During my experience at the Hebrew University, as a Palestinian student from Jerusalem who did not know a word in Hebrew but learned the language and received a PhD, I started to understand who this enemy is. I used to think that the enemy was the soldier that checked my ID at the checkpoint. I used to think that the enemy was the settlers. I discovered that there is a civilian side to the Israelis that we might reach an understanding with. The time I spent at the university changed my view generally and my perception of the Israelis. We, as Palestinians, really don't know at all who the Israelis are. We know the Israelis as the soldiers at the checkpoints, we know them by the Hebrew words used in the streets, but do we know the Israeli civilian life? No. That was the motivation for building a comprehensive relationship among civilians.
Rami Nasrallah
6
Personal Story
How does the political situation affect relations and meetings with the Israelis?
The Israelis aren't the main thing we deal with. Relations with the Israelis never stopped, even in the most difficult circumstances. We used to meet despite bombings in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv or incursions in Gaza. I was one of the founders of the organization, and the head of the director's council. The main reason we founded the organization is in order to maintain equal and comprehensive relations with the Israelis; we Palestinians need to strengthen our abilities. We need to reach a certain level of intellect, professionalism and culture in order to be partners with the Israelis. I am not, and will not be a member of an organization that sets peace as its goal. I believe in building our capabilities as Palestinians in order to achieve equality in partnership with the Israelis. This is the goal. We focus on designing policies for the future of Jerusalem and Israeli - Palestinian relations in terms of the implications of a political agreement on the lives of Palestinians and Israelis in social, economic, political and environmental terms. Peace has become confined to one issue, political agreement but a political agreement will not achieve peace. What will achieve peace is building a system that changes people's lives for the better. Signing papers called the Oslo agreement or Camp David or Taba is not an achievement of peace, but an agreement between political parties. Real peace is achieved through fundamental change and by providing security for Palestinians, and at the same time allowing Israelis to enjoy the benefits of the peace. This did not happen in Oslo. There is a need to distinguish between an agreement and real peace. Most of the work is developing scenarios and policies for relations with the Israelis. We aren't an organization that exists in order to achieve peace. We are a think tank that works on issues related to Jerusalem from an internal Palestinian perspective, with Israelis, and with foreign groups. We are working on a project in association with Cambridge University concerning the buffer zones and frontiers between East and West Jerusalem. We are trying to assess the dynamic relations between the two parts of the city. Most of the IPCC's programs try to build a new concept for the relationship. The main objective for me is the establishment of the concept that we need peace for leverage. A weak partner cannot be a partner for peace. We need to strengthen Palestinian society so it can face a modern and civilized country like Israel equally. We cannot speak of a fair and secure peace without good relations with the Israelis. We are afraid of relations because we don't believe in normalization, but Israelis themselves don't want any relations with Palestinians. They created the wall. The wall is also a means for mental separation. They don't want to see the Palestinians. People in Kfar Saba don't want to see the people in Qalqilia, so they build a wall 8 meters tall. Israeli mentality depends on not seeing the Palestinians, and separation is fundamental. We Palestinians tied the issue of a political solution to an agreement. We didn't accept any relations with the Israelis until after an agreement was achieved. This is acceptable, but we shouldn't stop the dialogue with the Israeli side. When the communication stops with the Israelis we won't be able to build any bridges for understanding. Therefore we have to prepare for the next level of positive cooperation. This can be done only through meetings. I studied at the Hebrew University, a Palestinian student from Jerusalem who did not know a word in Hebrew. But I learned the language and received a PhD, and started to understand who this enemy is. I used to think that the enemy was the soldier that checked my ID at the checkpoint. I used to think that the enemy was the settlers. I discovered that there is a civilian side to the Israelis that we might reach an understanding with. The time I spent at the university changed my view generally and my perception of the Israelis. We Palestinians really don't know at all who the Israelis are. We know the Israelis as the soldiers at the checkpoints, we know them by the Hebrew words, but do we know the Israeli civilian life? No. That was my motivation for building a comprehensive relationship among civilians.