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Life Onboard |
LAST UPDATE
July 19, 2005
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| August 21, 2004 |
International Students from Palestine and Israel
– Iba Farra and Itay Lewinsky |
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| Iba Farrah and Itay Lewinsky presenting their stories of life in Palestine and Israel
onboard Peace Boat |
Despite coming from different backgrounds - Israeli and Palestinian - Itay Lewinsky and Iba Farrah
have come 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 nationalities living within the same borders. Throughout their
lives, both nationalities are predominately segregated, and because of this segregation conflict dictates
all aspects of daily life. Iba Farrah was born, and has grown up, in East Jerusalem. Along with working
in the public health sector and pursuing cancer research at Hebrew University she now works with various
Palestinian NGOs to improve the quality of life in Palestine. Because of her active lifestyle, Iba
is constantly reminded of the challenges of being a Palestinian. She faces the continuous challenges
of daily checkpoints, and her movements may be disrupted at any time, "there are about 360 checkpoints
in the West Bank, and in East Jerusalem they are everywhere." Showing a picture of a checkpoint,
which she travels through several times a week, Iba explained that much of her movement is dependent
on the moods of young soldiers. "If a checkpoint is closed nobody can come in or out, even medical
aid cannot pass." |
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| Itay and Iba at market in Morocco |
In terms of nationality Iba pointed out that she has no document stating she is Palestinian. And though
she is not a refugee (like millions of Palestinians) she has grown up classified as stateless. To
travel outside of Israel, Iba must use a Jordanian passport though she is not granted Jordanian citizenship.
To travel within Israel and the Palestinian territories her status becomes even more ambiguous; she
must own a two-year Israeli travel document to allow her movement within these areas. Iba said, "I
have no right to be in Jerusalem without this Visa." |
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| Close-up of checkpoint and map of checkpoints (indicated in pink) in West Bank |
Itay Lewinsky, an Israeli citizen born in Holun near Tel Aviv, also works as an activist fighting
to end the construction of the Separation Wall" being built to encircle hundreds of thousands
of Palestinas living in the West Bank. He has also acted as a human shield at Palestinian demonstrations
to prevent shootings. In contrast to Palestinians, Itay pointed out the extreme difference of being
Jewish in Israel, begins with the ease of which to gain citizenship. Because the Israeli nationality
is based on the belief of Zionism, Itay explained that this allows any person who can prove that they
are Jewish, access to Israeli citizenship. "They can get money and an apartment just by moving
to Israel," said Itay. In terms of identity, "in Israel there is no separation between state
and religion. And up until a year ago your nationality and religion were stated on your I.D. card." Itay
disagrees with the concept of Zionism, and believes that, "any race or nationality that says
this race has more rights than another is wrong." |
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Discussing Zionism, Iba said, "Jewish, Christian and Muslim people all used to live in the same
land, and only until Zionism began did conflict come about." Therefore, Iba believes that it
is important to emphasize that the conflict is centered on inequality, loss of land, and human suffering
- not religion.
The difference between the two groups also carries over into the education system. Explaining this
difference Itay said in his experience the education of Israelis is very militaristic. "You
are taught from a small age that you will do 12 years of school and then go to the military." Patriotism
and stories of brave soldiers returning from the army are taught to Israeli children to enforce
the belief that separation of the two nationalities is a necessity to ensure Israeli safety. This
idea is also reinforced in Israeli history books. "They donít lie to you directly, but
they emphasize some facts and ignore other facts. For example I never learned about the more than
400 villages massacred, evacuated, and destroyed to create Israel. I never learned about refugees,
or about people dyeing everyday, but about heroics we learned a lot - and the justification for
Israel." Essentially, Itay explained, in these textbooks Israelis only learn about Israelis. |
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For Iba, she believes that the education system of Palestinians is getting worse. Like Isrealis, Palestinian
children attend school for 12 years, "but in actuality," because of extreme conditions of
poverty, resulting in a high rate of child labor, "many Palestinian children are unable to go
to school." Outlining the current education system Iba said that, "up until five years ago
Palestinians learned about history from Jordanian textbooks, because Palestinians had no right to
build their own education system or books." Now with 75% of Palestinians in poverty, and 30%
of these children suffering from malnourishment, Iba doesnít believe the Palestinian children
need textbooks to teach them about how they live. |
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In terms of Israeli and Palestinian society, Itay explained that there are two main parts of Israeli
society: the larger, Jewish but not religious section, and the second, living their lives by religious
standards. "In the religious life there is less freedom, there is specific dress codes, and all
life revolves around religion." On the other hand, said Itay, "secular peoples' lives are
very much like Europeans, but in a bit of a twisted way." Clarifying this remark Itay explained, "This
society is very violent because of the militaristic education. Iím sure you can imagine a society
where all people are well trained in using different weapons." This militarism also has a boomerang
effect, "Israelís infrastructure is in bad shape because 60% of the budget goes to the
army." Where as all non-religious Israelis are required to attend the military, this is not the
case for Palestinians because no Palestinian military exists. Currently, Iba explained, the Palestinian
struggle for equal rights is divided into different resistance groups, though these have yet to find
a common approach to ending the conflict.
Stemming from work done in the NGO community, both Iba and Itay share a common interest in ending
the construction of the separation wall (see other IS reports - add links), while both also expressed
on many occasions how important they feel it is for Palestinians and Israelis to meet, talk, and
get to know each other. Iba believes that "the separation between Palestinians and Israelis
is making the conflict much worse," and as Itay pointed out, "when Israeli and Palestinians
are together, to talk and get to know each other, that will be the solution." |
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