Jumana Odeh
Posted on | November 3, 2008 | No Comments
Founder-Director of Happy Child Center
I argue with Israeli soldiers at the checkpoints. I say “I am human,” but they don’t want to see me as human. They are in denial. They are there to defend and protect their country. When they pass by hundreds of Palestinians, they don’t want to see the suffering children.
You may be able to play such a role in a movie, but you can’t play it every day. It is too much if it becomes how you live your life. I feel many Israeli soldiers suffer psychologically. I blame the politicians mainly.
Is peace up to the citizens?
When my daughter was four years old, we flew from Britain in a small plane. Dana and I were the only Palestinians, and something happened to the engine. We all felt we were to die. When we landed in Athens, everyone rushed to protect Dana and Daniela, a little Israeli girl. Later, when we arrived at Tel Aviv, everybody was so happy because we survived, but the security guard did something stupid. Dana and Daniela were walking together holding hands, but he wanted to separate us when he saw my passport. Dana asked, “Why did you stop my mommy? Is it because we are Palestinian?” Daniela echoed, “Is it because we are Palestinian?” The kids insisted until the guard gave me my passport and said, “Go.” Two little girls forced him to be quiet. Children are simple and honest. Politicians are not.
You care for children of special needs.
I dream all children will live in peace, dignity, and with protection. Once on television, I saw Israeli kids killed in a suicide attack. I was asked, “Why are you crying? They are not ours.” I said, “These tears are for any child, Israeli, Palestinian, Iraqi, or Zimbabwean.” An Israeli once said, “The tears of any mother are equally salty.”
What in your view makes a happy child?
A happy child is loved and listened to. Recently, I had a child come to me and complain, “They don’t listen to me at school and at home.” Many children coming here talk about dignity. They are four, five, or six years old and talk about being oppressed or humiliated. They use big words, saying, “my parents, soldiers in the street, the media and my teachers don’t listen to me and they humiliate me.” We can’t forget that dignity and respect are important to children, as well as to adults.
How has the occupation affected Palestinians’ views on education?
The best example comes from my family. When we were very little, my grandfather used to discuss the things we had learned in school that day and help us with our homework. My parents and grandparents had a special appreciation of education because they were refugees.
Many Palestinians feel that it is very important for all Palestinians to be educated. As they feel that they lost everything, they want to invest in education. I know many whose families have invested everything they had in higher education for their children.
Many Israelis believe the Palestinian society supports and even celebrates suicide bombers.
Whoever supports killing others has a sick mentality. Suicide bombing is beyond my mind and heart to accept. It kills innocent people. I have not heard of any political leader who sent his son or daughter to be a suicide bomber. I believe that suicide bombers are victims of Israeli occupation and the people who supply the bombs.
We have a generation of young people raised in conditions very difficult for wholeness, health, and strength. Palestinians who are now 30 were children during the first intifada. They didn’t go to school during that time, and now they are fighters. This is the generation created by the occupation.
It will take a long time to heal our young people, but we must stop the damage and deterioration our children are experiencing in this ongoing psychological trauma. Kids don’t differentiate between trauma from Israelis or from Palestinians.
I don’t believe Israelis are faring any better. They have become obsessed with something called security, which the leaders know is an illusion even if the people do not. It allows them to find excuses for whatever damage they are doing, even to their own society. The peace process can’t get anywhere because of this illusion. If people really knew the truth, they wouldn’t allow it, that they would be outraged. However, they are not allowed to know it because the politicians write the history and they do not always write the truth.
Both are raising a pathological society. This is a shame for both of us. We professionals, politicians, and leaders must prevent more damage to the minds and hearts of our children.
Dr. Jumana, why do you do this work?
I am so passionate about my work, I do not even call it work. It is my hobby, to be with children, to be close to them, to touch them, to love them. I love to listen to them and talk to parents, especially mothers. I like to help mothers when they are sad or worried. I like to show them that there is somebody supporting them and they are not alone in this world. I love this kind of work and I can’t see myself doing anything else.
How can we achieve peace, in your view?
We have to teach our kids to forgive. Maybe they cannot forget, but they must forgive. Maybe it is too early to talk about reconciliation now, but I believe it will happen in the long run. It is the only way we can exist and survive together. Israelis and Palestinians must accept each other in order to live in peace.
If we can force the politicians to end this story and start a new era for both sides, it would be good for both sides. Israelis and Palestinians, occupier and occupied, are both suffering.
Odeh is the founder, director, and guiding force of Happy Child Center, located in Ramallah and tending children with psychological and physical needs throughout the West Bank and, as possible, Gaza. She is a pediatrician, medical lecturer, and academic, who has written numerous articles. A peace activist, Odeh supports citizen-level dialogue and is a writer-commentator on life for Palestinians.
