Terry Boullata
Documentary producer
In the construction of the Wall most of the fertile land on the border between Israel and Palestine was confiscated to the Israeli side. These are the most fertile areas, the main food basket for the Palestinian Territory. [..]
Weaam Dawoud Ali Iriqat
Director of Public Relations and Culture for Jericho Municipality
Jericho is one of the oldest cities in the world. Most people read about it in the Bible. We showcase the way the people live, the natural beauty of Jericho, the charm of the city, the magnificent, hospitable people. [..]
Siham Chalabi
Facilitator at Daliat El-Carmel Community Center
The Druze are conservative people who believe in one god. There are religious Druze and secular Druze. One of our principles is that wherever we are, in whatever country, we have to be loyal to that country. We are concerned not only with our own interests but with the interests of the country. We do everything “Israeli,” everything. We have people in senior positions and regular jobs in the government. Our children serve in the army. We are Arab Druze, but we have a good life with the Jews. We love our country. [..]
Ilanit Melchior
Co-Director of StartUp Jerusalem
When you invest in the economy, you invest in relationships. The market is the creator and founder of relationships. Jerusalem is the poorest city in Israel, young people are leaving. You find a lot of ultra-Orthodox who are not part of the working labor. We want to make sure in years to come that this will not be an empty city. And we want realistic operations between East and West Jerusalem, a reality where people respect each other and work together. The economy is a primary way to do this. [..]
Hadeel Rizq-Qazzaz
Program Coordinator for Heinrich Böll Foundation
The people in Gaza are human beings with families. They love, they hate, they want to get married, they want to go to hospitals, and they want food. You can’t ignore them, they are humans.
The international community thinks it’s boycotting Hamas—they’re boycotting 1.5 million human beings, more than 60 percent of them children below 18 years of age. It’s collective punishment in all senses, by all definitions.[..]
Rachel Aspir
Chair of NAAMAT for the Jerusalem area
I was born in Iraq, and arrived here at age four or five. It was traumatic, my parents fled from Iraq secretly. If I have a recollection of that aliyah, of that journey to Israel, it is of my father being separated from my mother. The men had to leave on their own, and my mother stayed behind with my brother and me. My brother was a baby in her arms. My parents never spoke badly of Arabs. Abdullah—I remember him as a nice uncle who brought us sweets—helped my mother cross the border to get my brother and me where we needed to go. [..]
Maha Abu Shusheh
General Manager of Abu Shusheh Trading Company
We are a nation that deserves to live, and to live in peace. What is happening to us now leaves us hopeless, and no one can live without hope. We have been neglected for a long time, and we are not going to be the only nation that will pay the price. The whole neighborhood of nations will pay because we have been left without hope. [...]
Hekmat Bessiso Naji
Project Assistant with Medico International for health services
The world hides its ears and eyes from the miserable life of the refugees in the camps in Gaza and the West Bank. The issue is not just living here, but who’s responsible for this and when will this change. For refugees, all our lives have been under a question mark. [...]
Amal Elsana Alh’jooj
Bedouin spokeswoman and Founder-Director of AJEEC
Now they are teaching adults how to listen. As a shepherd, I listened to everything and developed my senses from the air, earth, moon, and stars. Even though I was often without shoes and it was cold, I still want to send my kids to the field with three sheep and one cow and say, “This is the best school in your life.” [..]
Bushra Mukbil
Consultant with Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator
I was having lunch with a friend and her young son in Ramallah when Israeli soldiers attacked a café across the street. They had guns, shattered windows, threw gas bombs and sound bombs. The kid asked his mom, “What’s happening?” She told him, “It’s a Hollywood movie.” I said, “You have to tell him the reality.” She said, “No, I don’t want my kid to live in fear. At one point he will know it himself.” [...]
