Occupation

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

“ We believe that demolishing the house of a terrorist's family, a family who is innocent, is a collective punishment that is forbidden. A family shouldn't take the blame for a son who went the wrong way. If you mean emotionally - how I approach the house demolition of a man who has eight children and cleans for the municipality and how I approach the demolition of the house of a terrorist's family, I admit I have a certain problem, emotionally speaking. I was asked to appeal the demolition of the house belonging to the suicide bomber who blew up Frank Sinatra cafeteria in the middle of the Mount Scopus campus, in the university's cafeteria. I couldn't make the same effort, put up the same fight for it as I would for an innocent person's house. I know people who were killed in that bombing. It touched me personally. The Committee Against House Demolitions doesn't differentiate between instances though.” [Source in Complete Interview]

Nader Khatib
Water and Environmental Development Organization, Friends of the Earth Middle East Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ There exists some kind of political agreement within our organization, because it is impossible for me to work with someone who supports the occupation. How can I speak to a person if he doesn’t recognize my right to live peacefully, securely and independently like he does?” [Source in Complete Interview]

Wafa Srour
The School for Peace Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ It was only when I became aware of the fact that I was being oppressed that I was able to start resisting it. The same thing applies to the struggle of women; the moment that I realized that I was not born weak, but rather that society had forced me into a weak position, I could start fighting for my rights. […] Once we become aware that there are people living under occupation, we can work to end it. This is our work; it is centered on consciousness-raising. Change, however, will not be achieved easily or quickly. Ideas that are deeply ingrained - the ideas on which people have been raised -cannot be uprooted overnight.” [Source in Complete Interview]

Robi Damelin
Parents Circle - Bereaved Families Forum Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ Even in his regular army service [my son] David was torn because he didn't want to serve in the Occupied Territories. He became an officer and was called to go to Hebron. He was in a terrible quandary and came to me and said, "What the hell am I going to do? I don't want to be there." I said, "If you want to go to jail I'll support you, but are you going to make a difference if you go to jail?" Because basically, if he were sent to jail, when he got out they'd put him somewhere else [in the Occupied Territories]. It's a never-ending story. If it would have created a huge noise then maybe that would have been the right choice; but you can also go [to your military post] and lead by example, by treating people around you with respect.” [Source in Complete Interview]

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

“ […In] general I see that making the Israeli public take an interest in what happens on the Palestinian side isn't working that well…I'm debating the matter. It's undecided. There's another approach that's gaining momentum: showing the effects of the checkpoints and the occupation on soldiers and on the army, showing the extent of the harm to our side. Perhaps this is an effective approach but it doesn't really appeal to me; however I see that it's something the press is always interested in.” [Source in Complete Interview]

Itamar Shapira
Combatants for Peace Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ I felt like I was risking the state’s security by entering villages very simply because every time we went in we encountered someone who didn’t quite want us there who would shoot; people were killed, and then there was revenge taken, and then a suicide bombing in another place…20 more dead, and we would set out to catch another one. We saw the names; we were a small unit, so we knew whom we were off to arrest and what they had done. I kept track of all the people we went after in my head and every one of them was connected to someone killed in the previous round. That alarmed me. I used to feel pretty righteous in my own way, I thought that I was there to do police work and catch someone who killed a lot of people, arrest them, and if a person shot at me because they didn’t want to be arrested then that was their problem.” [Source in Complete Interview]

Nader Khatib
Water and Environmental Development Organization, Friends of the Earth Middle East Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ At WEDO and Friends of the Earth we are against all forms of violence and primarily oppose the occupation; we believe that it is the main obstacle to peace. It is a simple equation: end the occupation and there will be peace and security for everyone.” [Source in Complete Interview]

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

“ We keep thinking about occupation and its consequences, but we don't think about the ways that we can change it. For example, if Sharon got crazy one day and decided he was going to give us the West Bank and Jerusalem back, what would we do with it? This is our main concern: what is our role as Palestinians once occupation is over and how can we be prepared.” [Source in Complete Interview]

Helmi Kittani
Center for Jewish-Arab Economic Development Portrait »
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]

Itamar Shapira
Combatants for Peace Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ Parents usually say, "Of course not. My sweet Yoram would never do such a thing." I know quite a few parents like that and I am familiar with what their sons did. It's true, their son would never do such a thing because at home he's a good boy and a very nice guy, but if he's in control, tired and people are pissing him off, he changes a little. He doesn't even have to be really annoyed for the situation to trigger him to contribute to a continuous sense of humiliation: though he himself serves in the Territories for only two years, later sweet Yoavi replaces him, and for the past 40 years an entire population has been humiliated, therefore Palestinians end up involved in the struggle.” [Source in Complete Interview]

Rutie Atsmon
Windows Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ People will tell you, "We need checkpoints so that terrorists won't get into Israel." What people don't know is that the checkpoint is on the road, but ten meters to this side, and ten meters to that side, no one is guarding. And whoever wants to come in and do an attack, he can go over the hill or the wadi, not by the road. That is, the checkpoint doesn't really stop people. In most cases, the checkpoints only hurt people who are not suspected of coming to do an explosion.” [Source in Complete Interview]

Sarah Karajeh
Bereaved Families Forum Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ The Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron has been closed and they [the Israelis] dictate when people can pray and when not. The worshippers themselves are forced to endure being searched, so they think twice before carrying out their religious obligations there because they may be exposed to the harassments of the occupation. Only a tiny fraction of the people pray in the mosque. This is real suffering” [Source in Complete Interview]

Sarah Karajeh
Bereaved Families Forum Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ We do what we can in order to convince the global public that the occupation is the reason for our suffering. The world supports the occupation and knows nothing about what happens here on the ground in Palestine; they think the Palestinians are terrorists who carry weapons and kill the Jews who are sitting confined to their homes.” [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]

Robi Damelin
Parents Circle - Bereaved Families Forum Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ Everybody had asked me what I thought should happen to the sniper, and if they caught the sniper do I want them to kill him. I said that he killed David not because he was David; if he had met David he would have loved David. David worked for peace, David was part of the soldiers who didn't want to serve in the territories. David was the most loving person, if he had sat down and had coffee with David, they would have become friends. On David's grave there is a quotation by Khalil Gibran that says, "the whole earth is my birthplace and all humans are my brothers." I was looking for something and that was the truest thing that I could find. I said that the sniper didn't kill David because he was David; he killed David because he was a symbol of an occupying army.” [Source in Complete Interview]

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

“ I think we all have our own red line for what we are prepared the army do for the sake of security. We could also bomb the cities and be done with it! So the issue is that it seems to be a total imbalance, and to a certain extent, a lie. I say a lie because there aren't physical searches at the checkpoints; rather, the checkpoints pen people into all sorts of areas. Why is this done? That's what a military occupation looks like, that's what control likes like. It states who's in charge; the Israelis army is in charge and that's the situation and "you" must accept that, "you" must let go of your aspirations, we're the strong side and that's the story.” [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]

Meir Margalit
Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions Portrait »
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]

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

“ I also like going to the Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum, but it’s really hard to do that as a Palestinian because if you admit that the Jews have gone through some really hard times, then that means I accept their being here, and that the occupation is OK, and that is something that’s not true. To accept the fact that they’ve been through a lot is one thing, and to say that the occupation is OK is another thing. It’s not about land, but I’m trying to understand how they think, and I’m learning about what they have gone through. This helps me understand where the other person is coming from. I can’t just say, OK, they just came here all of a sudden and they have no history. Being able to understand how they think allows me to understand why they act the way they do. Again, this doesn’t mean I agree with their actions. A lot of people whom I talk to think that my working for peace means that I accept their taking our land, their killing my brother, etc. Until now, I believe that what the soldier has done to my brother is inhumane, I think it’s wrong. Until now, I think that the occupation is wrong and it needs to stop.” [Source in Complete Interview]

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

“ When you meet, people need to unload all their prejudices; everybody unleashes slogans and only afterwards can you begin to talk; this is a process. This was my first time. [Israeli] people who attend our conferences meet with a Palestinian for the first time, so this process repeats itself. People come, let everything out and then they begin to talk matters over. During that conference, after people had unpacked everything, I couldn't understand why they [the Palestinians] were still so angry. I mean, we were there and we had come to talk, so why was it so important to get all this out? Though I knew and understood, it struck me suddenly that I was witnessing the actual people firsthand. I was seeing, before me, people who pass through checkpoints every day, people for whom the checkpoints are now the core issue for debate or even of the whole conflict-- it's their daily routine. These people, who endure this reality daily, were explaining it to me and I needed to make the connection -- them going through this and not just figures in articles.” [Source in Complete Interview]

Robi Damelin
Parents Circle - Bereaved Families Forum Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ David was killed by a sniper, along with nine other people. They were at a checkpoint, a political checkpoint, near Ofra [settlement]. Two days after he was killed it was pulled down; they removed the checkpoint. I suppose all of my life I spoke about coexistence and tolerance. That must be ingrained in me because one of the first things I said is, "You may not kill anybody in the name of my child." I suppose that's quite unusual, an expected reaction to that kind of news.” [Source in Complete Interview]

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

“ We [Palestinians] suffer on the international, regional, national and individual levels. We all suffer; we suffer at the borders, we suffer in claiming our identity, which is our right. There is fear, suffering, loss, torment, martyrdom, death, disabilities, a certain weakness, and the stripping not of one’s weapons but of the basic elements that provide security and stability. All these elements have created great challenges for the Palestinians. They have dealt with this challenge since childhood, and it has created exceptional people. This challenge has given their lives a different meaning than all the other people in the world.” [Source in Complete Interview]

Itamar Shapira
Combatants for Peace Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ Continuing the occupation ultimately means the [Palestinian] struggle will continue too. It is inconceivable that the struggle will end while there is still occupation, and the occupation cannot exist without injustice; because the Israeli army is an army, it knows how to kill.” [Source in Complete Interview]

Sarah Karajeh
Bereaved Families Forum Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ Each stage of resistance to the occupation has its own ideas and requirements. The occupation must be resisted. If Israelis who have lost their sons, daughters or wives in Palestinian martyr operations say they are resisting the occupation and want to stop it because it is the reason for their tragedies, then how can we, as Palestinians who have suffered so much under the occupation, not resist as well? This is a kind of resistance to the occupation, but we consider it a peaceful struggle that is carried out in a nonviolent way.” [Source in Complete Interview]

Sarah Karajeh
Bereaved Families Forum Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ In Hebron entire apartment buildings are destroyed along with the furniture and the belongings of its inhabitants, who are ordinary people, only because someone who resisted the occupation, or a brother of someone who resisted the occupation, rented a flat in the building. Why should these houses be destroyed in such a way? This has a large influence on the people's mental state. When someone breaks a plate, it has a mental affect of him because people aren't composed of iron but feelings, so imagine a house whose owner invested in and is happy about the decoration, furniture and paint, and in a moment is ordered to evacuate because it is being destroyed.” [Source in Complete Interview]

Rutie Atsmon
Windows Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ Tell a random Israeli about house demolitions. He will say, "Yes, they built without a permit, so they destroyed his house." or "That's a terrorist's house, so he deserves it." They don't know how many houses have been demolished because of the subject of no permits, and they don't know that there's no such thing as building permits, that if they want to get permission, no one will give it to them. They don't have the kinds of facts that will create consciousness. When you learn those facts, you understand that something is not right. If they destroy a person's house when he built without a permit because no one would give him one for years, and he doesn't have a choice because a person needs a home, then you begin to understand, why this boy whose house they destroyed grows up and is raised with the desire to revenge and kill. Otherwise people don't understand those things.” [Source in Complete Interview]

Gila Svirsky
Coalition of Women for Peace, Women in Black Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ I said, "Look, I have to see for myself." I started to visit the Territories and meet with people and talk to them, and go into their homes and see that they also have flush toilets and they're reading from recipe books and sharing novels with each other. It was an unbelievable experience for me, and then I began to think more seriously about politics, and began to involve myself more. I realized there was a big curtain of silence and concealment behind which an occupation was festering. Little by little I began to devote myself to addressing that.” [Source in Complete Interview]

Ihsan Turkiyyeh
Arab-Hebrew Theatre in Jaffa Portrait »
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]

Itamar Shapira
Combatants for Peace Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ Smiling while you’re on guard, or what is called the “enlightened occupation”, doesn’t help anyone forget they’re under occupation. Qalandia checkpoint is one example: now it’s been turned into a civilized border crossing with automatic gates and glass booths and people pass in a respectable manner. But if a person cannot cross with his daughter or take his pregnant wife to the hospital, it won’t help if a soldier smiles at him while saying, “You may wait for 5 or 6 hours please”.” [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]

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

“ We have Palestinians that are not sensible as well. I don't want to tell you that the occupation is the only reason, and I don't want to call a person who blows himself up a terrorist. There are reasons for why he does what he does. For example, he may go home to find his mother or his brother killed -- that is a motivation. Of course it's wrong and I don't support it, and in the end that is what caused the occupation.” [Source in Complete Interview]

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

“ I stopped going to [monitor] checkpoints because I just couldn't take it anymore. I did it for two years and it became unbearable. It was mainly a feeling of being crushed, as though someone were stepping on you. It was a sense of a lack of control over life, of someone taking your life away from you, just taking it away, a very bad feeling of helplessness and identifying with the people who need to cross the checkpoint then. Young soldiers stand there and they decide who passes and who doesn't. It feels very bad. After two years of seeing that I think that rather than improving, the situation is only getting worse. I couldn't bear it any longer, now I'm dedicating my experience in the field to the issue of the media because I hope maybe that will be successful.” [Source in Complete Interview]

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

“ The thing about being in the Territories… this is my argument with people, with taxi drivers and such. I say, "Since '93 they've [Palestinians have] been saying if we just get out and give them a state then everything is going to be fine between us, and we'll all get along and there's going to be peace." I want the burden to be on them. I want us to be out. You've been giving us this line for 10 years--now show us! But that means we have to really get out, we have to get all the settlers out, and we can't be there to protect them.” [Source in Complete Interview]

Wafa Srour
The School for Peace Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ If I were asked about my work, I would say that we are an occupied nation. No nation in the world would accept being occupied, so why should we? In order to affect change, we must try to influence people's consciousness. Some might say that they are under Israel's rule, so there is little that they can do. Although it might seem like they have no means of expressing their dissent, I believe that there are many things that can be done. I wish that the occupation could end without a single drop of blood. Unfortunately, that is not how the world works.” [Source in Complete Interview]

Gershon Baskin
IPCRI (Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information) Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ Well, my daughter, who is going to be 18 in July, has decided to refuse to serve in the army. She's written her letter to the army saying why she refuses to serve in the army because she refuses to support the occupation. She wrote in her letter that since she was a baby she's been going to demonstrations against the occupation, so how now as an adult could she go and serve the occupation. […] I fully support her. I sat with her to make sure that the reason that she was refusing to serve was not because she was lazy and didn't want to do the army service, or that she was looking for a way out. There are a lot easier ways to get out, and I wanted to be sure that she was willing to pay the price for her decision. I believe that in a democratic society when you refuse to observe the law you have to be prepared to pay the price, going to prison. I told her that I would be very happy to come and spend my Saturdays over a year or two years visiting her in prison. I wanted to make sure that she made as a point in her letter that she was a loyal Israeli and was willing to serve the country in a non-military civilian service. She is and she's willing to do that, and she wants to push for that. I'm fully supportive of her. If I had to go into the army today I would do the very same thing.” [Source in Complete Interview]

Gershon Baskin
IPCRI (Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information) Portrait »
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]

Ihsan Turkiyyeh
Arab-Hebrew Theatre in Jaffa Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ I feel the Israeli have more fear than us, although we have our fears. I feel they have fear more because they are the occupiers. If somebody steals something from somebody he will always be afraid that the person will come and take the thing back. So I feel fear belongs to them more because they are the occupiers. They stole the land and the land has to come back to its people. I always tell them, "You are afraid because you are the occupier-give them their land and you are not going to feel afraid." It is like an equation, they have to understand that.” [Source in Complete Interview]

Gershon Baskin
IPCRI (Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information) Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ The first intifada broke out in the end of November of '87. I like most Israelis was struck that something very different was happening. […] I was struck by the tremendous lack of information and the tremendous ignorance that existed in the Israeli public. The most common response amongst Israelis was, "how could they do that to us?" With the notion that we had created this benevolent occupation and we were so good, and they should be thanking us and not throwing stones at us and attacking us.” [Source in Complete Interview]