Category: Journals

Volunteers with the International Solidarity Movement are encouraged to write personal reflections about the work they engage in with Palestinian communities, the events they experience, and the people they meet. These journals offer the human context often missing in traditional reports or journalism. These articles represent the author’s thoughts and feelings and not necessarily those of the International Solidarity Movement.

Reflections from an Irish Activist in Palestine (Part 1/3)

The following is not an attempt at a comprehensive analysis of the current situation in the Occupied Territories of Palestine. Instead, it is a reflection on the past few weeks I have spent with the International Solidarity Movement in the city of Hebron and its environs and what brought me here in the first place. It is completely subjective and deliberately intended to be so. I am a firm believer that the shortest distance between a person and the truth is a story. Many stories I have heard and read about regarding resistance to occupation, capitalism, imperialism have formed my sense of what is right and wrong – and on which side of the fence I am on. So if you manage to read through this lengthy piece of writing, I hope the stories of resistance I have encountered over the past few weeks will also inspire you also to keep on fighting the powers that be, wherever and whenever you encounter them.

(Part 1/3)

It’s 8 a.m., Tuesday morning, and the city of Hebron – in the southern region of the West Bank of Palestine, has awoken. The initial morning calls to prayer from the surrounding mosques have well passed, a few Palestinian workers are wiping sleep from their eyes and some seem like they are in sleep-walking mode as they journey to work on foot from the heavily-militarised H2 Israeli district to the Palestinian Authority controlled H1 section.

It could be any other city in the world given the evident rituals of work, rest, and play – that is apart from the blatantly obvious fact that the city of Hebron is under a brutally repressive, 6,000 Israeli soldier strong, military occupation. And these soldiers are here to ‘protect’ the 600 or so settlers who live in the H2 area, which makes up 20% of all Hebron. Approximately 40,000 Palestinians lived in the area in 2005 but this number is steadily decreasing due to ever-increasing repression and violence

It is the first time I have ever lived in an occupied country. Even though I am from Ireland, the occupation of the Northern part of our country was a universe away for those of us who grew up in the southern Republic. Images that flashed on the screen on a daily basis when I was growing up remained just that – flashes on a screen. The impact of the Northern Ireland conflict on Irish society as a whole was nowhere to be seen, and was especially far removed from my home town, 130 kilometres away from the border. Yet, for those who have resisted imperialism and capitalism in the North of Ireland, the symbols of the Palestinian people and their struggle – which can be found in Republican areas of Northern Ireland – embody the universal spirit for true freedom. Fights against oppressive conditions tend to identify with each other easily and employ each others’ symbols in a clear manifestation of mutual solidarity. Hence, one can also see the Kurdish flag and Basque flag in a variety of districts in Belfast and Derry. That said, I have yet to see a tricolour here! But once one says they are from Ireland the amazing hospitality and friendliness of Palestinians elevates to even higher levels than normal.

Despite the fact that this is my first time in the Middle East, I have had previous voluntary experience in Haiti, where I worked for 3 months in early 2001. The stark poverty there and amazing spirit of survival manifested through their great sense humour and generosity was a significant eye-opener for a 21 year old from the midlands of Ireland. Haitians taught me many valuable lessons then about simple living, just as Palestinians have been teaching me invaluable lessons about their struggle since I arrived here almost 4 weeks ago. The domestic societal pressures I and other Westerners face, from San Francisco to Warsaw, Oslo to Madrid – whether to choose Nike or Adidas, Levis or Wranglers, Coca Cola or Pepsi – seems like such bullshit falsity when measured against the fact that it is ordinary Haitians who slave labour for our commodity overload and Palestinians who bear the brunt of our nation’s obsession with weapons sales to the Apartheid Israeli State.

Thankfully, groups like the ISM, Christian Peacemaker Team and many others exist to counter the exploitation and violence perpetuated by the political powerbrokers, cynical warmongers, and the ubiquitous capitalists.

In my own case, on return to Ireland after volunteering in Haiti, I had to decide whether I was to conform to the Irish Celtic Tiger economic expectation of attaining a brand-new 2.6 litre car, producing 2.3 children, constructing an 8 room house (3 times more than required), signing up for a 35 year mortgage in a cramped urban space with few social services, and putting aside a sufficient quantity of disposable income for 2 sun holidays a year in order to make up for the eternally falling rain in Ireland – and all by the time I would have reached 27 years old. Yes, I know, sounds pretty boring! And yet many feel forced into such economic and social traps, and of course not just in Ireland, by well-groomed real estate charmers, loan sharks and city councillor land rezoners, just because they want to start a family and bring up their kids in a secure environment.

That course of life may seem good to some, and more power to them if they can enjoy themselves and be active citizens at the same time. But for those of us who have had the privilege to form relationships with those who struggle to survive in their daily lives, whether amongst the poor and oppressed of the Global North or South, our responsibilities to respond through sharing some of their experiences and refusing to descend into slumber are to the fore of consciences. And that is exactly why I decided to come to Palestine (I know, it has taken me a while to get to this point) – to reignite my sense of responsibility towards the other, to develop mutually beneficial relationships with those having to confront occupation and violence in their normal daily rituals – of work, rest, and play. A Russian Israeli soldier recently sarcastically commented to me at Tel Rumeida checkpoint in Hebron, ‘so you’re like Jesus!’

Maybe it had more to do with the fact I hadn’t shaved for 10 days then what he perceived as an activist’s sense of moral superiority (though most human rights activist’s I’ve met are a very humble bunch). I ain’t no Jesus, and I hammer this home to the soldier calmly. I replied: ‘Well, for sure I’m not Jesus, but don’t forget either that at least he never carried a weapon with him nor harassed people!’ I doubt it resonated. He’s the same soldier that I mentioned earlier who guzzles back beer while on duty and harasses us with his armed buddy when we film him being abusive.

Anyhow, enough about soldiers. Thankfully I was free to come here, albeit for a short period of time, having no mortgage, kids (the only part of this triangle I would like to have) nor gas-guzzling car – and having a very understanding and supportive girlfriend and family to support me. I look upon it as a huge privilege and yet great challenge and responsibility to be able to travel and experience resistance against occupation by the people here. They have much to teach us who live in countries ridden with individualism and materialism.

Even though I’m from Ireland, for the past two years I have been residing in Poland, teaching English and desperately struggling to learn the nightmarish Polish language. So when I decided to initiate contact with the ISM about the possibilities of working alongside them in Palestine, I started to recall previous stories of theirs which I had followed. A good friend of mine had been shot in the leg by an IOF soldier in 2002 while others had volunteered as short-termers. Last year I attended a very well produced play in Ireland which was based on the journals by the very inspiring ISM’er Rachel Corrie. And before I left Poland by train to make my way here I just managed to finish reading Jocelyn Hurndall’s book about her son Tom, fatally shot by an IOF soldier in the Gaza Strip in 2003, just shortly after Rachel had been murdered.

Reflections on our arrest….

You go through a strange range of emotions while incarcerated. Being shackled at the ankles forces you to shuffle painfully, ungainly, slowly. It reduces you to an infirm.

Our arrest was a strange experience..

It was an immense joy to see over two hundred Palestinians cheer at their removal of the massive concrete blocks which have obstructed their road, their lives, for years.

Their cheers before and during the removal were nothing compared to those which followed the heaving aside of the last intrusive Occupation block. The efforts of the Palestinians, with the help of some Israelis and internationals, bore fruit after about 40 minutes of coordinated heaving and pulling. It is the act of physically repelling the barriers, rather than simply using a tractor to push them aside, that makes the accomplishment so much sweeter.

So when, on our way to lunch after hours of activity in intense heat, we saw the military bulldozer readying to replace the immense blocks so laboriously pushed aside it was an instinctive and reflexive response to run to the site to try to prevent the roadblock replacement.

Being only 5 activists, with as many blocks to cover, we opted to try to individually prevent each block from being moved. Retrospection ever crystal clear, a more unified resistance would have been more effective.

The arrest came following the words: “this road is now a closed military zone,” referring to the Palestinian road upon which we sat. Papers in Hebrew were produced, but unable to verify their validity, and very aware of their spontaneous birth, we sat on. The papers were a sham, the kind the army drafts up on the spot and waves merrily when it wants to contravene established laws and boundaries. Yet, it is miraculous manifestations of military orders like these which do, in the end, serve the purpose: to bend the law and achieve a specific goal. In this case, the goal was the removal of the activists and the replacement of the roadblocks.

One by one we were carried or dragged away from the roadblocks’ site, relocated roadside between military jeeps, while the bulldozer did its work. Cement blocks were re-installed, and a new layer of blockage dug out from the earth walls surrounding the road, piled on top of the cement to create a two-tiered blockage.

One of the two males detained had his hands cuffed tightly behind his back, the soldier having first pulled his arms back and upwards at painful angles.

Legally, soldiers are allowed to detain internationals only for up to three hours, after which they must be released. Before the three hours’ detention had elapsed, long after the re-installation of the roadblocks, police arrived and began questioning us. We were taken to the Ariel settlement police station for further detention.

From the moment of being arrested until my release, the other female international and I were kept in handcuffs and/or ankle shackles, only temporarily removed for most, but not all, bathroom visits—on one occasion, we were indeed forced to use the toilet while shackled together at the ankles. Friday evening, the first evening of my arrest, was spent in handcuffs in a waiting room in the men’s prison. Saturday before, during, and following the trial I was shackled at the ankles. I was made to sleep thus Saturday evening.

Friday night, the other female arrested and myself were not provided with a jail cell, nor with beds or blankets. With the television on all night at a very loud volume, showing a movie that bordered on pornography and which the police would not turn off, and with the lights on for most of the night, no place to lie down, and the chill from the air conditioning, it was impossible to sleep. Despite repeated requests, the police officers made no attempt to improve the conditions, instead mocking and taunting us.

While the tendons at my ankles hurt, chaffed by hard-edged shackles, and I could only shuffle past accusing eyes, I refused to feel “guilty” or be relegated to sub-human, as their stares would imply. I was there only because of their flawed, racist system of oppression which ignores even its own High Court ruling.

The arrested males were given dingy cells and sparse food.

The conditions presented to us by the Israeli judge at Saturday’s trial were unacceptable: the judge chose to ban us from the West Bank cities of Ramallah, Nablus, and Bethlehem simply because those were cities in which we had mentioned we had friends. As we did not produce passport ID, we were taken back to jail for a second night. This night, despite the judge’s order to at least provide me with a cell, I was made to sleep in a room with a female police officer, still shackled at the ankles.

The next morning, I was awoken and made to sit for several hours, still shackled, before being taken for the 2nd trial. At this trial, our state-appointed lawyer did not communicate with us and it was only through the aid of an Israeli friend that we were told the conditions of our release, which remained the same as the previous day. Feeling our options were limited, our passports present, we signed and were released.

Having the passport of white skin and a young woman’s face, I was nonetheless treated with more sympathy and privilege than Palestinian counterparts are given.

Lest I dehumanize my jailers just as their system does the general population of Palestinians, I must recognize that they are cogs in a machine, humans filling a role they perceive to need, that of security enforcers, against a population they perceive as threatening.

It is over and again the System that is greatly racist and flawed, cunningly devised and enforced.

Overall, aside from three very sarcastic and provoking male police officers, the police were generally humane, though still blindly fulfilling their role in the Apartheid regime and not fulfilling their obligations to provide arrestees with a cell, to remain arrested but unshackled.

While some of the female police officers, young women, acted with more consideration, most of the male officers showed disdain and disrespect to all of us arrested.

In allowing ourselves to be arrested, we hoped to highlight the very serious issue of roadblocks and checkpoints in Occupied Palestine, as well as to send a message to the residents of Sarra and surrounding villages that we see their suffering and are committed to joining in their struggle. It is an honour to work with dedicated Israelis like the Israeli Anarchists who, for many years, have endeavored to fight the Occupation and its policies, also suffering arrest and abuse at the hands of the IOF.

Colored People to the Back of the Bus

by: Yifat Appelbaum

This summer, the International Solidarity Movement, Art Under Apartheid, Tel Rumeida Project and Glasgow Palestine Human Rights teamed up to take over 100 Palestinian children from Hebron to the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem and the beach in Jaffa.

This was no easy task.

West Bank Palestinian residents over the age of 16 are not allowed into Israel but those under 16 are allowed. In fact, there is no legal way to prevent them from entering because they do not have ID cards yet. But most of these kids will never get to visit Jerusalem or go to the sea because their parents are not allowed in to take them.

Although we knew it was permitted to take these kids across the checkpoints (we checked with the the Association for Civil Rights in Israel) into Israel, we decided to check in with the District Coordination Office (DCO) of the Israeli military just to let them know we would be doing this and that we didn’t want any problems. They told us we needed a permit (this is not true). We asked for a permit and were refused. So of course we decided to do it anyway.

Fourty-five kids in one trip was going to be plenty to handle so we decided to do two trips. We bought food and water for 45 kids, arranged for them to have lunch at a restaurant in Jerusalem, got copies of their birth certificates (proof of their age and proof they are allowed to be in Israel) arranged for a bus to take them, and we met the kids at 7am in downtown Hebron.

We knew that if soldiers at any of the checkpoints knew there were West Bank Palestinian kids on the bus, they would stop us, cause a problem, and more than likely tell us we had to go back, even though it is allowed for the kids to go in. We didn’t want a repeat of the last field trip nightmare so we choose to use Israeli checkpoint racism to our advantage.

It has been my experience that if soldiers at a checkpoint see white or Jewish-looking people in the front seat of a car, they will not stop the car and check the passenger’s IDs to verify that they have the correct ID to enter Israel. This has happened to me countless times. If anyone who looks Palestinian is sitting in the front seat, they are automatically stopped, even if they are Jewish but have dark skin.

Settler cars zoom through those checkpoints with no delays. Palestinians are always stopped and searched.

Now, I will prove to you how the apartheid wall is completely useless for keeping suicide bombers out of Israel.

We stuck four white people in the front seat of that bus, and we drove through the checkpoint without so much as a second glance from the soldiers. All the kids cheered.

Now see how easy it is to sneak Palestinians (legally or illegally) into Israel? The inherent racist legal system allows it. As long as you are white, you can go though many checkpoints in a car unhindered and unquestioned. Because it’s so easy, if a Palestinian really wants to enter Israel badly enough, he or she will find a way.

The kids were elated to go to the mosque and to play in the water. Most of them had never seen the sea before.

I didn’t see any of them playing with Israeli kids at the beach but I think it was good for them to at least be around Israelis kids who weren’t hostile or violent towards them. The Palestinian adults who ran the Tel Rumeida summer camp this summer made a point to explain to the kids the difference between Israelis living in Hebron and Israelis living in Tel Aviv. Fortunately we have a lot of Israeli activists coming to volunteer in Tel Rumeida so the kids are already learning the difference.

Teaching Under Apartheid in Palestine

by: Lina

When I first decided to go to Palestine to teach kids English and yoga my main concerns were managing the kids’ behavior, assessing their needs and maintaining their interest. After all, those are the most challenging issues I face everyday in my classroom in Philadelphia. In the US I rarely get through an entire unit and to actually teach without a behavior related incident interrupting class is a very rare event. I quickly found it to be quite the opposite in Tel Rumeida which left me feeling like a fish out of water in the beginning.

I arrived in Palestine on a Tuesday, attended nonviolent resistance training about Tel Rumeida on Wednesday which was extremely intimidating yet necessary and helpful. I hung out in Jerusalem on Thursday and headed to Tel Rumeida on Friday to observe Katie’s art class and to meet some of the kids I would be teaching as well as the person who would help me translate in the classroom. The kids were very well behaved for Katie. They seemed to be very motivated and enjoyed her lesson. This was a good sign. The translator, a local university student named Ibrahim, helped more than I expected. I began to worry that language was going to be a larger barrier than I was used to at home since my Arabic was limited at the time to only basic greetings. At home I can speak my students’ language enough to translate on my own.

Ibrahim helped organize the classes of which each consisted of 10-15 kids. One class for girls under the age of 12, one for girls over 12 years and one for boy up to 12 years. Their levels varied in reading and writing but they were all around the emergent or beginner level in listening and speaking, therefore this is where I decided to focus my lessons. As any experienced teacher knows it can take several weeks sometimes months to get into a groove, so I didn’t want to waste anytime as I was only going to be teaching English 3 days a week, an hour each session, for a total of 4-weeks. As for the yoga, this would be 1 day a week for an hour. I knew that would be a brand new experience for the kids so I was also a little worried about how they would perceive me and the concept of yoga overall. Sometimes in very religious communities, such as Tel Rumeida, people view yoga as taboo or voodoo. I knew that I would need to be sensitive to their cultural and religious beliefs.

English Lessons

We started classes immediately the following day. I was a bit nervous because not only did I want them to like me and enjoy the classes but I also wanted them to learn to speak English. I was greeted with a handshake by every student! Wow, such respect from the start! Each class started that way as well. They also all came to class fully prepared to learn with pencils and notebooks and of course enthusiasm and an intense interest in learning English. A stark contrast to the kids I teach in the US who rarely come to class prepared. I was kind of shocked when one student forgot her notebook and Ibrahim told her to go home and get it and not to forget next time or she will not be allowed to come to class. He mentioned that it is unacceptable to come to school unprepared in Palestine. Unfortunately being unprepared is more of the norm where I teach.

The first lesson started out with simple questions and responses such as “What is your name?” “My name is Roba.” And “How old are you?” “I am 8 years old.” After assessing their levels mostly through conversation I then created an entire unit as this was my own project and a curriculum was not being provided. I was a bit worried because I had never really taught without the aid of a curriculum but welcomed the freedom to be as creative as I wanted. I had brought along a few of my own materials which included workbooks for photocopying, phonics readers, music language CDs, and a book for lesson planning ideas. I then relied on the Internet and fellow teaching friends at home for other creative ideas. I was also able to pick up other materials in Hebron and Ramallah, for less than half the price it would have cost in the US. Sometimes it was difficult because I could not find enough manipulatives relative to the lessons so I needed to improvise more often than not. Also, I typically teach up to the 4th grade at home, or up to 11 years old, and in Tel Rumeida I had high school students mixed into the classes. I took advantage of the situation by having the older students assist the younger ones.

Once I got a better feel for how comfortable they were speaking, and everyone seemed to enjoy the opportunity to speak as most children do, I decided to create a base goal for the lessons. The goal was to be able to communicate with internationals basically in case of an emergency. The majority of the lessons consisted of building vocabulary such as settlers, settlement, throw and rocks as well as directional prepositions, how to give directions and follow commands, how to describe things and people and how to read a map of their own community. I was told that this was the first time they ever saw a map of Tel Rumeida. Amazing! I felt a little sad and uneasy teaching for this purpose in the beginning but the lessons needed to reflect upon their personal experiences, and unfortunately this was their reality. Of course, we did find time to escape and talk about other things such as their homes and families.

I ended up not being so concerned about their level of interest in learning because they were always so eager and enthusiastic and participated even when I thought the lesson was not going as well as I as wanted or if the content was a bit difficult. I even gave them homework assignments which most of them did with such enthusiasm and pride that I brought most of their work back with me to show my students here at home. Perhaps I’ll be able to set a spark in students’ motivation here. I really think that my students here can learn something from the kids in Tel Rumeida.

Even some of the international volunteers would report back to me that the kids would approach them and ask them the questions I was asking during our lessons such as “Where are you from?” and then explain the proper way to respond. The most amusing incident I recall hearing about followed a lesson on commands. I taught the kids things like stand up, sit down, touch your toes for use in our yoga lessons. After the lesson they approached the internationals sitting at their posts and yelled to them to stand up and sit down. The internationals were amused and played along. I would also fill in the internationals on what I was teaching and how they could help. Everyone did their best to reinforce the lessons. It was really a community effort.

Yoga classes

Yoga classes were held for one hour, one day a week. I have to admit that the yoga classes were the most enjoyable for both me and the kids. My worries about their perceptions of yoga were quickly diminished after the first class. Not only was it a great way for them to learn English and exercise but it was a great way for all of us to bond. Even the boys enjoyed it! The older girls focused more on holding positions and proper positioning while the younger ones allowed themselves to be silly and fall where their bodies took them. I taught them how to relieve stress through breathing exercises which I hope they practice in the future. We sang songs to help them remember series of positions like sun salutations which the little ones thoroughly enjoyed belting out at the top of their lungs! They were so flexible and willing to try any position. It was nice to see them smiling and full of energy!

It was also especially nice to see the older girls exercising and having fun. In Tel Rumeida you do not see girls outside. They spend most of their time inside their own homes, visiting friends in their homes or within the confines of the grounds of their family’s home. They rarely get to run around and exercise. Some of the girls were aware of stretching exercises that they said they learned from television and gym class at school. Yoga though was new to them and they initially associated it with meditation. They seemed really eager to learn more once they experienced it. I always felt on top of the world after a yoga session with them.

Reflection

The most impressive thing besides being able to actually teach and not have to constantly be interrupted for discipline problems was that the younger girls would line up outside the community center where classes were held at least 30 minutes early! When I asked why they did this they said it was because they wanted to be first in line! I was astonished! I wanted to cry, of course tears of joy! At home I have to drag the kids from the hallway into my classroom. In Palestine, kids live under occupation in extreme poverty and yet they are so motivated to learn. They came to class prepared with pencils and notebooks unlike kids in my school in the US. Their parents and the community in general stress the importance of education and show much respect towards teachers. I would occasionally be approached on the street by mothers welcoming and thanking me for teaching their children. I rarely receive expressions of thanks in the US. I rarely receive respect from parents and students. I didn’t want to leave Tel Rumeida. I fell in love with the kids and with being treated with respect.

Most of the kids were just beginning to understand me on their own without Ibrahim’s help at the end. I hope that they keep practicing. They begin learning English now in the first grade but they do not typically have a native English speaking teacher to teach them, so most considered this a great opportunity to take advantage of. If anyone reading this is considering teaching kids in Palestine, especially in Tel Rumeida, I must say please do it! You won’t regret it. The experience, the place, the people and most importantly the kids will capture your heart and change your life forever, in the most positive way. I say this because this is exactly what happened to me and I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

I will return one day, insh’allah!

Journal: About the Combatants for Peace Meeting in Shufa

Shufa, Tulkarem Area, 14th August 2007


Members of Combatants for Peace with the Vice President of the European Parliament Louisa Morgantini

A meeting of Combatants for Peace, with an audience of more than one hundred people, took place in this small village adjacent to the illegal settlement of Avne Hafez and with a checkpoint blocking the only road that leads out of the village.

The presence of the illegal settlement of Avne Hefez resulted in the closure of the main route that used to connect Shufa with Tulkarem city. Previously it would take ten minutes to travel between the two towns. The inhabitants now need over one hour to travel from one to the other, greatly decreasing their ability to access university or work both through the added time and also the significantly increased expense. The village is also not connected with the electricity network and consequently depends on a generator to have an energy supply. The increasing isolation of Shufa by the illegal occupation is killing the future of the youth from the village, who grow frustrated and desire nothing else than to leave their community.

Combatants for Peace is a movement started in 2005 jointly by Palestinians and Israelis who have taken an active part in the cycle of violence within the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The former combatants believe in joining forces and in using non-violent means to terminate the Israeli occupation, to halt the construction of illegal settlements and to establish a Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem, alongside the State of Israel. Their goals are to raise consciousness in both the Palestinian and Israeli spheres, to create partners in dialogue, to educate others towards reconciliation and non-violent struggle, and to put political pressure on both governments to stop the violence and the occupation.

Attending the meeting in Shufa were former Palestinian and Israeli combatants, nowadays struggling through non-violent methods for ending the occupation and achieving two independent states. Also present was an Italian member of the European Parliament, Louisa Morgentini, who recognizes Europe’s responsibility in resolving the issues of political prisoners, the apartheid wall, the illegal settlements, the checkpoints and other occupation measures, in order to achieve real and lasting peace between the countries.

Former Palestinian fighters explained that they had to justify to their people why they had joined former Israeli soldiers. For them the answer is that they want to have real peace, and to follow the example of non-violent liberation from the occupation of other countries, such as India or South Africa. For those former combatants, speaking together with the Israelis is the beginning for both nations to be in peace, moreover with an international presence, as in fact happened in the meeting.

One of the testimonials in Shufa came from a former Israeli soldier, who now works as a teacher and is the father of a small girl. Until three years ago he was a soldier in Israeli forces. For fifteen years he was a commando. His reasons for becoming a professional soldier reach back to the way Israeli youth are brought up and educated about their culture, history and current context. From an early age he was taught that this was the country of Israeli people and others living there were just preventing them from living in peace. They told him that Israelis were always peaceful while Palestinians were always violent.

In this way, joining the army was for him a means for defending Israel from the Palestinians, instead of thinking that he was committing crimes in the occupied territories, as in fact he was doing. In 2001, during the Second Intifada, he was near a settlement looking for armed groups shooting in nearby roads. Waiting for them, he found an old man picking up nylon bags and going to the fence. He couldn’t reach is home without making a very big tour. After seeing that, he said to his soldiers that he was not going to participate in these actions anymore. But four months later, in Jerusalem a suicide bomb explode near him and he went to give assistance to the injured people. Then his unit called him to go to Jenin and he, worried about the pressure of his society, went there. He participated in the Battle of Jenin knowing that it was a crime, but without the courage to say no to his commanders. He would need another terrible event to be able to say no.

He went with his platoon to a small village to arrest someone wanted for investigation. Walking in the night, leading his platoon, he knew that he was doing something unacceptable. They blocked houses around, preparing the scene for arrest, the soldiers shot to the walls many times just to show they were there, without knowing how big the walls were. The commander told them to be aware of children because the inhuman Palestinians used them by strapping bombs to them. It was three in the morning, a mother and her three daughters were the first ones running out of the house. One of the small girls was so afraid that she ran towards them. They also were afraid, so he shot in the air and the girl stopped running. He knew that his shot killed her soul. For some seconds she looked at his eyes and that was for him like a heavy hammer on his head. He knew that if he wouldn’t stop then nothing would touch his heart anymore. So he and his thirty soldiers wrote a letter to the Prime Minister stating that they planned to end their participation in activities in the West Bank. They said they were ready to serve in the defense of Israelis, but not to serve in Israeli attacks.

That was three years ago. Then he joined Combatants for Peace. There are Israelis who think that by participating in violence they bring peace and freedom to Israel and peace to the Palestinian people. He realized however that violence just brings more violence. He was also surprised to realize that most of the Palestinian people want peace and that many of them struggle through non-violent means against the occupation. Unfortunately, Israeli media often doesn’t show the peaceful acts between Israelis and Palestinians such as this one being held in Shufa.

Another testimonial came from a former major in the army. He said that he considers himself a war criminal, having attended seminars on International Law. He personally carried out and gave order for illegal arrests, collective punishment and other war crimes.

He grow up in a Zionist house. His father was also a soldier. They told him that, as a soldier, he would save his country and his family. His grandfather was born in Poland, and the Nazis had killed his family. So he grew up with stories about Zionism and about how they would only be safe in Israel. He felt that the only way to avoid another holocaust was joining the Army. This way of thinking is a part of the “Israeli paranoia”. He was four years in regular Army and ten in reserves. So he has been everywhere in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

He had given commands to arrest a nine-year old boy and to separate children from their parents in the middle of the night. Sometimes, in the morning, he could be discussing with his wife the best way to decorate the house and in the evening he could be demolishing Palestinian houses after dragging out their residents. Other times, he would worry in the morning because his little girl had a fever and would carry her to the doctor, and in the afternoon he was at a checkpoint preventing people with serious illnesses to go to the hospital. He did all that without thinking about what he was doing, just following orders, but little by little he realized that he couldn’t do it anymore. Then he refused serve in the occupied territories because that behavior is inhuman and not a way for achieving peace.

The above are just two of many testimonies and views of ex-combatants from both the Israeli and Palestinian side. It was considered a privilege to witness some of these testimonies, which offer hope to finding a peaceful resolution to what has been a long and violent conflict.