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Interview Questions for Tzvika Shahak

You said that you regard Bat-Chen's journals that talk about peace as her will, which you are carrying out. If this is her will, how do you yourself feel about it?

What is the context for these activities?

How is employing Palestinians or Arab Israelis relevant to your peace work, and what do you mean by access is limited for Palestinians?

How does that relate to employing Israeli Arabs at work?

How did you become active in the Bereaved Families Forum?

Why didn't you believe in the idea of the Forum at first?

Did you find it hard to believe there were enough such people on the Israeli side in particular?

Can you give an example of Palestinian members being threatened in their society?

When you say the Palestinians' hardships are greater because of the restrictions, what do you mean?

How does the reality on the Palestinian side affect Palestinians coming to meetings or activities of the Forum?

What do you mean by "tempt people with ideas"?

How do you account for the fact that you still have Palestinian partners in the Forum?

How did you start out being active?

You said you exhibited at Rabin Square. What kind of responses did you receive from Israelis passing by?

How do you think people expect you to behave as a bereaved parent who is dealing with loss?

Can you tell me about the range of work the Forum does?

What is the effect of your work?

Besides meeting with kids, what do you expect from them, or what are you trying to show them?

How do your Palestinian counterparts in the Forum regard the fact that you are addressing youths who are about to go to the army?

Do you also hear other voices? Do you encounter people who understand the checkpoints and the army as violent mechanisms regardless of how individual soldiers behave?

Why did you think there was reluctance for Palestinian schools to invite the Forum members to lecture?

Have your relationships with Palestinian bereaved parents in the Forum changed the perception for you that Israeli parents place greater value on their children's lives than Palestinian parents?

What would you say to the claim that Palestinians use their lives because it is simply their last resource and they lack the military means to resist.

You talked about the Palestinians' perception of life. A lot of resources in Israeli society are spent preparing kids for the army. Do you think it is a problem present only on the Palestinian side?

Is this something that you deal with as a prejudice among the schoolchildren at your talks - that Palestinians value life less than Israelis?

Why do you think people stigmatize and have prejudices?

Could you talk about your own army service?

What was difficult about your meeting with students in Acre?

You talk to kids that are candidates for military service. You said that prejudices enable people not to think when they go to war.

Some will say that the people who serve at checkpoints don't change the fact of the checkpoints' existence and that the checkpoints change people.

Who takes part in the Forum? Who are its members?

Is there tension between people in the group? For example, about a Palestinian family that lost a son in a suicide bombing or an Israeli family who lost a son in the army. Does this affect relations?

If everything is determined at the political level, what do you expect to achieve through your work?

How does this work affect you personally?

What are some of the challenges you face?

How do you locate yourself in relation to the mainstream in Israel?

Who is it important for you to reach?

Do you have different strategies for addressing different groups?

Do you give talks at schools in settlements?

How do you determine whether to hold a bi-national or a uni-national meeting?

Can you point to the differences between bi-national and uni-national meetings?

If you could start over at the Forum, what would you do differently?

Are there people who disagree with you over core issues?

How do you reconcile any differences among members of the organization?

In what ways is your work with the Forum affected by what's going on, politically or in the conflict?

Has there been a meeting that was cancelled or postponed due to closure or anything?

Is there anything that deters people from coming to meetings?

I want to go back to the beginning of your involvement in the Bereaved Families Forum. When was that?

When did you personally get involved?

What is the conflict about?

What do you think about former peace processes?

Can you explain the term reconciliation?

How can a process of reconciliation be initiated?

Are you talking about your own forgiveness of the man who killed your daughter?

What is the ideal situation you would like to see here in the future?

What does peace mean to you?

What are your hopes for the future?

What needs to be done on the Israeli side if the Palestinians need to have an "intifada for peace"?

Earlier you mentioned that during the coffin display you called for international intervention. What is the role of internationals in this conflict?

Do you think that anyone can impose a solution on the Israelis and the Palestinians?

What would you like international audiences to know about the conflict?

What do you need from a person from the other side, a Palestinian, to be able to work with them?

Are you willing to talk to someone who supports a militant group?

How does forgiveness and pardon fit in to the process for you? Do you feel like you need to forgive or beg anyone's pardon?

How do you feel about your children's army service? What kind of choices do they face?

How do you feel about Palestinian youths getting involved in military operations?

How does the armed struggle or military backing fit in with the process of negotiation?