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Special Report |
LAST UPDATE June 9, 2007
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| April 18, 2007 |
International Students from Palestine and Israel – Samar Dissi and Natalie Levy |
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| Samar Dissi (left) and Natalie Levy (right) |
Despite coming from different and so-called ‘enemy’ backgrounds, Israeli Natalie Levy and Palestinian Samar Dissi came together on Peace Boat to discuss the different sides of growing up in a land torn by conflict. The two International Students began a joint discussion by pointing out that within the land that is now called Israel, there are two peoples living within the same borders. Throughout their lives, both groups are segregated, and because of this, conflict dictates all aspects of daily life. |
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| Natalie and Samar give a talk on the Israel and Palestine conflict |
In both individual and joint talks, activists Samar and Natalie gave a brief history of the conflict as well as sharing their personal views and experiences of the conflict. Samar is based in Jerusalem working as Media, Political & Projects Coordinator at the Jerusalem Center for Women (JCW), while Natalie works coordinating, organizing and facilitating youth projects with the organization Windows for Peace. For example, she has been involved in a cinema project as part of their Channels for Communication video magazine project. Windows conducts peace education by bringing together youth – Palestinians living in Israel, Palestinians from the occupied territories, and Jews from Israel – who then work together on creative projects such as producing a video magazine and fostering dialogue between the different groups. |
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| International students give their final presentation on Peace Boat |
Samar says, “It’s hard to bring up peace to Palestinians as we are not on an equal plane with Israelis. 70% of Palestinians live below the poverty line.” The Palestinian people have been without a nation, have had limited rights, and suffer from poverty. Israel has continued to increase and expand their settlements into occupied territories, giving up less and less land compared to what was promised. Many Palestinians living in Israel do not have the right to vote or have equal opportunities despite paying full taxes.
The frustration and injustice of the treatment of Palestinians has angered many citizens in the Arab world against US/Israeli policies. Palestinian frustration has spilled into extremism in some cases as well. Many militant groups from Palestine and other areas of the Middle East have therefore sprung up in recent years as well as past decades, performing acts of what the West and Israel describe as terrorism and what the groups themselves justify as freedom fighting. “It’s nonsense to throw stones when in front of us there are tanks. Palestinians are not terrorists, we just want to live like humans,” says Samar. |
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Is hope for peace in pieces? “I believe that although this change is hard, it is possible, since I have experienced myself the effects of meeting the other. Today the conflict to me is not just a word, a fear, or an anger, but people, faces, stories that I carry, and friends, which allows me to see the complexity of reality, and the individuals that being affected by it,” says Natalie. “Youth in Israel are trying to shape themselves, but need to face many social, political and internal issues. I hope that in this complicated reality, this type of work based on education and encouraging awareness, is a ray of light in a cloudy sky that will lead us all to a healthier future with less violence, hatred and fear, which is damaging our society from the inside.” |
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