Interview with Nader Khatib

Please introduce yourself and tell us how you got involved in your work with the Water and Environmental Development Organization (WEDO)?

My name is Nader Khatib. I am from the Bethlehem1 province in Palestine2 and a refugee of 1948.3 I was born in Bethlehem and I have a degree in engineering and a Masters in Water and Environmental Studies. I have previously held many positions, including head Water and Sewage Engineer in the Bethlehem province from 1984 to 1993.

In 1993 I moved to another job as a consultant - through the United Nations Development Program (UNDP)4 - to the Palestinian Water Authority. After the Israeli re-deployment in Gaza, I moved from Bethlehem to Gaza5 and divided my work between there and Jerusalem.6 During that period I was a member of the technical staff working alongside the multi-party committee on the Palestinian water project. I continued doing this until the establishment of the Palestinian Water Authority in 1997.7 During that period of hope for peace and development we nevertheless felt that there was a vacuum in the environmental field. There was much talk of development, industrialization and prosperity and not enough attention was given to the environment. It was then that we began thinking of a non-governmental organization (NGO) that would focus on environmental issues. Later we agreed upon establishing the Water and Environmental Development Organization, or WEDO.8 I decided to stop working for UNDP and the Palestinian Water Authority and focus on this. We officially registered the organization in 1998 and have since then worked in the water and environmental sectors. In 2001 we became the Palestinian branch of Friends of the Earth. Since then all our activities in Palestine take place under the rubric of WEDO and in association with Friends of the Earth Middle East, an environmental organization whose goals and project correspond to ours. The main focus of our work is water and environmental issues that can only be addressed through regional co-operation.

Tell us more about Friends of the Earth and the activities you do with them.

Friends of the Earth is a non-governmental organization that was originally created by a joint effort of Israeli, Palestinian, Jordanian and Egyptian NGOs in 1994 under the name of Eco-Peace. Their goal at the time was to work towards peace, while focusing on environmental peace. At the time we didn't yet exist, but through my work in the water sector I followed their work and was in frequent contact with them, especially with my former Palestinian professional colleagues who were among the founders of the organization. They used to focus on regional issues such as the Dead Sea9 and Jordan River.10 These were environmental issues that weren’t confined to the borders of a single state.

In the year 2001 we joined them. We focused on regional environmental issues such as the Dead Sea and Red Sea canals11and attempted to convince UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) to declare the Dead Sea a World Heritage Site,12 thus protecting it from the danger it faces through the diversion of the Jordan River’s sources. Israel has diverted sixty percent of the water of the Jordan River since the early sixties, in addition to the accumulating effect of Jordan and Syria’s dams. These projects are built far upstream, greatly reducing the amount of water that reaches the Dead Sea. The result is that the Dead Sea has lost thirty percent of its original surface area and its surface descends by an average of a meter a year. We request returning part of the Jordan River waters to the Dead Sea in order to preserve it. We believe the water that was invested in agriculture wasn't beneficial and an alternative should be found. We should find a way to maintain national production levels while preserving the environment and preventing the recession of the Dead Sea. This has immense environmental effects, such as the sinkholes on the eastern and western sides of the threatened sea.13 These dangers are an obstacle to future development in the region.

In addition, Palestinians possess rights over water that they haven’t yet received.14 Palestine should have a basic role in regional development programs and receive its lawful share of the Jordan River water. In addition to the Dead Sea, we focus our efforts on the Jordan Valley15between the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee. We seek to draw attention to this area and to its historic and cultural richness. We are trying to win it the title of World Heritage Site as well. This area is important for us, Jordan16and Israel, but the Jordan River is important for all the Christians in the world, partly due to Baptism sites located on it. The Dead Sea is a unique area worldwide; it is the lowest point on earth and the saltiest sea, therefore the loss of the Dead Sea will be a loss for everyone. This is why we focus on this region and try to convince organizations such as UNESCO to adopt it and invest in it. We also try to draw governmental attention to the area, because in the end they have the final say. We can draw attention and highlight problems, but there is a need for decisions at the governmental level.

We are still optimistic about the future, despite conducting our efforts during the worst possible time in the region. There are numerous Israeli incursions taking place in addition to the destruction in Gaza that has been going on for two months now.17 This is in addition to the destruction in Lebanon18 and the wild drive of the Israeli military killing machine that makes no distinction between civilians, trees or the environment. It destroys everything in its path. Despite all this we still maintain our hopes that our children will live differently.

Is your work restricted to research?

At WEDO our orientation is more inclined towards engineering. Despite the importance of research, it doesn’t provide anything concrete for ordinary people, which we try to do. During our projects we try to provide concrete results to ordinary citizens. We carry out our projects under the label of WEDO, while the main theme is usually infrastructure, water policies and consumption patterns that have a direct effect on people’s daily life.

We have a joint project with Friends of the Earth organization called Good Water Neighbors.19 The project involves seventeen border communities, six Palestinian, seven Israeli and four Jordanian. The common denominator for all these communities is water and the environmental difficulties they face. This creates common motivation for joint work, because the environment doesn't know political borders. Environmental problems cross borders and go under the wall,20 therefore addressing them is very hard without joint efforts.

We work in cooperation with sectors that still believe in common living and the Palestinians’ right to their own independent state on their historical land within the 1967 borders.21 This is the general outline of our work and the official position of the PLO22 and the PA.23 We have never faced any governmental opposition to our work in this field. This may be because of our size and the nature of our activity; we are a small NGO and don’t have the capacity to undertake large projects. As an NGO, we complete the work of governmental organizations rather than compete with it. We may have our differences, but in general terms our common goal is the national interest.

We try to keep our work detached from political factors. We try not to halt our work during times of political difficulty, and enhance it when the political climate is comfortable. The daily deterioration of the environment is what drives our work. Environmental issues can’t be put off until a regional understanding and a peace agreement is reached. Widespread pollution is still taking place in many areas, and in a few years the land we have been fighting over for hundreds of years will become inhospitable. Pollution is also likely to reach our water sources, and when this happens, it will be a great catastrophe for all of us, because the lack of water will stop development and increase conflicts in the region. Water preservation is necessary for solving the current crisis and the prevention of future conflicts over water. We don't need any more reasons for conflict, we have enough already.

At WEDO and Friends of the Earth we are against all forms of violence and primarily oppose the occupation;24 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. We hope politicians, especially in the successive Israeli governments, will view the situation from this perspective. In Lebanon it was proven that military might cannot provide peace and security for Israeli citizens or others.25 The only way to provide security is through peace. Military machines are a heavy burden for everyone that will never lead us to peace. I hope the Israeli side has learned its lesson after the last invasion and destruction of Lebanon, and the destruction this act caused on the Israeli side.

If the billions of dollars that were invested in killing humans and destroying the environment were invested in peace attempts, we would be living in a completely different Middle East today. It would be the new Middle East we want, not the one some people with a certain agenda are trying to impose upon us. If these funds were truly put to use to serve the citizens of the Middle East and their environment, I think we would have already reached a real and true peace. This peace would have been a source of development for everyone and helped us overcome the current state of poverty.

Could you please give us an example of some difficulties facing the communities that take part in you project?

Tulkarm26 on the Palestinian side and Emek Hefer27 on the Israeli side are two examples of such communities. The environmental issue in their case is sewage water from Nablus28 and Tulkarm that flows down the West Bank high terrain, underneath the wall, and down towards Emek Hefer inside the Green Line.29 There were previous attempts on behalf of the Emek Hefer and Tulkarm local councils to establish a sewage treatment facility. The project received German funding and its first stage was completed, although there were many Israeli restrictions imposed, especially during the intifada.30 It was difficult to get workers and materials to the site.

It is a sad fact that it is the security mentality that guides and controls the thinking of the Israeli political and military leadership. They are single minded and view things in one dimension, instead of three. This has an effect on the ground. Here at Friends of the Earth, we on the Palestinian side met with our government and our Israeli colleagues in Tel Aviv31 met with theirs and with the German government, until we reached an understanding and an agreement and the contractor was able to complete the first stage, but there are still many more projects to complete.

These are issues the Israelis can't solve alone, because the source of the problem is in Palestine. On the other hand, Palestinians can’t solve them either because they don’t have the land in which to build a treatment plant. As a result of the attention of the local councils and the pressure they put on the governments, we reached an agreement. This project had been initiated even before the intifada started, but on an individual basis. When the project was turned into a public issue, we achieved success.

Another area of attention is Baka Al Sharkia32 and Baka El Gharbiyah.33 There we have a fundamental problem in one of the valleys. During the winter the valley flooded, causing the death of a number of children. This valley is also used as a solid waste and sewage disposal point. Currently there are talks between the two local councils regarding how to work together in order to rehabilitate the valley and possibly turn it into a park for the nearby towns and villages. There is also talk of development and water treatment projects in the area.

Much of our work is with small and marginalized communities that don’t have access to decision-makers in the Palestinian Authority (PA) or funders. Through our work together we area able to compile reports and draw attention to problems. We become their representative, presenting their case to donors who may invest in the area, and we have had some success. Until recently, Baka Al Sharkia didn’t have a water system. Now they have a water system and a new local council building. In all the schools in which we’ve worked, we’ve created nature gardens, water consumption guidance activities, and installed water saving devices on taps. We advise the re-usage of drinking water in gardens and bathrooms. In many cases we succeeded in re-using large amounts of clean drinking water.

Please tell us about the dynamics of your work with the Israeli side. What is the division of labor like?

Although we are all part of one organization, when it comes to local activities, it is the local organization that has the final say. There are three main directors of the organization, one Israeli, one Palestinian and one Jordanian. We meet and determine joint goals we are interested in working towards, but the local implementation decisions are made by the local staff. On the Palestinian side, there is a local coordinator who, along with the local research team, follows up daily activities. As director of the Palestinian branch I personally supervise these activities and intervene when necessary. The three branches work independently, but our goals are common, and there is continuous coordination through meetings between field researchers, coordinators and the staff. We discuss our progress and the problems and difficulties we are facing, as well as joint future activities such as staff training programs or project follow up.

We also discuss activities we hold for different groups that don’t necessarily work with us directly, such as school children, headmasters and heads of local councils. We discuss how to get together and under which circumstances. All our activities are technical-environmental projects that serve everyone. Communities are motivated to work with us when they realize that our activities are to their benefit. At the time when the environment affects civilians' daily life, there is a constant incentive for our work.

Politics and the current political situation are obstacles. An example is the issue of permits.34 Our crews can't freely meet. If our Jordanian colleagues want to come here, they need visas, and this is a very complicated process. In order for us to meet our Israeli colleagues in Jerusalem we must obtain permits, and during closures35 this is nearly impossible. Our Israeli colleagues work hard to help us get permits, but political circumstances are beyond our control. Our Israeli colleagues are very devoted to the work and are keen on visiting the Palestinian Territories, but the same Israeli restrictions that prevent Palestinians from entering Israel or Jerusalem prevent Israelis from entering the Palestinian Territories. These obstacles greatly affect our activities and make them harder and more challenging.

If we were to work in a less complicated environment, we could maneuver a greater number of people and do activities on a wider scale. Currently even moving within the West Bank is difficult. We eventually reach our destination, but we are forced to waste a lot of time on the road. For this reason, for every activity I choose the most local staff possible, in order to avoid the difficulties and restrictions imposed by checkpoints.36 We still need to occasionally meet with all the staff, and this is really difficult. We have a colleague who lives in Gaza. To this day we haven't been able to bring him to the West Bank. It is ironic that I am forced to meet my employee in a third country. This irony is the political situation we live in.

There is talk of peace, but in reality this peace is completely absent. Decision makers who talk of peace have set a bad example of it, to the extent that normal citizens have begun to doubt the meaning of peace. They don’t know its meaning anymore. What they see now is not the prosperous, bright and secure peace they dreamed of. The word "peace" has turned into an excuse and is a synonym for daily killing. To the ordinary citizen today, it means nothing.

How do the differences in political opinion affect the work within your organization?

Within the organization we all agree about the main issues. We have no relations or dealings whatsoever with settlements or settlers. This is a clear red line; we will never work with them or perform work that has anything to do with them. Also, there were a number of factories in the West Bank who offered us money to carry out some activities. This is another red line we are determined not to cross. Our Israeli colleagues agree with us that the occupation should end and they support the Palestinian right to create a state within the 1967 borders to live peacefully beside Israel.

We are united by our vision of a just peace in which we live as equals, not with one side being superior to the other. The majority of our colleagues are members of the peace camp, or what used to be known as the Israeli peace camp. Today this camp has turned into a minority while the majority is radical rightists, but we still hope the peace camp will become the majority once again and retrieve some of its former glory.

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? There is a general consensus within the organization about the main issues. There may still be one or two who deep inside disagree, but during our activities we suggest ideas for shared living and joint work. We are all against the wall, Israeli incursions and checkpoints and all the Israeli oppression that goes on in the area.

Do Israelis have red lines for Palestinians with whom they work?

There are surely some, especially in the recent years.  Recently, even the donor countries view the different Palestinian factions separately.  Donations have become conditional.  Even before Hamas's rise to power an American official document issued the Anti-Terrorism Certificate that they impose on every funding project they consider.  After Hamas's rise to power we were even embargoes.  We expected funding for civil society to continue, but even that stopped.  The new political agenda maybe distinguished between factions in theory, but in reality there was no distinction; we were all subjected to an embargo and pressure.  This wasn't the case with American funding only, even other sources of funds changed in one way or another.

There is a form of political oppression taking place.  A decision was made by the one man who rules the world.  This is unjust and unfair.  We support democracy, and through democracy the Palestinian people have had their say and have chose a certain course, so let them try it.  We have chosen democracy; therefore we should live with the results, whatever they are.  But we should remember, no part stays in power forever.  People should be allowed to try different approaches.  This is a healthy process that creates competition between different parties over the best way to serve their people.

The political agendas I talked about were beyond our influence as Palestinians, and surely as an organization.  We don't distinguish between people with different skin color or political orientation; we deal with everyone as Palestinian citizens.  As an NGO we can't distinguish between people based on their political affiliation.  If we did, it would be a disaster for us that could cause the loss of our legitimacy and work.  We try to avoid some situations in our workshops and meetings by limiting the number attending and on certain factions, but we will not allow politics to control our work.  We are not a governmental organization that filters out people based on their political affiliation.  A specialist in a certain environmental field who comes from a specific background can, in many cases, convey a certain message.

We still face certain problems because much of our work is financed by Americans, who don't allow anyone from the PA to take part in any of our meetings or activities.  We had no problems inviting local council members to the US, or working with the Jericho city council, because none belonged to Hamas, but in other cases we have faced problems working with local or city councils.  We can't work in a city and ignore the city council.  The city council is the main address in every city, so either you cooperate with it or you don't work there at all.

The current Palestinian ministries were imposed by a certain political reality through a transparent political process; therefore I can't deny their existence, especially as a Palestinian.  They are our representatives, whether we like it or not.  The will of the majority of the people placed them in that position.  Others may have other approaches, but in Palestine I can't deny the legitimacy of an authority I am part of.  It is more difficult for us Palestinians.

What is the effect of your work on the reality on the ground?

Our efforts are part of the political effort to receive our lawful rights as Palestinians. These rights are recognized be international law, therefore there is no option of giving them up. On the one hand, our work helps raise regular civilians’ awareness. Nevertheless, the final decisions and policies remain in the hands of the PA and its ministries; the Palestinian Water Authority has the final say when it comes to water issues, and the Ministry of the Environment dictates environmental policies. In our work we help civilians face challenges and try to improve their living standard while still living on their land. We raise awareness around environmental issues and the dangers they pose, and guide people in how to deal with these issues.

The other side of our work is with the PA and donors. We try to convince the donor countries that we don’t have the financial capacity to carry out infrastructure development projects, therefore we need their support. These nations are free to channel the funds as they see fit, either through UN agencies, local councils or NGOs. The main objective is to devote sufficient funds to the targeted communities. This will in turn improve the daily lives of citizens who are currently severely marginalized. Many farmers and inhabitants of rural areas suffer from a severe shortage in drinking water and lack waste disposal abilities, problems that affect their daily life.

We are talking about the accumulated effects of the occupation, from 1967 to this day. These effects have been piling up for 30 or 40 years, and the effect can be seen in many places, including schools which are extremely overcrowded and under-supplied. We face major problems, and civilians view us as their saviors, so it bothers us that we can’t provide them with their most basic needs. At the moment we are able to provide only a drop in an ocean. The needs are more than we can cope with, but I believe that if we were to receive more funding, we would be met with even further faith and cooperation on the behalf of the Palestinian population, who need to see some improvement in their daily lives.

When we work in certain communities, we try to focus our efforts on the schools. Our resources are extremely limited, so we believe that by focusing on schools we serve the whole community, because schools belong to everyone. The same is true when it comes to water sources. We try to make our work as collective as possible.

How does the Palestinian society react when it learns of your joint work with Israelis?

It is fine with most people. Ordinary people queue up for a work permit in Israel or a Jewish settlement, although our work is different and we oppose all forms of Israeli occupation and settlements. Some people oppose our work with Israelis. Some of these people may have ideological reasons for their opposition, which is quite rare, while for others it is more out of personal interests. In general, when I work towards preserving the Palestinian environment, I am primarily serving the Palestinian people. It is natural that the other side may indirectly benefit from our work. Any improvement in the environment on either side will have a positive effect on both sides, while deterioration in environmental conditions will harm us both as well. Air pollution in Israel eventually reaches the Palestinian Territories, and the cleaning up of the air in Tel Aviv and Hadera37 will let us breathe clean air in the West Bank. We work according to a Palestinian agenda. My priority is to serve my people and environment. Our programs are designed to create a common clean environment while we work on this side and our Israeli counterparts supplement our work on the Israeli side. This is how we all work towards creating a healthy and balanced eco-system.

At the time of Israeli incursions we find it difficult to talk about such issues. We do carry on with some projects, but you really can’t talk about peace at the same time the Israeli military machine is destroying everything. After 1996 and the rise to power of Benjamin Netanyahu,38 we have witnessed the death of the peace process. The Oslo project39 is over, even the chairman of the Arab League says so, and so do many, many others. In reality the Oslo agreement has brought the Palestinian people nothing but destruction and the worst kind of occupation and suppression. The Palestinian people were better off before Oslo, and many people would now agree that the PA is actively taking part in the occupation. We are still an occupied people, members of our parliament and some of our ministers are behind bars, and our elected authorities are severely restricted and threatened. In reality the occupation hasn't changed, on the contrary, it has worsened. Any Palestinian will tell you that life after Oslo has become much harder than it was before. At the moment the PA carries many of the responsibilities that were previously in the hands of the occupation, such as healthcare and education.40 These are large burdens, financially and otherwise.

Before Oslo, Israel was obliged to provide work, healthcare etc., because these are the responsibilities of the occupation, but now the PA bares these responsibilities. We have recently begun hearing people dismissing the PA altogether, because in reality it is restricted and does nothing. This isn’t a recent development since Hamas won the elections, but was the case before. The reason Oslo failed was because it didn’t bring any change to the lives of Palestinians. Palestinians didn’t get to enjoy the fruits of peace they were expecting, and this is the result. If there had been an improvement in Palestinians' daily life and had we felt the benefits of peace, freedom and financial development, the situation today may have been different. Oslo produced a different outcome than what Palestinians expected and hoped for. This is the reason for the continuation of the conflict and the general deterioration we see all around us. We have found ourselves in dire straits.

What does the word "peace" mean for you and what is your view of the ideal solution?

We are not asking for anything special, all we want is to live the same as all other people. We want to live like the Israelis do in Israel, for example. We want to have freedom of movement, a decent economy, democracy and an improvement in our daily lives. We demand respect and human dignity, as in any democratic state.

The Palestinians have proven to be a model for democracy. Our democratic process was extremely transparent, and we had a higher turnout percentage than most traditional democratic countries, but the result of our democratic election didn’t appeal to some countries, which had a negative effect on us.<!--footnote 47--> Nevertheless, we still support democracy and freedom of speech, regardless of the outcome. Elections are part of a democratic process that are repeated every four years, and it is the people’s right to try different leadership. We are opposed to single party rule; we support political diversity, but a single authority. We support different proposals for change, but at the same time demand law and order on the ground and the insurance of citizens' dignity, regardless of their political stand. We, as Palestinians, aim to work under one single national umbrella where political pluralism is a healthy process that will ensure the best for the Palestinian people, and not the suppression of one faction by another. We want to live like all other people of the world, and like the Israelis, enjoy our freedom within our borders.

Despite the problems and difficulties, the minimum we demand is to enjoy the same freedoms Israelis do. We want to feel safe in our homes and during our daily life. We want to be sure that when our children leave their home they will return safely. We don’t ask for more than what all civilized democratic nations have. We ask the Israelis to look at us in the same way they look at themselves. As long as they maintain their patronizing attitude, there will not be stability. There should be justice in which everyone receives his lawful rights and which guarantees a better environment for everyone. When one has something to lose, he keeps hold of it, but during the last few years most Palestinians feel that their lives are meaningless. Even at home they may be the victim of an air strike or a shelling. We and our children are no longer safe within our homes, or even on the beach, which is the most popular picnicking destination among Palestinians. Israelis and other people go on holiday to Europe and South East Asia, but we can't do that. The best we can do is take our children and go to the beach. We demand to live like all other people of the world, no more than that.

What is in your opinion the source of the conflict?

The source of the conflict is known to everyone. I don’t want to go into historical accounts, but the reason for the continuation of the conflict is the occupation. It is a simple equation: the PA has been calling since the Oslo process for the end of the occupation and the creation of a Palestinian state within the 1967 territories in return for peace and security for everyone, but as long as the occupation is in place, there will be neither peace nor security. Peace and security should be common and shared by the two sides. It is impossible for one side to live in peace and security while the other is denied it. The equation is very simple: the occupation is the reason for the conflict and its continuation. The end of the occupation will be the end of the conflict and instability.

What is the role the international community plays in the conflict?

There is a difference between the people and the governments. The people support peace, stability and security, but governments have a different agenda. For the first time in the history of the UN, it took the UN Security Council more than thirty days to contemplate a ceasefire during the second Lebanon war. Some countries have a private agenda they want to impose on the world. I regret to say this is now reality. On the other hand, most people have a different view and support freedom and dignified lives for everyone. International civil society has a different desire, but globalization serves only certain sectors which are the heads of massive corporations that have hijacked the international economy. Today 200 corporations control the fate of six billion people. The international and Palestinian civil societies oppose this globalization.

What are your expectations for the future?

My belief is that the occupation will be put to an end, even if it takes a while. Eventually we will create our own Palestinian state, although the price may be high. Meanwhile we regret and are saddened by the killing and suffering of civilians on both sides; they should never be targeted. We work in order to protect birds and animals, therefore it should be taken for granted that human lives are of the highest value and importance for us. We try to be optimistic about the future, but there will be no peace in the shadow of occupation. It is possible Israelis are currently unaware of this, but they will be in the future. After the second Lebanon War the Israeli government must have realized that their tanks and airplanes will not protect them or bring them security. Peace is achieved by returning rights to their lawful owners in the area, primarily the Palestinians. The Palestinian problem is the main issue in the region, if not in the world, and solving it will in turn solve a large portion of global issues and certainly most Middle Eastern ones. If the Israeli-Palestinian struggle and the Israeli occupation are put to an end, this will end a great deal of the volatility in the region.

What is required in order to reach a stage of ending the occupation?

At one stage President Arafat,41 may he rest in peace, and Yitzhak Rabin,42 who was a military general, realized that military might would not bring peace to their people. Both sides had to give up something: the PLO accepted the creation of a Palestinian state on the lands of 1967, and Rabin recognized the Palestinian right for peace. The current situation requires a brave leader that is aware of these issues and is prepared to honestly face his people and truly believe in what he is doing. If the political leadership clearly supports and adopts the peace process and implements it in stages that will make people feel real improvement in their daily life, people will rally behind it and support the leadership. The situation requires brave decisions, especially on the Israeli side. The key to the solution is in the hands of the Israelis, as are the keys to the continuation of conflict, because it is the Israelis who are occupying Arab land, not the opposite. These decisions primarily depend on the Israeli government, but also on the Israeli people. Israel is supposed to be a democratic society, therefore it should put further pressure on its government, especially after the recent experience of the war in Lebanon and the failure of its army to provide it with peace or security. This was a major turning point.

On the other hand the wall will not provide security either, on the contrary, it will only create further killing and destruction. The only way to provide security is to recognize the rights of neighboring people and end the occupation of Arab land: Palestinian, Syrian and Lebanese. Any solution should by comprehensive. Partial solutions won't provide peace in the region. There should be a comprehensive solution for the Arab-Israeli conflict that will not leave gaps. Israelis should also moderate their stance and stop looking at people from above as people who are there to serve them. They should recognize the rights of other people, some of whom at this stage have nothing to lose. In Gaza most people will prefer death over life in the circumstances they live in. We shouldn't forget the factor of religion either. In general Muslims believe that if they die during a conflict they are martyrs43 with a better life waiting for them on the other side. When this life doesn't mean a lot to them, they don’t fear death any more, and there comes a time when it even becomes a wish. When a person sets death as a wish and a goal, he is prepared to do anything. In order to stop violence, people's lives should be made meaningful and things in their lives should be created for them to hold on to. If one loses a penchant for life, the situation is tragic.