Israeli, Palestinians youth programs

I have been working with Palestinian and international young people for the past 5 years, during my work we were discussing a lot, the conflict between Palestine and Israel, and all the time you could hear the internationals especially the ones who studied peace and conflict study giving their opinions that the Palestinians should go and speak to the Israelis about what is going on, or they contributing the Palestinian Israeli youth dialog or youth programs which host both of the parties. Or you could hear many people asking you to go and to act as a civilian and be in touch with the other at the personal level.

Do you think its true or really could help in getting a better and a peaceful life??

I am writing from my experience, I have been in these programs and I did not go only for one time but for many times to know more and more about them and to let them know about me... so what was the conclusion?


... I will tell you ... but before you need to know that Palestine is occupied from Israel, and the Palestinians lost 80% from their land and agriculture...and many more things you can know in other articles...

What would you feel as a Palestinian while you are participating in a program Israel is involved?

and here I would like to speak about two main points :


One If the program is just a working program and completely avoid talking about politic :

Actually the Palestinian will feel in a deep pain from inside since they are working with people who are fighting, killing, arresting, humiliating them in the home land. Because when you put me with an Israeli guy who served in the army, and later he is considered as reservation solder it would be very difficult for me to work with him, to have fun with him/her and to forget what he and his army have been doing against me and against my people, and sometimes it does not make any sense Because you don't have the chance to tell the others about what is happening in your country and how is the relation between both of you there..even though you can’t let him “Israeli" know that his nation is trying to delete your nation and the problem is when you try to tell him/her and he won’t give you the chance sinc the program is not a political one!
here it would be very difficult for you as Palestinian to keep going because you will be sick from inside and no one could even know or understand why!.
Getting to know the other person at the personal level does not help that much since both of us will act different when we back home or at least one of us will be the victim.
But the question is, if both of them went home and the one who has the power got a chance to kill the other as he/she has been ordered from the army he/she gunna kill and say its an order? Or he/she would say no?

If the answer is NO why would he/she have kept in touch with the army ??
So, there was no reason for them to meet!!

Second, What about if the program was a political one, which brings both of the parties together, to speak, to share and to understand each other does it help?

Actually, I would say it helps 20%, How and WHY?
first, its depend on the kind of the youth are coming to meet each other, if they were serious or not, If they came only to have fun at that peaceful and great involvement or they were really need to make the change.

Here I would like to tell you its not that easy since both of them will understand
some points in a different way.

The occupation:

simply the Israeli would say we are not occupying Palestine, Palestine was our land and we were kicked out of it ,and now we return after the Palestinians occupied it!

But the Palestinians would say there were some Jews here before 1917 and we were living together with our grandparents and it was called Palestine so how come it was their land?
another Palestinian would say: I was born here as my dad as my grand as my grand-grandfather so this land is belong to us ,and then " the Hugana, Jewish groups..." came and killed our grands who refused to leave their land ,and the ones who left, now they are considered as a refugees .So it is an Occupation!.

Refugees:

As I have mentioned above that the civilians who were kicked out from the Palestinian's Villages, cities such as Haifa,Yafa and Tal Alrabea'a most of them
left their land since those groups were making massacres in each city and each village the people still in...so those people moved to the middle of the country
such Jerusalem and others moved to the west back and many immigrated to another country...

So, the Israelis would say that those people don't have the right to go back home,
or lets keep them in the Arabs countries where they are now.

But the Palestinians would say how come?!, I was forced to leave my country and
you even ignore my return right? its just before 60 years which many people
still alive and witnessed that bad time, I am the one who could ask you simply to leave this land since you are a refugee here ,who run a way from Europe please go back to where you came from.


Finally... the Wall

As the Media in Israel says “this wall is a security fans and it protects the Israelis
from the "terrorists" attacks .but most of the Israelis had never been in the Palestinians side where the wall is...
So the question is, was this wall before 2000?
did the Palestinians bombed themselves in" Israel" before ?
so why do you think that someone go and bomb himself ?
is it really easy thing to leave all your family behind ,and die ?

the wall is such a very bad point in the Palestinian life, as it goes more than 10 miles deep in the west bank, separating and confiscating more than 40% from that part of Palestine.
Here is a like which gives you more information about the wall .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeCHBEOBVrw


How would the Israelis feel while they are working with the Palestinians "who considered and a target for them while they wearing their army uniform at home land?


From what I have seen some of them felt guilty from what their government doing.
and another said they will never go back to the army and here is where my 20 % came from.

So you can find many Jews protesting peacefully with the Palestinians
against the occupation.
But many would keep their aggressive way of thinking in hating the Arabs and wishing to delete them as the have been educated.


What is the solution tho ?

In my opinion god sent many profits to this holy land, wither they belong to Muslims, Christians or Jews, so the thing is, why don’t the three religions live in peace in one state ?
In Palestine there are Muslims,Christians ,and Samaritans living together, attending same schools same universities and there is no conflict between them.

If we got a good people from the both sides who started to educate the next generation good things, trying to fight the discrimination life would be easier.
and this thing to be done we need an honest mediator who gives back the rights to each one...


Thank you for your time

Ashraf Ayman