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Life Onboard |
LAST UPDATE
December 24, 2007
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| November 3, 2007 |
Palestine: The Current Situation and a Vision for the Future – Rami Nasserdin |
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Rami Nasserdin told participants about the current situation in Palestine and about the work he is doing with Palestinian youth which will give them a brighter future. All photos courtesy of Mr Nasserdin. |
Finding a peaceful solution to the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict has been described by many as paramount to securing peace in the greater Middle East and to improving Arab-Western relations. Palestine-based Peace Boat staff member and Director of NGO Palestinian Vision, Rami Nasserdin, joined the 59th Global Voyage from Aqaba, Jordan to Kusadasi, Turkey to discuss the current social and political climate in Palestine which is becoming increasingly volatile after the victory of Hamas, an Islamic Palestinian political party which won Palestine’s second general election in 2006. |
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| Palestinians undertake a peaceful protest by waving their flag defiantly in front of Israeli forces |
Previously, only the secular Fatah party held power in Palestine and lost, according to Mr Nasserdin, due to internal conflict and growing public mistrust. Consequently, condemning Hamas as a terrorist organization, the United States and the European Union froze the foreign aid funds which Palestine’s economy depends on and more than 160,000 civil servants haven’t received any income for 16 months. In addition to the stranglehold on Hamas, the United States has been strengthening Fatah by supplying weapons and money. Tensions came to a head this year when Hamas stormed Fatah positions in Gaza and took over the entire Gaza Strip. Fatah responded by securing the West Bank leaving Palestine split in two. This infighting has worsened the situation of all Palestinians, especially for the 70 percent living there under the poverty line and surviving on less than US$2 a day. |
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| A schoolboy watches the Israeli occupying forces who are denying him access to school |
As the most densely populated region in the world, Mr Nasserdin likened Gaza to a big prison. Means of income and subsistence, such as fishing, are no longer possible due to Israeli security measures and all borders are closed making entry and exit extremely difficult. Factories within the Gaza strip have closed as no raw materials can be imported, nor manufactured goods exported, exacerbating already extreme unemployment. 10,000 people are stranded between the borders of Gaza and Egypt, and those who used to commute to Israel for work can no longer do so. Even electricity and oil in the area is controlled by Israel, with supply entirely dependent on their will.‘All of this is a collective punishment for the Palestinians for voting for Hamas,’ believes Mr Nasserdin. |
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Boys dig through the rubble of houses destroyed by Israeli forces next to the Separation Wall which physically divides the two states |
Since 2003, the most pressing issue in the West Bank, where conditions are better than Gaza, has been the construction of the Separation Wall, which creates a physical barrier between Israel and Palestine. At a cost of USD1.55 Billion, the wall is an attempt by the Israeli government to create security by protecting Israel from Palestinian suicide bombers, a tiny minority of the Palestinian population. However, Palestinians fear it is a permanent structure designed to protect and expand illegal Israeli settlements in Palestine and to secure the precious water supply in the area. Mr Nasserdin pointed out that the Separation Wall does not trace the internationally recognised Green Line, the borderline created in the 1967 war, but annexes a further 12 percent of Palestinian land. He used the case study of Zufin, an illegal Israeli settlement on the West Bank, to illustrate this breach of International Law. |
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| Father and son pray for peace |
Mr Nasserdin believes that the international response to Hamas’ democratic victory makes a mockery of democracy. ‘Democracy is defined by what the United States or European Union wants and is in their interest. The UN doesn’t do anything but condemn things. They give us stupid excuses which we believed. But we are starting to be aware as Palestinians about what is going on in the world. We will become stronger for it,’ he asserted. His advice for participants was to acquire a global perspective: ‘Be aware of world issues, do not elect a government that supports America’s imperialism and protect Article 9 of your constitution.’ |
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| Palestinian children who can still smile despite their dire situation |
Mr Nasserdin also talked about the reasons behind his founding Palestinian Vision, a Palestinian non-governmental organisation (NGO) which is committed to educating, empowering and improving the lives of the repressed and disillusioned Palestinian youth who live under Israeli occupation. Mr Nasserdin has been working since 1998 to give hope to them through running workshops and awareness campaigns on topics such as identity, belonging, communication and leadership. They also meet with people from other countries to share ideas and to express themselves in creative, non-violent ways. ‘Our goal is to give the youth hope, to give them a better life in Palestine. We give them skills not related to the conflict at all, helping them to take their life in their own hands.’ |
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Palestinian girls dance a traditional folkdance as part of Palestinian Vision’s hope that their unique culture will be preserved |
However, they also try to bring a sense of mutual understanding to the youth of both Palestine and Israel through meetings and exchange programs which will better enable the next generation to find a viable solution to the ongoing conflict. For instance, youth from the West Bank went to Jerusalem to meet with Israeli youth and it was the first time for them to enter that city, even though it is only 20 kilometers away. Mr Nasserdin and his colleagues have also been teaching Palestinian youth the folklore of their country through such means as song and dance. ‘The youth have started to run away from culture. We are trying not to lose our identity. We try to preserve the culture which is very unique,’ he said. Despite the seemingly hopeless situation, Mr Nasserdin’s work sustains him and gives him a sense of hope that the situation will change for the better in the future. ‘Through it all we try to keep smiling,’ he said. |
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