CPTnet
27 February 2006

HEBRON REFLECTION: "If I were a Palestinian I would go to Tel Aviv and blow
myself up."

by Bill Baldwin

People in Hebron on all sides of the conflict want peace, but often seem
trapped in a cycle of violence from which they see no way out. However, both
Israelis and Palestinians sometimes show a surprising honesty in telling
their own story as well as a sensitivity to the pain of those on the other
side of the conflict.

The other day, a member of the International Solidarity Movement and I
confronted an Israeli soldier about mistreatment by soldiers and settlers of
Palestinian school children. The Israeli soldier complained that everybody
criticizes Israel although American atrocities in Iraq and at Guantanamo Bay
are much worse than what Israel does. He also spoke of the abuse Arab
human rights in other countries, including Canada.

I am a Canadian and told him, "Human rights abuses anywhere are everybody's
problem and when I get home I will be confronting my own government."

The Israeli soldier said his grandparents came from Poland where they had no
surviving relatives because of the Jewish holocaust. He said he would make
sure, at any price, that that devastation never happened to Jews again. I
reminded him that the Palestinians had nothing to do with what happened
under Hitler. The soldier agreed. I then spoke of how Jews, faced with
persecution, had learned to stand together in defense of their own
interests. The Israeli soldier said, "This sometimes causes others to be
hurt." However, he went on to say that Israel has to defend itself from
Palestinian violence.

I said that when people are really angry they can do terrible things. The
Innu of Davis Inlet on the Labrador coast of Canada have suffered from the
devastation of their traditional lifestyle. The resulting despair has led to
many teenage suicides. An Innu woman, sharing stories with a Palestinian
immigrant, said, "If those kids could go to Montreal and blow themselves up
maybe someone would listen to us." Hearing the story, the Israeli soldier
said, "Do you know what? I think if I were a Palestinian I would go to Tel
Aviv and blow myself up."