective was that “you live in Israel, you served in the IDF, the guys serve in reserves, and we have nothing to say to you.” This was after we had the joint process. I grasped the asymmetry in coming to these discussions, in terms of how people perceive them.”  [Source in Complete Interview]