CB Magazine Vol.10 Ed.39 by Crossing Borders

cb magazine vol. 10 edition no. 39

Is anyone going against the stream?

Pioneering Young Journalists Lead The Way

28 journalists on a personal journey into unknown territory

Going against the stream CB Advisory Board

Prof. Munther Dajani (Chair Person), Mr. Herbert Pundik, Ms. Else Hammerich, Ms. Lotte Lund, Mr. Hanna Siniora, Mr. Jakob Erle, Mr. Mossi Raz and Mr. Greg Newbold

Executive Board

Ms. Anja Gustavsen (Chair), Ms. Rosa Dich (Vice Chair Person), Ms. Britha Mikkelsen, Mr. Jørn Faurschou, Ms. Louise Breum Brekke, Ms. Anne Gyrithe Bonne, Ms. Mette Juel Madsen, Mr. Asbjoern Petersen

Executive Secretariat

Mr. Garba Diallo (Director) Mr. Tobias Werner (CB Coordinator) Ms. Kathrine Tschemerinsky and Ms. Zsuzsanna Keszthelyi (Interns)

Crossing Borders, Krogerup Højskole Krogerupvej 9, 3050 Humlebæk, Denmark Tel +45 49213371 Web www.crossingborder.org E-mail cb@crossingborder.org

Crossing Borders partner organizations

Israel Givat Haviva Palestine Peace and Democracy Forum Jordan Masar Centre Germany Dialogue Lab Finland The Finnish UNESCO Asp.net

Palestinian Coordinator

Ms. Suheir Hashimeh Tel +972 544292574 E-mail suheir@crossingborder.org

Israeli Coordinator

Ms. Dorit Maor Tel +972 544901415 E-mail dorit@crossingborder.org

Jordanian Coordinator

Mr. Khaled Shorman Tel +962 795545574 E-mail kshorman@gmail.com

Egyptian Coordinator

Ms. Marianne Nagy Tel +20 180 21 5331 E-mail marianne@crossingborder.org

Editor-In-Chief

Martin Selsoe Sorensen E-mail martinselsoe@gmail.com

Language Editor

Shawna Kenney E-mail shawnajean@yahoo.com

Photographers

Patrick Holbek, Andrew Pellett and Peter R. Poulsen

Art Director

Matt Baumgardner E-mail mbaumgardner@ec.rr.com Crossing Borders is a non-profit, non-partisan NGO that provides youth, young journalists and educators from conflict zones with impartial dialogue space and communication, media and conflict management skills training. The aim of CB is to increase the possibilities for world peace with special focus on the Mideast.

The good news in this issue of the Crossing Borders magazine is that there is hope. By looking at young journalists, media people and NGO activists from different parts of the region and Denmark we try to highlight some of the difficulties in keeping the balance and give space to the people going against the stream in their professions. Although these people may not be able to turn the tide, they are setting higher standards and do represent a more challenging perspective than those in other parts of the world. That is something worth pointing out. This issue also deals with the aftermath of the Gaza war last December and January. The war was the main subject of the two seminars held on 25 April in Jerusalem and 28 April in Cairo. At the seminars it became clear that the war had not only killed people and damaged buildings, it had also wrecked friendships across the Arab-Israeli divide. The war forced a lot of ordinary people on both sides to play roles that weren’t normally theirs. While these people may have wanted the attacks on their side to stop, they were expected to account for actions and policies by the warring parties. In the process of trying to do so, they faced the fact that they were losing their friends from the other side. Interestingly enough there were also divisions and conflict within the various groups. It was as if the total suffering and pain of the communities was added up, and as usual in war, each side deemed the pain on theirs worse than that on the other. Palestinians rightly complain about having their suffering under occupation reduced to numbers, but many apparently committed the same mistake. They ignored that Israelis are also individuals and saw all as occupiers or at least ignorant of the other side. As one Israeli writes in this issue: “I am just a frightened 24-year-old girl hearing a siren and waiting helpless for the rocket to fall down, but not on her. Not at home.” The individual fear for one’s life is no different whether the threat comes from a Qassam rocket or an Israeli warplane. Crossing Borders is and should be about words and individuals instead of numbers and statistics. By writing, talking and listening (mind you) we ensure that hope is the last to die. What we try to do is to sustain the channels of communication and dialogue among the participants. Please use this issue for inspiration in your work and private life, and please use it to replace numbers with faces of people behind the news and stereotypes. —Martin Selsøe Sørensen, editor-in-chief This magazine has been produced with the finacial support of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ DEMENA Youth Fund through the Danish Development NGO MS and Politiken & Jyllands-Postens Fond. The opinions expressed in the articles do not reflect or represent the opinion of the Danish Ministry, MS, Crossing Borders or the partner organisations. The opinions are the sole responsibility of the individual writers. We invite you to comment on any of the articles in this magazine by emailing us at cb@crossingborder.org

I Tell Stories that People Don't Want to Hear Miki Levy interviews Gideon Levy and Miki Kratsman, an intrepid team of Israeli journalists.

Freedom of Media? No More! Nasser Baraket details the strategy of targeting media during war.

Portrait of a Professional Fahkria Ali profiles the powerful Fatima Mutahar.

We, the Young, Forget Lessons Learned Muna Samawi wonders about her generation’s priorities.

People are People: A Scientist's Perspective

Kathrine Tschemerinsky compares and contrasts two seemingly different fields of work.

The Pope's Jerusalem Visit Eclipses Demonstrations Jihan Abdalla reports on the Catholic leader’s visit to the heart of the Holy Land.

Danes Unaware of the Luxury They Live In Manar Saria reflects on the privilege of travel.

Navigating the Narratives Jerusalem’s Toronto Star Bureau Chief Oakland Ross offers his perspective of a recent Crossing Borders seminar.

Peace and Democracy Forum Wafa’ El-Sheikh spotlights Saman Khoury, General Manager of the Palestinian organization known as PDF.

The Dream is Sinking into Reality Omar A. Al-Hadidi shares the complexities of being a Jordanian wishing to visit Jerusalem.

The Ubuntu Way Rikke Forchhammer revives a recent speech given to Crossing Borders students in Denmark.

07 10 12 14 16 18 20 24 26 27 28

GA ZA SPECIAL

People around the world, including Palestinians and Israelis, are still digesting the dramatic and bloody war on Gaza in January this year. Even for people far away from the war zone it was a most shocking and horrifying event, posing questions and dilemmas not only for nations and politicians, but also for individuals. During two Crossing Border seminars earlier this year, we asked the participants to reflect on their personal experiences.

Watching TV-clips was all I could offer the Gazans It was a winter day in December. My mother-in-law was watching tv, specifically al-Jazeera. Suddenly, she was crying and asking God to have mercy upon their souls. I wondered what had happened. After living under occupation my whole life, everything could be expected and nothing would be a surprise any more. But this definitely was a surprise – a negative one of course. I saw bodies shattered, heads separated from bodies, people rushing to help, blood all over the place, and many other horrible sounds and scenes. It was the beginning of what Israel calls “an ‘Operation,’ while others call it war on Gaza. As a Palestinian living in occupied East Jerusalem, you can’t feel detached from what is happening with other Palestinians in Gaza. Every single day that passed made me more depressed. Unlike others, I decided to stop watching TV, but I couldn’t. I would secretly watch some clips over the Internet, and wonder if we

could ever co-exist. I am saying that because I work in an NGO where we have lots of contact with Israeli Civil Society organizations calling for ending the occupation. We had some discussions with them, where they explained how the peace activists within Israel are becoming more and more isolated, and how the Israeli right is becoming a majority. For example, in a demonstration organized against the war, another opposing one was immediately organized. The mentality of victimization and militarization is so deeply rooted within the Israeli mentality that even some Israelis themselves, who decided to stand up and end their state’s brutality against the oppressed, decided to leave the country. Nivine Sandouka Sharaf is a 26 year old Palestinian living in occupied East Jerusalem. She has a master's in Democracy and Human Rights and is working as a civil Society Officer in an international humanitarian organization

The war on Gaza is still in me

It just makes my body shiver when mentioning the horrible war that happened in Gaza. I was having exams when I got the shocking news from a friend of mine. I can say I was in a shock when I heard about what happened, looking at the terrifying event on the TV and hearing about it from the world's news made it more shocking. I just can say this experience has not yet passed through me – it is still weaving its way through my veins, through my pumping blood, through the memory, through the

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present, through the faces, words, voices, languages and lives. I am, so far, unable to process much from Gaza’s war; these 22 or 23 days of war felt like more than a year for me! I still can't find the suitable words to describe the sorrow and pain that I felt in this catastrophic horrible war that was declared on the people of Gaza. Omar Nidal Yaish is a Palestinian Jerusalemite studying medicine in Debrecen University in Hungary

GA ZA SPECIAL

I’m an Israeli, but I don’t fit the definition It was Saturday late morning at my home when the airplanes crossed the sky above me. The war had begun. All my life I have been trying to deal with the fact that I live in a conf lict zone. I always had home to come back to think, to discover, to understand, to hear. This last war took my home away from me. For several days we just waited to count the firsts: the first time to close a school, the first time people were asked not to go to work, the first time we heard a siren and at last, the first time a rocket fell near me. From that moment on we adjusted to a new routine – constantly looking for a safe place. I honestly tried, but I couldn't. I felt like the world was giving up on me. I felt like the

world was too busy processing death data and because I am on the less miserable side, it means my life was less important. I felt I was given many kinds of definitions (Israeli, 30 seconds to shelter zone, southern resident, human rights denier, murderer) but none of these were really me. I am just a frightened 24-year-old girl hearing a siren and waiting helplessly for the rocket to fall down, but hopefully not on her. Netta Moshe is a student of philosophy, political science and economy at the Hebrew university of Jerusalem. She did her army service and later worked at the Israeli Radio Station (Gali Tzahal) as a journalist. She lives in Moshav Bet Ezra, 25 km from Gaza, in Israel

Israel had to stop it When the war began I was called to the Reserve Army to defend our rights to live in a quiet environment. It was unpleasant, in the middle of my ordinary life, to go to war again like I did in the war with Hezbollah in 2006. After a couple of days I was relisted to go back home, but my home is in Beer-Sheva, the city that was bombed by Hamas’ missiles. So the situation was simple: running all day and night to the shelter and hiding there until the sirens stopped. The emotions were

mixed: On the one hand people are dying in both sides, on the other hand Israel didn't start the war. So if every one wants to avoid war, why start it? I blame Hamas for irrational attacks on Israel for eight years. Israel has to stop that. A couple of months later, the Gaza strip is quiet for now. Mark Shulman is a 28-year-old M.A. student of Philosophy. He is living and learning in Beer-Sheva

The Egyptians Shocked Me I used to go to bed hearing women sobbing, babies crying, and I was ashamed of being warm and safe, while people in Gaza felt the terrors of war. I was a freelancer during the recent war on Gaza, and I used to write articles and letters and send them to my friends outside the country, explaining to them how I felt or what was really happening there. I understood if Israelis said that they hated Palestinians and blamed them for what happened in Gaza, but

when my Egyptian friends said the same thing, I was shocked and surprised! I wished I could help my friends in Gaza, but as everybody knew, the barriers were closed, and nobody was allowed to go in to the strip, even journalists. So all I could do was pray for them all day long. Mai Yacoub Kaloti is a 25-year-old journalist for the Al-Quds Newspaper. She lives in Jerusalem.

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LETTERS EDITOR to the

Politics will follow culture Between the tiring reality of life under conflict, especially after the Israeli operation in Gaza, I've found the article "A Push for Tolerant Arts" (in the previous issue of CB Magazine) to be my personal ray of sunshine and hope. I share Mr. Al-Hilaly's perspective about using art as means for raising tolerance. When we put our politics aside we are able to see life has more to offer. Music is music no matter the language of the lyrics; art is art no matter the nationality of the person holding the brush. Creating a common platform of talents and aptitudes is the first step towards creating long-lasting ties between two nations at war. Politics will follow later… —Carmen, 25, Israe With a little help from my Pals

I would like to ask the help of the Israeli and Palestinian members of CB in assembling a book of personal testimonies of life under conflict. The book aims to erase prejudice and stereotypes and allow both sides in conflict to receive a better picture of one another’s reality, as the first step towards creating a dialogue. For more info please contact Carmen at: Carmen@yifc.org In Denmark by chance, a wonderful chance I’m a CB global study student, today already a week after the course is finished, and I wanted to share with you my experience, through a small speech that I gave during our last supper. When first I came here, I had different ideas, different perspectives about what a ’hojskole’ is about. To the saying ‘time passes so fast’ I would add that the time flies so fast especially when shared with great and funny people like Krogerup students. I couldn’t understand in the beginning why people take the parties so seriously, why they “hygger” in the ’stue’ with a bottle of wine until the middle of the night, why they put on summer clothes and lay in the sun, why do they sing in the darkness, and why they wake up each morning and clean?! After half a year here in Krogerup, I can tell now, I can tell what is this

place about, I can tell that this is one of the best periods in my life. Many times we don’t recognize how good things are until we experience them, and this is the situation here, with Krogerup. It is like love! Most of us came here by chance, we didn’t really know what was it about. We didn’t know that we would fall in love with all of you, with the daily tasks, with the Danish songs, with the well-organized parties, and even with the cleaning and the healthy food! Many things were in the air. We were not always w able to follow up with what is going on, nor able to fully participate for many reasons. The school was very flexible and helpful. But regardless of small obstacles, we appreciate this place, we appreciate your efforts to have us, we all loved our classes whether it was ceramics, photography, dance, video production, drama or outdoor life. We enjoyed each minute. We enjoyed the activities, the hot chocolate, the choir, the talent show, the May festival, etc. etc. It is so hard now to remember the entire wonderful, full time program. Our classes in Crossing Borders were a unique journey, deep inside ourselves as well to the global world. This great course, which was build with a lot of efforts and love, wouldn’t exist without a great person, who we all admire and love. This person who spent with us most of his precious time, talking to us, teaching us, trying to hug us under his loving wings, as a group and as individuals. To the Mauritanian cowboy we give our thanks tonight. This is a small candle that we hope you will remember us each time you light it. Here is a photo of us, in the back yard of the school, where we experienced the democracy games in the winter and in the great summer of peaceful Denmark. Here we are, in a small photo, so you will always remember your pioneers whom you got to know through our strength and weaknesses. We love you, Garba! In this room I can see young pretty ladies and very handsome gentlemen. I can see great teachers that if I start to thank them for their positive, optimistic, loving input here, I won’t be able to finish tonight. This is a place where you get an equal space to

express yourself, where you feel songs and love float in the air. I wouldn’t have had such an unforgettable time without having a great person like you, Rikke, making sure that each one of us was fine and having a good time. So to you, Rikke, to you the free spirit, to the one who spreads love and happiness and always smiling, we give you these flowers. You saw us always as beautiful flowers who will go back to our countries with all this beauty. This was a small gift from Ecuador, all the way from South America. You are just great Rikke, and we love you! Since maybe this is the last time I will get the chance to stand in front of you and talk, I will take this chance to tell you that for us it was a dream, a very sweet dream that we don’t want to wake up from. I can recall my first days here when we did not know anything, anyone, and we didn’t know at that time that we would have a big loving family. All of you are always welcome in our countries. If you come to any continent you will find a ‘crossing borders’ there, trying to host you as well as you hosted us. Thank you. Manar Saria is a 23 year old Arab Israeli. She is an environmental engineer from Haifa We can move things forward Five years has passed since I wrote in this magazine and it still remains a meaningful period in my life. Back then I met amazing people that will stay with me forever, and so does the experience, the writing skills and getting to know different worlds and cultures. The most important thing that will stay with me – is the feeling of doing and being a part of something important. Now, after I finished all OF my civilian duties, I am travelling the world, and will guide a Jewish-Arabic group in a camp in New York. All this happened only because of my Crossing Borders experience. I have every intention of continuing this amazing work in my future life, and wish all the ones still involved good luck. I know that this is important, and we do have the ability to move things forward. Sapir Atias wrote in the magazine between

I tell stories that people don't want to hear "Each time you see more and more, another layer, and your political conception develops simultaneously."

or more than twenty years Gideon Levy, one of Israel's most acclaimed journalists, has reported to Israelis on the sufferings of Palestinians. No matter how harsh the criticism is, Levy and his photographer, Miki Kratsman, confront the readers with the consequences of its country's policies. Until when? "Until the occupation ends or until I will end. Whatever comes first," he has said. Rumor has it that in the "Haaretz" secretarial office there is a folio which is tagged as: "Gideon Levy – Subscriber's Cancellation." Since Levy first started writing his section for Israel's third biggest newspaper, perhaps the most recognized in the Israeli public as appealing to the intellectual left, this folio is constantly growing. It's been more that 20 years now that he is reporting from the heart of the IsraelPalestine bone of contention. At least once a week, Levy and photographer, Miki Kratsman, are traveling to those so-close-yet-so-far places and return with gut-wrenching stories which no one else is willing to tell, and which most people are not willing to read. In war-time and in peace, like two lone raiders who never tend to lose their way, Levy and Kratsman publish those testimonies from the dark. Their section, one of Israel's most controversial journalistic products, is called the "Twilight Zone." A day after Israel celebrated its Independence Day, the two were interviewed for CB Magazine.

photo by Miki Kratsman

Lone raiders Destroyed houses, unnecessary damages and injuries, the difficulties of the routine injustices of life under the occupation seen from the Palestinian's perspective are the themes of Levy’s work, but it wasn't always like that. Gideon Levy, 56, was once a reporter for the IDF's radio station (Galey Tzahal). Q: What was your 'breaking point'? Levy: It started in the first time I went into the occupied territories and developed gradually since then. I saw olive trees that were burned by settlers there. Gradually I discovered two things: that the real drama of Israel is in the occupation and that nobody writes about it. I was forced to take it upon myself because there was no one else there. Q: You started out in Galey Tzahal and now you seem to be on the other side of the coverage? Levy: It is true, I definitely changed. The things I've seen over the past 25 years, and what most of the Israelis doesn't see, the occupation, changed me. It doesn't happen in one day. Each time you see more and more, another layer, and your political conception develops simultaneously. Q: It seems a Sisyphean way of life and work.

Levy: It is Sisyphean and it is very frustrating, but it has a big compensation in it which is that you do something that you believe in. That is a lot. Miki Kratsman, 50, is regarded as one of the most important photojournalists in the country. Before teaming with Levy, he used to work as a photographer in "Hadashot" newspaper, which closed its doors in the mid eighties. "I used to cover the occupied territories, and when the paper was closed I moved to Haaretz, and there started the collaboration between us. The truth is that we really needed each other – he needed me because I already knew the field, and I needed him because he was my ticket back to the territories. I think it came out good." Q: I assume that for you, like for Levy, this job is a kind cb magazine vol. 10 edition no. 39

of a mission. Why is it important for you? Kratsman: At first, I thought that journalistic work, and it doesn't matter whether it's writing or photographing, can change something, that the presence of the things on paper can change. As the years passed I started to lose that belief and then I started thinking that I have an obligation to show it, even if it doesn't change anything. I also realized that it has an archival value to it, and if someone will want to write the history of this place – then he will have another reference. Overall I see it in two fields: first as an act of activism and secondly as a work of an archive worker. Levy sees it differently. For me, it doesn't really matter if someone will read it the next day, while it's very important for him." Twilight time Q: What does the work on an article look like? Levy: The preparations for the ride, finding the story, the ride itself which is often a day long, and afterwards, the writing. The story comes from a lot of sources. It can come from a tiny news item which I read, phones that I get from contact persons or even foreigners, Palestinians, lawyers and human rights organizations. We arrive to the field, collect the evidence. I make efforts to visit all the places that the story has happened in. After all is done, I am getting the comments. Writing is less of a problem - the more the story is powerful, the more it speaks for itself." Kratsman: "Each week someone else is producing the field job, we sit and think on the topics together, meet on Sunday morning, take the armored car and drive to the places, meet the people. On our way back we think on the article together, on the headline, and in the evening, by mail, we look on the photos and decide what to publish. It’s collaboration. Q: Do you ever argue about things? Kratsman: It can be a discussion around the story that we think is more suitable to tell. Sometimes there is more than one story and we wonder which one to go to. There 8

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are also discussions about the way each of us sees the story and sometimes there are disagreements. We can also discuss which photos to choose. Q: You say that sometimes there is more than one story. What are the considerations in preferring one story over the other? Kratsman: It's complicated. Occasionally, you encounter a story that the public should know about, but sometimes there are more considerations than they need to know. Once in a while we insist on doing the same story week after week, to show that the same things happen in various places. It looks like copypaste. A classic example is the stories on the women who gave birth in the checkpoints. It happened that there were two cases in sequential weeks. I even took the pictures from the same angles, and used the previous' week photo as a reference. Sometime, we prefer a story that more people will identify with, and sometime we prefer dealing with other angles. Each case has its own considerations". Q: Is there a story that affected you more than the others? Levy: "Certainly, There are stories which I was more attached to. Yesterday I went to a picnic in Hayarkon Park, and I reminisced on a young woman from Gaza that had cancer and it was very difficult to release her out of Gaza. We finally managed to do it with the help of The Doctors Association, and she lived her last days here. I took her to the Safari and to the Hayarkon Park until she died, and I got very attached to her. She wouldn't have died if she wouldn't have lived in Gaza, because until she was treated it was too late. Kratsman: The continuity is what accompanies me. It's intolerable. I can't choose from a story of a baby that got stuck in a checkpoint, a kid that was shot in the head or from an infinite amount of other horrifying stories. The continuity kills me, the perseverance, and the unchanged. It's been twenty years that we are going there, and things are only getting worse.

Q: I guess you are not very optimistic. Kratsman: I am optimistic in another sense. Until twenty years ago it was forbidden to raise the Palestinian flag and today there are talks about two states for two nations. With all the shit that everybody, and them in particular, are going through, something is still happening. Shake the Disease "His entire carreer is infected by shoddy work"; "Levy is the Mother Teresa or to be precise, a pose of Mother Teresa"; "sometime I think that it's not only the dead children of Gaza and Israel that you are hurting, but only your personal conscious." Those are only few sentences from some open letters that were written by public figures to Levy during the past years, and during the latest war in Gaza. His work on "Twilight Zone" and his political views are the main reasons. Q: Why do you think that you attract so much fire? Levy: Because I tell stories that people don't want to hear or know about. Precisely because we are all humans, it's unbearable for us to tolerate what is being done in our names. It's a kind of repression. Q: How do you deal with the critique? Levy: I prefer it instead of the apathy, because this anger and fury is a part of what I want to arouse. Mainly, I want to shake up the apathy and that's why it doesn't deter or bother me. Q: Do you think that there is something in this job that is being done for your sake also, something more than telling the stories for the Israeli public? Levy: Without a doubt. It's always

a combination. Even a man who is doing the greatest deeds, still has a personal motive for that – self fulfillment, feeling better with himself.

Why them?

Q: I reflect on the Israeli media in general and I imagine you as a sort of two Don Quixote. Levy: The media in Israel is totally recruited in helping the occupation. Without its assistance, the occupation wouldn't have lasted so many years. The day that the media will start relating the Palestinians as human beings, like us, and to inform the readers that they are like us – then the public will start to comprehend what is it that we are doing there. Kratsman: There is nothing to talk about the media. It's vanished. All the newspapers became sort of reality shows for rating and there is no more media, it's gone, It doesn't exist, it's not important, it's trivial.

While personally I sometimes recoil at Levy's rough and extreme style and ideology, I still admire his devotion. It's not an easy task to take, and although I am sure that he has granted from his status of being the flag barrier, still - being in the margins of an often consolidating society means paying some price. And I think this is what I admire most about Levy and Kratsman – no matter how much fire they attract, they never considered backing down. When I myself speak out in public, especially in political matters, I sometimes get some harsh responses, which make me mute. For them, those responses are the fuel of starting those engines once again, and keep driving that road. And after all has been said, with all my criticism towards the country I live in, I feel proud of being in a society which allow those thoughts and stories to be published.

Q: But still, there is this place in which you can write your expressions. Levy: It's the extraordinary which reflects on the ordinary. Kratsman: It's a niche and it will pass on as well. Q: Are you paying a price for this? Was there a moment that you doubted and maybe thought of giving up? Levy: No, not at all. Q: You keep on going, until when? Levy: Until the occupation ends or until I will end. Whatever comes first.

Miki Levy is 27 years old and a graduate of communication and journalism in Sapir College, Israel

In an age of opportunism, finding individuals who stick to their ways and beliefs is rare. In a lot of fields, especially of those of known and public figures, the road is only straight for the next few miles. For Gideon Levy and Miki Kratsman, this road is never ending. Persistently and without weariness – they have been marching it for years.

Repertoire "…One year. Close to 8,000 kilometers were covered in the newspaper's small, armored Rover - not including the hundreds of kilometers in the old yellow Mercedes taxi belonging to Munir and Sa'id, our dedicated drivers in Gaza. This is how we celebrated the 40th anniversary of the occupation…" (Gideon Levy, Twilight Zone/The children of 5767, 27/9/2007) "…Raliya and Wahiba al-Saleibi, two sisters with 25 children between them (Raliya has 15 and Wahiba has 10), came to visit the West Bank village where they were born and got stuck there. For two months now, they've been unable to return to their homes, to their husbands and children and Jordan. Why? Because of a piece of paper…" (Gideon Levy, Twilight Zone/No Exit, 26/9/2008) These are examples of Levy's uncompromising writing style and his ability as a narrator. It is difficult to choose one story out of Levy's repertoire, or to break a story into pieces. Tens of those were published in an 808-page book entitled: "Twilight Zone: Life and Death under the Israeli occupation 1988-2003". Since 2003, he published tens of new stories. Although considered as one of the most important journalists in Israel, Levy gains a lot of criticism for what is defined as an apparently one-sided coverage, unverified stories, and extreme opinions and for…not knowing Arabic. A.B. Yehohsua, famous novelist, wrote during the war in Gaza: "And as for you, Gideon, that among your people you sit, you know well that we do not intend to kill Palestinian kids as a revenge of our own killed children, but only trying to cause their leaders to stop this silly and evil aggression, and only because of this tragic and intent mix of Hamas fighters and civil population - children, unfortunately, are being killed as well. Hamas people, as its known, are targeting only civilians since the disengagement." Levy replied: "No, I don't know "well", as you stated, that we don't intend in killing children. When you raid with tanks, cannons and planes on this crowded land, it's impossible not to kill children…the results are being judged, not the intentions, and those are terrifying".

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Freedom of Media? No More!

"The media is known as a power and a freedom all over the world, but in Gaza it was simply a target for military operations."

he Israeli military launched its offensive against the Gaza strip in a strategic manner when the world was busy with the New Year's holiday and at the end of Bush's presidency. When the offensive began, Israel banned the foreign media and journalists from entering the Gaza strip for reporting. Inside Gaza, media companies and journalists were trying their best to connect with the foreign channels and agencies

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beyond the border to report the war in a time that the power was cut, the communication networks were damaged and a fuel crisis was at its peak. Ashraf Mashharawi is a Palestinian Producer and Director who works for Media Town company producing documentary films. He describes his work during the war as very dangerous and very hard. "There was a lack in the Palestinian journalists and correspondents as we have more skillful cameramen, as well we don’t have enough and

good equipment for covering such a war, so we just could cover few sides of the offensive,” he said. The Israeli strategy of banning foreign journalists from covering the war has reduced the variety of views. Foreign nations would trust and believe the messages sent from their correspondents who have eyewitnesses to the event, rather than local ones. From another side, Palestinians in Gaza were living in difficult circumstances caused by the severe siege two years ago. It affected everyone, whether they were normal citizens, medical crews, media correspondent and even the militants. Ashraf said “we had a load of work to accomplish in a very difficult time. We ran out of fuel which caused a difficulty of movement, every place in Gaza was dangerous, we were not getting enough food which made us tired, and we had to use the stairs of the eleventh floor carrying heavy materials every time we wanted to work. The working circumstances were awful.” He added “the working teams gained a lot of new

The media is known as a power and a freedom all over the world, but in Gaza it was simply a target for military operations… potentials by learning how to face the intensive pressure we were in, everyone who was working believed in the service as a humanitarian role rather than a job duty. So we were enthusiastic to work in dangerous places and at hard times.” Ashraf and everyone has lost beloved ones in this war—his 12-yearold brother was killed while he was playing on the rooftop of his house—yet he didn’t surrender to his pain and continued reporting the crimes, including the one done to his brother. The current Government in Gaza, which won the last election and was

formed by Hamas members, did not interfere in our work during the war or before it. They were giving more privileges and facilities to the media institutions covering the attacks and the siege of Gaza. They prohibited two channels from working during the war—the Israeli second channel, which used to work normally in Gaza before the war, and the Palestine Satellite channel, which is dominated by Fatah members and was covering the war from the Israeli border. There were mass violations of human rights and international law during the recent Gaza war. The media is known as a power and a freedom all over the world, but in Gaza it was simply a target for military operations and the clear evidence for this is the two attacks on the two main buildings where all of the media institutions work. Five Palestinian journalists were killed and ten were injured. Nasser Barakat is a Palestinian journalist living in Gaza, where he works for Media Town.

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Portrait of a Professional

Obama the magician "The joy that prevailed in the Muslim world over Obama's speech quickly faded away when they understood that they were actually hypnotized by Obama."

"Educated men who were supposed to have open minds fight women and consider them aliens who have come here to take their opportunities and vacancies."

emeni women are entering a new era; they are journalists, engineers, ambassadors, members of parliament and more. Women still need a huge push forward and Yemen can still be an unpleasant environment for many women. But lately, we find many positive changes not just due to government’s efforts but also due to strong and pioneering women who have taken the initiative of change. These days, women break boldly into many different careers. Previously, to be a female journalist was shameful; women were considered suitable as elementary school teachers or doctors in a very limited number of fields. Women refused this discrimination and started to work as journalists, struggling not just with the average people but also with educated men who still believed in old traditions, even if they pretended the contrary. In spite of having many successful examples of women journalists such as Mrs. Amat Alaleem Assosoa, Prof. Raofa Hassn, Mrs. Rahma Hugaira and Mrs. Nadia Assaqaf, educated men who are supposed to have open minds fight these women and consider them aliens out to take their opportunities and vacancies. This is why we don’t see so many women in syndicates, parliament or local council. Men sill vote for men.

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Although the situation remains somewhat the same, strong women show up every day to prove the role of women as real partners of men in development. Most of the time they succeed. One of these women is Ms. Fatima Mutahar. She is the Yemeni journalist who became the focus of many of the most famous newspapers and websites in our country as an excellent example of a female journalist practicing and demanding her rights. She was nominated by the social party in the Yemeni Journalists’ Syndicate’s (YJS) fourth election. She achieved a great victory in this election with 398 votes, which was the second largest number of votes. She became the sole female on the YJS council. As is the usual end for a female success story, Ms.Fatima was excluded from any leading positions; they were all awarded to the male winner. Such things are very familiar in male-dominated societies like Yemen. Most important reports are taken in Qat-chewing sessions, which are traditionally forbidden to women. The victory of Fatima is the victory of all the female journalists and women in Yemen. So women NGOs in Yemen issued advocacy releases to create pressure on the YJS and to support Fatima in her battle in taking her own and simple right. Not only was she as qualified as any man in YJS, she also has an extra distinction; the number of votes. Fatima is a very professional journalist, known as a punctual woman. She has a B.A in journalism, a degree in development journalism and she recently received an award from a regional NGO in Tunisia for investigating journalism on "women under the local governance." So, I think, she is also more qualified than any other man in the YJS. Mrs. Fatima threatens to quit the YJS council to quit if she doesn't get a leading position and now one of her male colleagues supports her and has decided to quit too, if it doesn’t happen. With these threats and the pressure of the NGOs, Fatima could achieve the position of executive director of YJS and head of the activities committee. I met Fatima and asked her many ques-

The biggest difficulty is that my colleagues treatment of me as a woman and not as a journalist or a colleague.

tions about her recent role and responsibilities in YJS and she replied, “I thought the roles in YJS are the same for women and men but after the event of distributing the positions, I changed my opinion. My male colleagues in YJS still have the old idea about women as lacking and irresponsible creatures, using them as décor to improve the image of the YJS board. For all that, I know my responsibility and role will also be to change this view on women. I hope my colleagues are going to help me to achieve all of my tasks. Since the matter is [a] gender challenge, it is different from any other challenges, as it deals with the most educated, culturedand opinionated people: the journalists.” About the difficulties that she may face, Fatima said “the biggest difficulty is that my colleagues treatment of me as a woman and not as a journalist or a colleague. Also the other difficulty, which most of Yemeni women suffer from, is the men’s insistence to use Qat sessions as the favorite way to meet, work and put the tasks and decisions that are normally done in offices. Other difficulties are the different political backgrounds of YJS members that change all their work to political debates, but don’t do professional journalism. Even those who keep talking about objectivity, their talk is collapsed with any choice between politics and professionalism.” Fatima’s story has to be a lesson in demanding rights to all women in any field, and even at home. Fakhria Ali is the executive director of the Media Women Forum in Sana‘a, Yemen

.S. President Obama’s speech in Cairo can be summarized into six sections. The speech contained very important points regarding the American relationship to Egypt and other Arab and Muslim countries in the coming years. It was actually the U.S.’s strategic plan in the Arab, Muslim world. It was Obama’s speech to the American voter, rather than Obama’s speech to the Islamic world. It is strategic for U.S. policy. In his speech, Obama clarified his political views regarding the major hot points in the Muslim-Arab world. The Arab-Israeli conflict is the most important conflict today for the Arab world. Obama confirmed that there is no substitute for the two-state solution, but at the same time he emphasized the strong bond between Israel and the US. In fact, he only soothed and complemented all parties of the conflict without any serious commitment to a solution, which serves Israel’s interests. Obama empathized with the Holocaust and Jewish dispersion before he mentioned the Palestinians' catastrophe. As for Iran, Obama recalled its history from the US standpoint. He stressed that Iran has to relinquish its nuclear weapons program as a starting point for a dialogue with the U.S., without binding Israel to the same conditions. In my opinion, talking about Iran in Cairo and mentioning the nuclear issue was a mistake. Egypt and Iran today are in a very serious dispute, which is getting

CB Cairo Media Workshop, 28 April, 2009

worse. Hence, Egyptians and most of the Sunni Muslims and the majority in the Arab world are not really concerned about the American-Iranian relation as they are regarding solutions to the Palestinian – Israeli conflict and the situation in Iraq. As for Iraq, Obama reiterated in his election platform that Iraq is for the Iraqis, along with a commitment to withdrawal US troops from the country by August 2010. His declaration of respect for Islam as a tolerant religion was boring and repetetive of what he has said before. He mentioned this in his first presidency speech in Washington and in his speech to the Turkish Parliament. Repetition usually means: This is only a talk, there are no actions. But in this world now, we need exactly the opposite. We don’t need more words and talks. We need action. As for the promotion of democracy and the rights of all human beings, Obama asserted that no one has the right to impose any regime on other country. He emphasized that today there are some powerful forces outside the governing authority, who call for democracy but don’t respect it when they take power. In other words, this is a formal declaration of U.S. support to a large number of current regimes in the Arab world, as long as there is no resistance from its people. He clearly understands the Islamist groups’ attempts to take power in a democratic way, and to be the first to violate it. Hence, he announced his refusal to such groups, contrary to his noninterference tenets in the beginning.

Repetition usually means: This is only a talk, there are no actions. As for religious freedoms, economic development and women's rights in the Arab world, I think that these points were redundant. It was mainly for some Arab-Americans, who belong to minorities in the Arab world, like Copts, Baha'is and women. His statement about economic development, and that the US welcomes partnership with both individuals and governments, was actually a reference to the Arab tendency to cooperate with the only the superpower in the world. This economic cooperation with powerful partners may be repeated in the coming period, in any state that president Obama will visit with some minor differences. Most important is that the U.S. rhetoric towards the whole world began to change with almost no change in its policy. The joy that prevailed in the Muslim world over Obama's speech quickly faded away when they understood that they were actually hypnotized by Obama the magician. They woke up glorifying the magician but when they reached home they realized that they got nothing, and they paid for nothing! Mohamed Rabia is a journalist with October magazine and Egyptian news. He is member of the Egyptian Press Syndicate

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We, the young, forget lessons learned "It despairs me that as the emerging, new generation, we are not yet fully advocating for human rights, peace and democracy the way we should be."

eering away from counting injuries and death tolls, I chose not to succumb to the collective psycho-parasthesia caused by years of human conditioning to merely play the numbers games, as if any human life could be reduced to statistics. Be it one, or a hundred, civilian, or a soldier, the fact remains that Palestinian lives matter as much as Israeli. However, for a different perspective one should look for a larger context in this issue – what are Israel’s real obligations towards Gazans as an occupying power under International Law, and why isn’t Israel’s prime minister held accountable for a totally imbalanced, unjustifiable use of violence against the Palestinian people? What is the global responsibility, Arab states included, to provide and insist upon humanitarian aid reaching the innocent people of Gaza caught in the crossfire? No war as such should continue to go unnoticed. I posit here my primary premise that as the youth of the region, we should aim at going beyond the num-

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bers game and rage to a commitment to seek understanding first, then solutions later. As I continue to monitor the mainstream media coverage of the attack on Gaza, I notice that more airtime has been created for relaying the voices of Palestinians, and in this sense, as Robert Fisk argues, Israel’s attempt of banning international journalists from reporting in Gaza has only created a bigger interest in news organizations handing the microphones to on-ground Palestinians, giving a voice for individuals much more in need of self expression than politicians. Independent media outlets are still doing a better job in objective reporting, however many journalists and bloggers from the region remain victims of censorship, and are unable to practice their freedom of expression. Websites are undisputedly shut down on a daily basis for fear of the audience having access to further “unwanted” wordy manifestations. Such measures of censorship resulting from paranoia could be justified by gov-

Independent media outlets are still doing a better job in objective reporting, however many journalists and bloggers from the region remain victims of censorship.

ernments’ fear of people’s access to a non-generic, unconventional, and perhaps, an actual representation of what is happening out there. Censorship of the media in the region ranks amongst the lowest.

sion, or sectarian dissension. In August, Hamas leaders announced that they intended to apply the 1995 Press Law and imprison journalists for violating such provisions, but there were no reports of its enforcement."

Both sides restrict media In Freedom House Freedom of the Press 2008: A Global Survey of Media Independence, the report has identified several global trends in regards to the issue, mainly: * Media have played a key role in countries racked by political unrest and upheaval * Violence against journalists and impunity regarding past cases of abuse are important factors in a country’s level of press freedom. * Newer media forms—such as satellite television and internet-based newspapers, blogs, and social-networking sites—have emerged as an important force for openness in restricted media environments as well as a key area of contestation. In addition, the report on Gaza and the West bank further explains that: "While events in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are covered extensively by the international media, both Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) severely restrict press freedom and often impede the ability of the media to report safely and accurately. The environment for reporting from the West Bank and Gaza Strip deteriorated in 2007 as journalists came under attack from both militant factions and the leadership of the Islamist party Hamas, which took over authority of the Gaza Strip in June. An atmosphere of impunity persisted for crimes against the media, with very few prosecutions of perpetrators by either Israel or the PA. Nevertheless, while journalists’ ability to report fully on events was severely hampered by threats of violence, the Palestinian press continued to be relatively vigorous and candid in its coverage of political affairs compared with the situation in other countries in the region. The Palestinian Basic Law and the 1995 Press Law provide for freedom of the press and an independent media. However, the Press Law also stipulates that journalists may be punished and newspapers closed for publishing material deemed harmful to national unity or likely to incite crime, hatred, divi-

Divorcing Gaza Many of my fellow journalists fall victims to further war conditioning, repeatedly pointing fingers at one another and “divorcing” Gaza from its actual context, advocating further segregation and hatred based on ethno-religious terms, censoring others’ opinions, and castigating well- chosen silence. Even their conditioning has been conditioned. Although we attended a seminar on media and conflict for two weeks at a time when the resistance, and the attack, were somewhat fainter, lessons learned have been quickly forgotten as emotional outbursts moved the ink on their papers, and dialogue quickly dissolved into chastisements and reprimands. It is only natural for us to feel these feelings we are entitled to, but it despairs me that as the emerging, new generation, we are not yet fully advocating for human rights, peace and democracy the way we should be. Beat the system. Peace. Muna Samawi is a 25 year old Jordanian working with Freedom House, as a Program Officer in the New Generation of Advocates Program.

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People are people: a scientist’s perspective

perception in comparison to a comparable other. The great structuralist Levy Strauss called it “the binary opposition of the mind.” When we dealt with our impressions from the field we started categorizing our informants and their significations in opposition to our own person. It is not strange why this happened, because in many ways a lot of the people we interviewed live lives very different from ours. Unfortunately this had the counterproductive effect that we wrote our informants as ’the other’

instead of trying to see things from their point of view. Now, what has this to do with journalism in conflict areas? One of the anthropological aims is to accumulate new knowledge of the existing. Journalism, on the other hand, is dedicated to the archaeology of news. That is, digging up the new news often with a focus on conflicts. What both disciplines must acknowledge is that whether you are a scientist or a journalist you always write from a certain point of view. It should not be an ultimate goal

to eliminate this certain subjectivity in order to write about the world in purely objective terms. This is not to suggest a totally post-modern good-for-nothing relativism, rather it may be interesting to consider why you write an article in a particular way, who this favours, who it doesn’t and what the ultimate consequence of writing up the world in a specific way will be. Kathrine Tschemerinsky is a 21-year-old Dane, living in Copenhagen, studying Anthropology at Copenhagen University

"Reporting from a certain point of view, it may be interesting to consider why you write an article in a particular way, who this favours, who it doesn’t and what the ultimate consequence of writing up the world in a specific way will be."

s an anthropologist you try to understand the lives of others. Doing fieldwork with a political right wing party in March made me very aware that one never reports from an objective point of view. Instead one should consider how our own ‘baggage’ (as Garba would call it) affects our final interpretation of a certain subject. This requires awareness from anthropologists as well as journalists, since the very act of writing willing- or unwillingly is a contribution to the world we live in, thereby affecting it a little bit. In March 2009 I and four other anthropology students began our fieldwork with a political youth movement. This particular youth movement has, throughout time, been exposed to a lot of criticism. Our initial interest in these young politicians began because we sensed that many of them experience a lack of acceptance from their surroundings because of their decision to join the movement. That affects their everyday lives to such a degree that they consider themselves stigmatized due to their specific political affiliation. Initially the members were quite skeptical towards our proposal, and at first it seemed as though our attempt to ‘enter the field’ would be quite difficult, when our requests were kind but firmly rejected. Eventually they let us attend their meetings and as the months passed their trust grew and we were

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allowed to participate in more activities. With the field wide open we had every opportunity possible for interviewing, observing and perceiving the community that is created when the members assemble. What we could not have expected was how sensitive this particular object of scope would be to our surroundings. All of our friends had an opinion on how we should view these people. “Are they nice?”; “Aren’t their opinions outrageous?” etc. The answer to these questions is quite simple: These young people are, like most other humans, kind, and with regards to their political opinions: It was not in our interest to discuss, since our survey was anthropological and not political. But getting to the phase of writing up the field we suddenly realized that not even we, the ‘noble, objective anthropologists,’ were able to write from a neutral point of view. The thing is that as a human you consider every

…not even we, the ‘noble, objective anthropologists,’ were able to write from a neutral point of view. cb magazine vol. 10 edition no. 39

The Pope arrives to Jerusalem, amidst strifE and controversy

n Monday May 11th, as Pope Benedict XVI arrived on his much talked about pilgrimage to the region, the battle of and over Jerusalem was anything but resolved. As his plane descended into Israel’s Ben Gurion airport, the pope urged open access to the city cherished by all religions. “Even though the name Jerusalem means ‘city of peace,’ it is all too evident that, for decades, peace has tragically eluded the inhabitants of this holy land,’ the pope said. On May 4th, a week before the papal visit, Israeli Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat said in a statement that he had devised what he called the city’s first ‘master plan’ in 50 years, to allow the construction of some 23,550 housing units in eastern Jerusalem by 2030. Palestinian officials, however, have dismissed the plan as an Israeli ruse to cement its hold on the city, and claimed it was insufficient to meet the Palestinians’ housing needs. More than 30 percent of 740,000 people living in Jerusalem are Palestinians. Barkat was elected mayor in November. Though politically independent, his bold pledges to maintain Jerusalem’ Jewish majority have found favour with Israel’s newly-elected right-wing government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel has received ample criticism from the United States and Europe for its recent demolition of houses belonging to Palestinians in East Jerusalem. A report issued last week by the UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs said some 1, 500 demolition orders are pending for homes built without a permit in the city and their implementation could displace some 9,000 Palestinians. United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, during her visit to the region in March called the demolitions “unhelpful.” Barkat had said homes are razed when they are built without permits, while Palestinians say permits have been nearly impossible to obtain. Palestinians outcry over Israeli policies in Jerusalem continued, as Israel shut down a Palestinian center in Jerusalem. Israel handed a written order signed by Israel’s minister for inter18

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"The Pope came to the Holy Land to try to bridge the conflicts, but navigating them alone kept him busy."

nal security to a hotel in East Jerusalem and cited an interim peace deal from the 1990’s which Israel says left it in charge of East Jerusalem barring the opening of a media centre for the five day papal visit. “What Israel is trying to do is to keep mouths shut, to keep the Palestinians unable to speak about the visit, about their city and about how the city has been occupied and is still being occupied. And how we want to see freedom and liberation of this city so that we can live in peace and security,” Palestinian Chief of Staff Rafiq

Husseini told reporters at a sit in tent where Palestinians had set up their media center after the closing order. He added that the pope should understand that he is visiting an “occupied city.” “We are determined to continue to give our opinion on what is happening in the city, and to ensure that his holiness the pope understands that he is coming to an occupied city where freedom is oppressed,” he added. In an interview in Ramallah, Barkat’s Palestinian-appointed counterpart, Jerusalem Governor Adnan al-Husseini said

that Barkat’s plan was made without any participation of Palestinians. “This master plan was made by the Israelis, there is no involvement, any Palestinian involvement or participation in this project,” al Husseini said. “It is clear that they don’t want to give any rights for the Palestinians in the center they evacuated. This is what they call the holy basin, they want this holy basin to be just garden, historic places without population,” al-Husseini added. “Although the plan appears to allow for Palestinian development it actually limits Palestinian development in the central area of the city and increases the Israeli development in the central area of East Jerusalem and pushes the Palestinian development out into the peripheral area of East Jerusalem,” said Kreimer. On May 11th, the Pope’s first day to the region, at the end of a meeting between the pope and Christian, Muslim and Jewish, senior Palestinian Muslim cleric Sheikh Taysir al-Tamami, referring to Palestinian Muslim and Christians said: “We struggle together to liberation and independence and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.” The incident further marred the start of the German-born pope’s five-day tour of Israel and the Palestinian territories, after criticism by some Jews that a speech at the Holocaust memorial museum did not go far enough to mend Catholic-Jewish rifts. Pope Benedict, in his own speech to the gathering of priests, rabbis and sheikhs praised their efforts to seek common values and mutual respect to overcome differences in religious practices that “may at times appear as barriers”. The final speaker from the platform at the auditorium in a Roman Catholic institution was al-Tamimi, the chief judge of the Muslim religious courts in the Palestinian territories. He welcomed the pope to “Jerusalem, the eternal capital of Palestine” – a direct repost to Israeli claims to the same city. He said Israel had “desecrated the Old City’s holy sites” since capturing it from Jordanian forces in the 1967 war and was defying international law by demolishing homes, seizing land, building Jewish settlements and erecting a series of walls and fences that had turned the city into a “prison”. Tamami won a round of applause from some of the assembled clerics for comments referring to Israeli’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip in January. Addressing the pope at the end of a sixminute address, he said: “Your holiness, I call on you in the name of the one God, to condemn these crimes and press the

We are determined to continue to give our opinion on what is happening in the city, and to ensure that his holiness the pope understands that he is coming to an occupied city where freedom is oppressed.

— Palestinian Chief of Staff Rafiq Hussein Israeli government to halt its aggression against the Palestinian people.” Tamimi shook the pope’s hand as he left the podium and the meeting broke up as scheduled immediately afterwards. On his third day, the pope went to the West Bank city of Bethlehem where he was welcomed by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. Thousands of pilgrims and locals greeted him in Bethlehem’s Manger Square with songs and dance. Hundreds wore baseball caps in white and yellow, the Vatican’s colors. Cheers of ‘viva el papa’, long live the pope and ‘long live Palestine’ greeted his black Audi limousine along the steep, recently repaved ancient streets. Bethlehem was bustling with cars and buses. The store fronts were recently repainted duck green, the same colour as the Bethlehem 2000 colour. And the streets were cleaned and painted. The Pope performed a mass for some 5,000 in Manger Square, where last-minute efforts were made to build an outdoor stage especially for the event. It was strange, the pope said that Bethlehem was associated with the joy of Jesus’ birth “yet here in our midst, how far this magnificent promise seems from being realized.” The large crowd applauded when he said that he prayed that Israel’s embargo “will soon be lifted” from the Gaza Strip. “There are fewer and fewer of us Palestinian Christians, but we have strength,” said Kandra Zreineh, a 45-year-old mother of four from a village near Bethlehem. “We are proud to have this visit because we are small and I believe he may be able to make a difference for us. I still believe in miracles,” she said. Following mass in Manger Square, the

pope headed to Aida Refugee Camp, the second largest of three refugee camps in the West Bank city of Bethlehem. “The oppressed have become oppressors,’ said one graffiti slogan along the grey concrete barriers that has formed a dramatic backdrop to the pope’s speech at the Basic Boy’s school at Aida’s refugee camp. “Bridges, not walls!” said another graffiti. It is understandable that you often feel frustrated,” the pope said. “Your legitimate aspirations for permanent homes, for an independent Palestinian state, remain unfulfilled.” Instead you find yourselves trapped…” The pope stood on the small stage built, also last minute, because of Israeli restrictions on the stage, build adjacent to the 8 meter (25 foot) concrete wall and an Israeli watchtower. He said that the wall Israel built round the West Bank is a symbol of “stalemate” between Israel and the Palestinians. “Towering over us… is a stark reminder of the stalemate that relations between Israelis and Palestinians seem to have reached – the wall. How we earnestly pray for an end to the hostilities that have caused this wall to be built,” he said. The pope, following a speech by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, at length spoke on the plight of refugees in the Aida camp, who like millions of other Palestinians, are the families of those who fled or were driven out of their homes, in 1948. The Pope, following a trip to the ArabIsraeli city of Nazareth where he performed mass for 40,000 people, the biggest event of his pilgrimage - returned to Jerusalem on Friday. An extremely tight Israeli security forbade all except a small number of clergy to attend his mass at one of the holiest sites in Christendom, the Church of Holy Sepulcher. On Friday, May 15, on the Pope’s last day to the region. Palestinians across the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Arab-Israeli villages, commemorated al-Nakba, or the catastrophe of 1948. The demonstrations and rallies went largely unnoticed by a press that was wholly preoccupied with a pilgrim pope set to leave the country on the Israel jet flight of El Al. His message, to Jerusalem, was that “love is stronger than death.” “The empty tomb speaks to us of hope, the hope that does not disappoint because it is the gift of the spirit of life,” he said after praying at the Stone of Anointing where Christians believe the body of Jesus Christ was prepared for burial. Jihan Abdalla is a Palestinian journalist and television producer, she is currently working for Reuters and the Jerusalem Report

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Danes unaware of the luxury they live in "It may sound strange that a smiling, alwayshappy girl like me, spreading optimism and positive energy all the time, could be the same one who can not sleep in the night without a pile of sadness. Surely there is a reason. There are no ashes without a fire, as we say in my language."

hrough the Crossing Borders Global Study (CBGS) at the Krogerup College I spent five months in Denmark. For me it is much more than an ordinary semester where you go to class, listen / participate / sleep / facebook while someone is giving a lecture. This CBGS is a course for discovering yourself, your input in the society and what do you want to do in your life. It is a place where you can cross borders, personal, cultural or physical. You learn so much through dialogue, games, and social activities. Even parties are a place to learn! 20

For me, it was more crossing personal borders, where I could talk more about my feelings, my background and life, without feeling judged or feared. I could connect to my past so I can keep going in my present and promising future. I write this short article revealing some of my feelings. Without such an encouraging environment, I don’t think I would be able to do so. The democratic, loving, peaceful way of living and learning that the CBGS offers me, has given me the chance to share experiences and develop my personality.

Yelling and roaring from the enthusiastic crowds comes through my window, jazz music is playing in the small hall of the school, reminding me of my trip to Chicago; a smell of chocolate comes to my nose and I feel the taste sweetening my mouth. It is still light outside my window, birds singing the whole day, celebrating the homecoming of the summer in Denmark. It comes like a full moon, once a month. It announces a happy and calm day. I feel serene most of the hours. And here it comes; memories pop up without warning in my tiny head, a beautiful Indian girl, smart and sweet, crying in the silence of the cold days. I remember my dad, my mom and my family, where I felt loved and wanted. I am flying. Each day in my life is a journey, meeting new people, laughing and spreading happiness around who ever I meet. I always wonder why people are sad, if life is so happy and charming. It is enough

that I can wake up in the morning and enjoy the weather of that day, hear the birds and smell the flowers; enjoy flirting and chatting over a cup of mint tea. When the darkness invades my room, when I can hear the silence whispering in my ear, I let my tears wet my pillow. For many years, I decided to give my nights to the sorrow of my life. When I’m sure that my sister is sleeping (my sister and I usually sleep in the same bed since there is no place in our house for more beds. We share a mattress. Recently, only half a year ago we could have a rented room of our own, but there would still be no beds). So one can hear my chest going up and down, hardly breathing from tears, I think about why for God’s sake I’m still alive, and I convince myself, that for sure there is a reason for my existence, there is a message that I have to deliver, and only then I can relax, in a small, white bed sheets, in the wet ground. It goes back to my childhood, to my mom and dad, when I first started to realize and analyze the world surrounding me, when I got to know about my dad’s childhood, his suffering and pain, his tough life and unappreciated effort to survive in dignity. It goes back to the days that I remember

I remember my parents’ tough life, and what they have been through in order to give me all they have, usually it is not money, but support, which is much more important!

my mom playing with me and my sister on our tiny sunny balcony, when she loves us, hugs with both hands and kisses our checks, waiting under the burning sun, or getting wet from the heavy

rain, but she will always be there, in the entrance of the staircase, even if we are five minutes late. We are all her world; she came from the West Bank when she was only 17, an age that girls still play and dream about a prince riding a white horse, but my mom at that age was already with her man, in the big, crowded city of Haifa, most of the days alone, in a two-room house, not speaking the language and without friends around. It was a year after I was born, so it was me, staring to her with big wide eyes, her world. It goes back to the knowledge that as the eldest and a smart girl born to a poor family, I could read and write, I grew up with a responsibility for family, including my dad and mom. Every time that I remember my parents’ tough life, and what they have been through in order to give me all they have, usually it is not money, but support, which is much more important! I think about my life now, living in a welfare state, with Danish youth, most of whom in their 20s. Strangely, compared to Mideast youth of the same age, they have already visited and experienced many countries in their life, while from where I come, when you are 20, you are still struggling with your exams to get enrolled in the university, to study hard, to find work at the same time. When you graduate, you have to work and get married….etc. Here, young people are not in hurry. They travel, have fun, enjoy life. But the sad thing is that most of them are not really aware of the luxury they live in. Loud applause wakes me up from my yearning to live in a warm, loving and caring family, struggling to get ends meet, to live in dignity. I dress nicely, put on a smiley mask and run to the hall, the music invading me and wrapping my feelings. I sit in a hidden corner, hovering (floating in the air) with the music of my own world. Manar Saria is a 23 year old Arab Israeli. She is an environmental engineer from Haifa

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Very anonymous people in Big Brother "A meeting between anonymous people from Israel and the occupied territories in the frame-work of a seminar about the role of the media in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict"

fter being postponed several times due to the war in Gaza, a few months after it ended, a new date was set for the seminar. It was a five-day gathering in Jordan, with the purpose of having a discussion about the role of the media in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, the freedom of speech, the different narratives of the conflict and more, from the point of view of both cultures. The project is organized jointly by the "Adam Institute for democracy and peace" on the Israeli side and by the "Future Generation Hands Association" set in Nablus and Ramallah, on the Palestinian side. Among the participants were 16 young journalists and filmmakers, Israelis and Palestinians, between the ages of 18 and 29, selected by both organizations. I don’t know if it was intentional or not but the group lived up to every stereotype: Bleeding heart self-hating Israelis, radical Hamas supporters, a soldiers voices' delegator, the left-winger female director from Halil (Hebron), the Qassam rocket survivor from Sderot, the Palestinian ex-prisoner, the cynical left-winger aka entertainment team, the Hijab-wearing Arab, the Moroccan ex-orthodox Jew and the Arab boy who hung out with the Jews in the lobby. All we needed was one settler to complete the quorum and the Israeli channel 2 would have bought the show. The seminar opened with a personal self introduction. After a five-hour drive from Tel Aviv to Aqaba, I already knew by heart

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the names, age, profession, university etc. of the other members of the Israeli group. The names of the Palestinians, however, even after five days of seminar I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing correctly, not to mention where they came from in the occupied territories or what was their profession or field of work. But I could say this: the Palestinian group was, undoubtedly younger and "greener" in the different fields of media than the Israeli group. The youngest among the Israelis were 27 years old while the Palestinians were ages 18 to 25. It was therefore very easy for us, the Israelis, to quickly hang-on to their young age as the main cause for their opinions, feelings, gaps of knowledge, lack of self criticism and even the disagreements among us. Even if the age had nothing to do with it we needed a reason, and that one was sufficient. Among the Israelis, most participants had met with Palestinians in the past, some through the rifle's sight, or as construction workers refurbishing their parents' house, as a film heroine and as talent for a news magazine. But for the Palestinians as a whole it was their first personal meeting with Israelis. Therefore, it was not surprising that the looks which in the last day had a hint of smile and laughter were first laden by anger by what we, the Israelis, first interpreted as deep hatred, but slowly realized was actually great fear. In the first day we still behaved politely and with respect, not just towards the Palestinian group but also amongst ourselves. Each

person introduced her / himself, attaching a friendly hobby to his or her name and as we felt we utilized to fullness the positivity in us, we fast-forwarded to more advanced activity. We were asked to introduce ourselves again, this time attaching three events from our lives that influenced us greatly. That was the first golden opportunity for a militant discussion about the personal connection of each and every one of us to the conflict. While the Palestinian group didn't skip the opportunity, declaring nauseating events from their besieged lives, describing sights of settlers abusing their children and events of humiliation of their grandmothers by the Israeli soldiers at the checkpoints, in the Israeli group there was a sort of concealment of the personal connection to the conflict and a puzzling decision not to present personal events in the shadow of the conflict as one of the three meaningful events in our lives. There were among us some who did experience the influences of the conflict from a very wounded first-hand, as Qassam rocket survivors, as bereaved juveniles losing parents in a suicide bus bombing, or as soldiers. On the second day of the seminar the discussion opened to an acquaintance with the written and electronic press of which both sides draws most of their knowledge about the conflict. It was intriguing to learn that a massive part of the content of all printed Palestinian newspapers (Alquds, Alayam and Alhayat) was dedicated to topics related to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in general and Israel in particular, while local matters such as health services, social problems, family matters, crime, homicide and so on get very little coverage – less than a third of the edition. (But we didn't manage to have a deep discussion about the influences and correlations of this fact due to the incompetence or unwillingness of the Palestinian group to self criticize.) We didn't manage to go deeper into a discussion, not necessarily because of the Palestinian group or because of the Israeli group, but because of the Israelines engraved in us. In our small Israeli group there was hardly any chance for a meaningful internal dialogue. Each and every one of us had to be heard and

I don’t know if it was intentional or not but the group lived up to every stereotype… could not be restrained; we didn't think of keeping quiet, silence was unbearable to us. Maybe it was below our dignity, maybe we just had too much to say. There was a moment when I observed one of the Palestinians sitting in his chair all red from anger, with a raised hand and a stretched finger. He was raising his hand to death, waiting for us to allow a moment for him to speak, but we did not stop, we didn't rest for a moment unless in the disguise of correctness, and with every session we had, we stopped asking questions only when we ran-out of time. So many questions we had to make, we never got the chance to get an answer for them, and with each question asked on our behalf there was always a small internal cynical comment released quietly into the air from one Israeli to another, without allowing the translator to hear it and therefore without allowing it to be translated. The real stormy discussion was set between us the Israelis, not with the Palestinian group. We didn’t get any answers, maybe as there wasn't enough time but more likely as we were asking too much. If we were to stop and listen for a moment it is possible we would have heard all of us asked the very same question in different wording. What we really wanted to be answered for was "why aren't you, the Palestinians, the people we think you ought to be?" We, the Israeli left-wingers, couldn't bear the fact that the Palestinian group was not the group we wished for it to be, that the people assembling it didn't carry the thoughts we thought they should (the thoughts it will be better for them to think), and that they weren't led by the same logic and reasonableness that we thought they should be led by. We wanted them to be able to criticize themselves and their regime, to desire peace, to desire the two-country solution, to be reasonable (in our view – which is of course always subjective). To us, it all seemed lucid. Surprisingly, as we got to a discussion about "proportionality" and the boys in the Israeli group responded to the accusation of Israel's disproportionate military reaction, explaining that Israel must defend itself and can not stand aside while its citizens are being slaughtered. The boys in the Palestinian group listening to their rationale were mostly nodding their heads approvingly. Not one of them doubted this way of thought, this was how they were educated as well – ‘we shall not stand aside while our people are being killed.’ It was the "soldiers' voices delegator," who one would have thought would be most despised by the Palestinian group, who was actually the most appraised Israeli by them. This is how it works, a soldier knows a soldiers' heart. A Palestinian friend once told me in a different forum, when meeting my spouse, a graduate of the combat engineering corps and an ex-soldier in the IDF; "he seems like a hell of a guy, your man. I appreciate people who fight for their country." It seems as though the left-winger military evaders, peace cravers and 'bleeding heart self-hating Israelis' will not be treasured in this house of Palestinians, simply as they act against their own country, denouncing its right for defense and do not protect their people. It is completely absurd but that seemed to be the only thing we managed to agree upon without a doubt. What does it say about us? What does it say about them? We couldn't speak with "them" or with ourselves on any other level. We spoke at one another, we spoke at them. Our favorite accusation was "why aren’t you criticizing the Hamas? Why aren't you saying anything about the vileness of its decree?" If a stranger was to sit among us, observing uninvolved, he would probably get the impression that to Israel Fatah was ever since the good son; a sort of a friendly Abel that

Israel, as God looking from above, always responded to his offerings and yield great crop in his land – the Palestinian people. And only due to the murder committed by his Hamas brother Cain did Israel stop it's friendship with that land and left it crop-less and it's ruler in eternal nomadic life. This sweet illusion, I believe, gave the Palestinian group the impression that we had nothing to do but seek their self-criticism regarding Hamas. How did we come-up with such truth? Does the Israeli media, dreaming its wettest dream today on the sweet return of the Fatah to work his land have anything to do with this? In the last evening of the seminar, a few films directed by participants of both groups were screened. One of the Israeli films was Jacob Amzaleg's film, in which an Israeli soldier is seen fixing his uniforms on a bare plateau, pulling a rope to raise the flag, preparing himself to salute while breathing deep and placing his stretched hand next to his forehead in front of his proud face as a white flag is hoisted in the wind. The film was about two minutes long and when it was screened, all through the exhibition of the proud Israeli soldier, the members of the Palestinian group kept moving uncomfortably in their chairs. From the moment of exposure of the white flag, the din was taken by INCLUDEPICTURE "http://ico.walla.co.il/spc.gif" \* MERGEFORMATINET a thunderous silence. They did not expect this. In the discussion afterward members of the Palestinian group raised the surprise they felt by the Israeli soldier lifting the flag of peace. They even went so far as to thanking the filmmaker for it. But what was kept inside, never to be mentioned in the room, reminding me of that very same Israeli concealment that was kept when the Palestinians spoke of those meaningful events from the life in the shadow of the conflict, was that the poetic intentions were misunderstood. There was another meaning hidden in that film, it could have been read differently. One could also say that no message of peace was carried in it and that actually this white flag hoisted in the wind was the IDF’s 8-year submission flag as the city of Sderot is being attacked daily by fresh Qassam rockets salvo, while the state of Israel stands aside doing nothing. And then, there he is a combatant soldier of the Israeli defense force, stands upright and proud, saluting blissfully to a submissive country. But apparently, the poet really didn't want to let them down, not as finally some smile and gratitude were rescued for the false optimistic message. "That's the beauty of art," said Amzaleg, "each person understands out of their own vocabulary." Yes, that's the beauty and that's the ugliness of reality. Each of us understood from their own vocabularies and at the end of the day none of us understood a thing or half of it. In the Israeli group there was no room for sincerity, not in this conference room. The land was not fertilized by an honest dialogue but by display. I didn't learn a thing about our "Palestinian enemy.” I mainly learned that Israel's left-wing no longer knew what it stood for. In the last election, like this gathering, a vast majority of the Israeli left voted for the center-right party, Kadima. Many people in the Israeli left wing lost faith in their original parties after the Gaza war and the support it got from Meretz and Haavoda (Labour). Meretz usually was the shelter party for many left wing voters from Haavoda. In the last election there was a strong impression that there is no more left-wing in Israel, as most of its voters choose center right (Kadima). Kadima didn't stand for what left is but just presented itself as opposing the right wing parties. Miri Shapiro is an Israeli script writer living in Tel Aviv

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An outsider navigating the narratives "I came away from the seminar at the Ambassador Hotel with great respect for all the participants and organizers, but also with a new understanding of the obstacles to peace in the Middle East and of just how formidable they are."

hanks to an invitation from Suheir Hashimeh, I had the opportunity earlier this spring to participate in a seminar organized by Crossing Borders, held at the Ambassador Hotel in Jerusalem. The other participants included a mixture of Jews and Arabs as well as a few other foreigners. Most were in their twenties, and all were bright, enthusiastic, and thoughtful people. Naturally, the discussion centered on the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, with particular emphasis on the Israeli incursion in Gaza that began this past December and lasted for three weeks, claiming more than 1,300 Palestinian lives and more than a dozen Israelis. As a Canadian journalist based in Jerusalem, I spoke at some length about the challenges of covering a conflict as polarized as this one. Both sides agree on very little, if anything, about the causes or the consequences of their dispute, and it is never easy to interpret events in a way that will seem credible to everyone. In fact, it is practically impossible. Still, that is the job. There are roughly 400 foreign journalists based in Israel, and all of them are kept almost continuously busy. For reasons that are self-evident in some cases and more obscure in others, the Holy Land is a sort of news factory, generating a breadth and intensity of coverage that is far out of proportion to the population of the region and possibly also out of proportion to its

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geo-political significance. For whatever reasons, interest in the region among outsiders is obviously thriving. I find the evidence of that keen interest in my email inbox practically everyday. The messages I receive from readers are rarely polite and almost never complimentary, but they certainly attest to the fascination with which a great many people regard the

Middle East, for all sorts of reasons. The people who live here obviously don’t need a reason to be interested, beyond the bare fact that they do live here and therefore have no choice but to suffer the consequences of dwelling the in the midst of a seemingly interminable conflict. Foreign journalists enjoy one benefit that is not easily available to most Palestinians

or Israelis. We are able to cross back and forth between the two sides, seeing both sides at their worst but also at their best. Sadly, there are not many opportunities any longer for most Arabs or Jews in this region to confront one another as ordinary human beings rather than as imagined stereotypes – the Molotov-cocktailwielding Palestinian militant, for example, or the enraged Jewish settler clutching his automatic rifle. Isolated from counterparts I have met many people on both sides who can no longer see beyond these stereotypes, and I suspect this is one reason, among many others, that this conflict is so protracted and often seems so hopeless. The two sides have managed to demonize the other almost beyond repair. During the session at the Ambassador Hotel in April, many of the participants spoke forcefully and with considerable sorrow as well as anger about their experiences during the Israeli invasion of Gaza earlier this year. It was evident there were two very different narratives at work. While acknowledging the suffering of the other side, both Palestinians and Israelis gathered at the hotel that day concentrated almost exclusively on their own experiences, their own distress, their own suffering. Maybe this is inevitable, but it seemed noteworthy all the same – especially because the people who work with Crossing Borders and similar groups are almost certainly not typical of people in the region, or at least not in certain ways. They belong to the sectors of their respective societies that are most committed to understanding and communicating with people on the other side. And yet, it seems even these individuals tend to be isolated from the suffering or grievances of their counterparts, across the rift that divides Arabs and Jews. I came away from the seminar at the Ambassador Hotel with great respect for all the participants and organizers, but also with a new understanding of the obstacles to peace in the Middle East and of just how formidable they are. Oakland Ross is the bureau chief of Toronto Star in Jerusalem.

The new danger in Jerusalem This evacuation paves the way for the confiscation by Israeli government for more houses in the same neighborhood, thus threatening to render some 500 Palestinians homeless.

am a resident of East Jerusalem from the Shikh Jarrah neighborhood. I want to tell you the story of a family who was evacuated from their house in Shikh Jarrah last year. On November 9th, 2008 at 3:30 am, Israeli police evacuated the Kurd family from their home in Sheikh Jarrah, and arrested eight international solidarity activists who were in a protest camp established on the al-Kurd family property. The eight activists are currently being held in Israeli custody in Jerusalem. The entire area of Sheikh Jarrah was closed off, surrounded by Israeli military and police. Since the Israeli Supreme Court ordered the evacuation of al-Kurd family in July last year, the family has been struggling against their evacuation. The Kurd family is the first family to receive this order from Israeli police to evacuate their home, unfortunately "Abu Kamel," the head of the family, who was in a wheel chair, passed away a month after the evacuation order. Since July the international community has expressed objections to the eviction, including a formal protest from the United States government. The Shikh Jarrah neighborhood was built by the UN and the Jordanian government in 1956 to house Palestinian refugees after the 1948 war between Israelis and Arabs. The agreement between UN and the Jordanian government was that three years after building the housing units (i.e. November HYPERLINK "http://15.th/" \t "_blank" 15.th, 1959) the estate would be owned by the family living in it. The Kurd family moved to live there in 1956, after they had fled from Jaffa and West Jerusalem. When Israelis occupied East Jerusalem in 1967, settlers started to claim that the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood belongs to them, claiming they had purchased the land

from previous Ottoman owners in the 1880s. In 1972, the Israeli settlers registered the lands there with the Israeli registration authorities. When the Kurd family decided in 1999 to extend their house, the Israeli court declared this construction illegal. After a short time, settlers occupied the new extension apartment, which measured approximately 80 meters square. Even though the settlers’ claimed that this land had been revoked by the Israeli courts in 2006, the Jerusalem municipality confiscated the key to the extension from the Kurd family and gave it to the Israeli settlers. The wife and the head of the fam-

The entire area of Sheikh Jarrah was closed off, surrounded by Israeli military and police. ily after the death of her husband Um Kamel Al Kurd said that when they received the evacuation order in July 2008, it was because they refused to pay the renting to the settlers for the use of the land. This evacuation paves the way for the confiscation by Israeli government for more houses in the same neighborhood, thus threatening to render some 500 Palestinians homeless. By destroying their houses, it will be possible to build 200 apartments for settlers in the area, which will create the new reality around the Old City of Jerusalem of increasing the Jewish settlers in the East side of the city. Omar Nidal Yaish is a Palestinian Jerusalemite studying medicine in Debrecen University in Hungary.

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Democracy is not just a characteristic of a state, but rather a concept that must exist within people.

PEACE AND DEMOCRACY FORUM "Besides being holy to the three world religions, Christianity, Islam and Judaism, Jerusalem is destined to be a city of vital importance to Palestinians. Jerusalem is both the nucleus of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the key to its resolution. But due to today’s unfortunate reality of separation and alienation, Palestinian Jerusalemites live their lives in despair, confronted and hindered by the difficulties of the conflict."

eace and Democracy Forum (PDF) is one of the few Palestinian organizations based in East Jerusalem and targeting Palestinian Jerusalemites. “To be and work in Jerusalem is a challenge by itself, since Israeli current illegal actions in and around the city – including building new settlements, construction of the barrier, discriminatory housing policies, house demolitions, restrictive permit regime and continued closure of Palestinian institutions – increase Jewish Israeli presence in East Jerusalem, weaken the Palestinian community in the city, impede Palestinian urban development and separate East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank”, says Mr. Saman Khoury, the General Manager of PDF. Mr. Khoury, a Palestinian Jerusalemite journalist, adds: “Since 2001, the Israeli Ministry of Internal Security has been closing different Palestinian institutions in East Jerusalem, claiming that they are affiliated to the Palestinian Authority. These 26

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institutions were playing an essential role inside the Palestinian civil society, in the economical, social and cultural fields; and even if some of them managed to continue their activities by moving their headquarters outside Jerusalem, the closure of these institutions had a very deep and negative impact on the Palestinian society in East Jerusalem, particularly since public events organized by the Palestinian civil society in East Jerusalem are regularly prohibited.” In order to safeguard the existence of the Peace and Democracy Forum in East Jerusalem, it had been officially registered and licensed by the Israeli Ministry of the Interior as an AMUTA (non- government organization). According to Mr. Khoury, PDF adheres to the universal declaration of Human Rights and upholds the basic principles of respect for human life and dignity. But what makes this institution unique and different from other public institutions are the two concepts which have been the base of PDF: Peace and Democracy. Mr.

Khoury illustrates that these two concepts are unlimited by time: Peace is needed all the time within human beings; it is not a concept that is related just to the Palestinians and the Israelis; it is a necessary element within any civil society, and therefore essential in developing the Palestinian society. On the other hand, Democracy is not just a characteristic of a state, but rather a concept that must exist within people. In other words, Mr. Khoury believes that these two concepts affect the prosperity of any society, and therefore, they must be taught: “they must be a goal of civil society institutions and not just a notion.” PDF launched its activities in 2004 with the aim of promoting peace and democracy in the midst of Palestinian residents of Jerusalem and the vicinity. The activities concentrate on raising awareness of the Palestinian public, enhancing democratic behavior and practices within the society and within Palestinian institutions, enhancing the role of women in the community, and developing the con-

cept of participation and involvement amidst the young generation. PDF’s activities are part of its efforts to promote an active role of Jerusalemites in the Palestinian society, based on a vision of future solutions that respond to the aspirations of the Palestinian people. Due to the approach of the next Palestinian presidential and legislative council elections, which are presumed to be held in January 2010, PDF, with the help of experts, has designed a project that aims to enhance civil and society awareness and responsibility regarding participation in such a democratic process and to encourage the involvement of Jerusalemites in the Palestinian national elections as voters and also candidates. Regarding the PDF relationship with other NGO’s, Mr. Khoury indicates that PDF cooperates locally, regionally and internationally with other civil society NGOs that hold and promote a plan of action comparable with its aims and activities. One of the organizations that has strong bonds with PDF is Crossing Borders. “The goals of the two organizations are somehow similar, and this makes the tie between PDF and CB strong,” says Mr. Khoury. He adds: “some do not know that, but CB is registered internationally and therefore PDF patronizes its work inside the country”. Mr. Khoury concludes by saying that PDF plans to encourage the youth involvement in building the civil society. Since youth are the core of Palestinian society, they can play a leading role in social change, and deserve to be equipped with necessary skills to help them play active and positive roles within their community. “They are the future… they are the hope.” Wafa’ El-Sheikh, is a 26-year-old Palestinian Jerusalemite who lives in East Jerusalem. She has a Bachelor degree in International Relations and English Linguistics.

The dream is sinking into reality It is cruel for us as Jordanians to be forbidden from visiting Jerusalem, this charm which is only a few kilometers away from our capital.

rowing up in Amman, I heard people all around me talking about Jerusalem, what is it like to live there? How are Palestinians living side by side with Israelis? I always considered it as one of these dream lands where almost every dream could come true. During my childhood I started realizing that this dream land is sinking deeper and deeper into reality, and I thought to myself: “if it is a Holy land, and if the three main religions are surviving there, why is there all this hate between Palestinians and Israelis?” and it hit me to go and visit it to answer all these questions that seem impossible for media or even an ordinary person to explain. I went several times asking for a visa and it was rejected for ambiguous reasons. Finally, this year Crossing Borders gave me this opportunity to answer some of these questions by visiting Jerusalem for the first time of my life, a chance that doesn't happen to most of the Jordanians living in Jordan or even outside of it. Well, although I got the visa a few days late for the CB reunion, I decided to fulfill this image I had, and to satisfy my curiosity about seeing Jerusalem. The next day, as I got out of the taxi in one of the main streets in East Jerusalem “Salah Edeen” St., I felt something very different, very warm in this city—something that I haven't felt in any city I had visited before. As I walked in the streets of the old city a sensation just entered my body reaching my bones, and at that very moment I understood why Palestinians have been fighting for Jerusalem for the past 60 years; it's not because it's their duty or because it's their land. It is because anyone who visits Jerusalem and its old city can feel the attraction and the

temptation of this city. Sadly for me, my visit was short, but I was able to answer some of my questions, not all of them. For instance, I was able to feel what it is like for a young Palestinian to try and defend his city with all the power that he has, since he grew up seeing soldiers with their guns surrounding and killing his freedom. I was able to understand that Jerusalemites, no matter how far away they are, are willing to give everything up just to come and feel the sand of Jerusalem slipping from between their fingers, instead of watching Jerusalem’s soil on TV slipping away from local Arab families day by day. However, the most important thing I have learned is that how cruel it is for us as Jordanians to be forbidden from visiting this charm, which is only a few kilometers away from our capital Amman. The only exceptions are for those who are over 50 years old or who have some kind of an invitation which the Israeli government rarely accepts! Omar A. Al-Hadidi is a 23-year-old Jordanian.

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buntu is an African term meaning that you cannot be human without other people. Archbishop Desmond Tutu said, "We are meant for friendship and relationships. It is not good for us to be alone. In our African languages, we say ‘A human being is a person through other people.’ No one comes to the world ready and finished. We cannot think, walk, talk or behave like humans, unless we have learned it from other people. I am, because other people are. The "self made" man or woman is really an impossibility. When you ask someone in Africa: ‘How are you?’ the answer is always in plural, even if you ask a single person. A man might say: "We are well" or "We are not well". He may himself be quite ok, but his grandmother, is not well, so then he is not well either. “ You have had Ubuntu - you have been human beings because of the community that a Folk High school gives freedom and space to. It has been great to get to know you. You are wonderful, enterprising students who have a consistent good style. It is always a pleasure to come over to you. I will miss the morning sessions where all black cardigans are. When the interpretation system does not work. Where the daily messages are announced. You have hopefully learned a lot about life, yourself, society, and the world. Your recent presentations have been impressive. You have also got me thinking about life in new ways. Emil’s speech about the Danish People's Party has made me more inclusive. Maybe you have chal-

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THE UBUNTU WAY "At the end of an intensive 5 month term during which some 60 students from Denmark and abroad learned to cross borders, the Principal of Krogerup højskole made the following speech."

lenged your own limits and in that way found out who you are. Do you heave your shoulders when others are failing the commu nit y? Will you get furious? Are you indulgent and sweet? When you squeeze so many people together to live together, then certainly borders will be crossed. I have many good memories. Choir, our morning songs, the friendship weekend, the party with former students, the wild Saturday parties, May festival, constitution day etc. It is quite clear that a substantial part of your stay also happens outside of classes. When I venture to say good night after choir you look at me as if I were mentally deficient. It is late in the evening that all the nice things happen. Hyggestund (cozy moments) with mattresses and film, cheese and red wine, ‘girls can do it themselves’ night, you name it. The girls seem in general to have taken matters into their own hands - the male guests have been especially well received. There have not been so many men this spring, but what wonderful men there have been. You have filled out the space very well and helped with your charming Men talk. It is historic that only one student is stopped during a term, and it is

Hadi because he got a scholarship to do his PhD in Germany. You also had a fantastic way of welcoming the new students who joined the term later on. This is also because of openmindedness of the new students. And you also had room for the American students, who were lodged here while following courses in Copenhagen, and had great fun with them. So all in all, it is a lovely group, we say goodbye to tonight. We have at the school opted to take clinch with our global world, we've not only pushed you out in it, and we have got it inside the walls. It has created diversity in the student group. This group comes from different cultural, linguistically and educational background than Danish students. I want to thank you all for contributing to the good integration. Especially in the beginning all were very open, but as everyday came along with many different tasks, it seemed easier to communicate with your own group. We have learned a lot from your term and will try even better on next term. I hope you all

have become a bit more spacious and have met wonderful people who you would not have got to know. I have anyway. For your desire for a better world, a place where we really care for each other - Ubuntu – is really present. It may come to be somewhat in contrast to what you can contribute with right now and here with the people around you. Perhaps a deep conversation with a student from another country is precisely the place, where you really can make a difference, where you can understand each other. Perhaps we have not been good enough to listen to each other's stories? The world's problems and conflicts are put into perspective when you see both how easy and how difficult it is to accommodate each other's cultures and languages. You have all both Danish students and Crossing Borders been good and bad at it - and some have been better at it than others. That’s how it is to have the space to cross personal, linguistic, cultural, generational and academic borders. You are now going out to live your lives. I believe very much that it is the

Rikke Forchhammer in Krogerup forest

pleasure that is the motivating power, so if you doubt your livelihood, education and love so feel what and who you are really passionate about. Take chances. Try something new every day. Hold on to the Krogerup spirit. I hope you leave here with many things in your personal luggage, both good and bad, but stronger. Stronger about what is dear to you, stronger in what you believe in, stronger about who you are and what each of you can contribute to the community, stronger in your belief in yourself and your opportunities. I wish you all good luck on your way. It has been so great to see your personalities unfold, keep on unfolding them. I think you have been very nice to have here and I want you to choose your own personal path in life. Close your ears to all the good advice about the straight path and follow your heart and be strong in your decisions - even if they are found not to be quite right. Don’t regret your choices - just make new ones. You live in a privileged part of the world where you have the opportunity to try a lot of things. "It's not

Don’t regret your choices - just make new ones. important to be something, it is important to be somebody." Have integrity in what you do, be honest with yourself and others in all aspects of life - even in love! You have to dare to make choices - even the difficult ones. Exactly ten years ago today I celebrated my wedding with Nils in this room. It was fantastic and it was the result of one of life's most difficult choices that had to do with love. I had two small children and a husband; Nils had a wife, lived at the other end of the country and had just moved into a new house. Nils said in his wedding speech to me: "We tried to fight against it, and here we are." We made a very hard decision, and I can say here after 10 years with a peace of mind say that it was the right choice. The day after the May Festival I got an email from a former student. He wrote: Hey Rikke, great event yesterday, I am deeply impressed with how cool it all was. I have thought about this many times and I think it is a pity if you do not get to hear it, so here it is: To go to Krogerup is undoubtedly the best decision I have made in my whole life. Krogerup has developed me a lot in a very positive direction. I have both gotten more faith in myself, and also a belief that almost anything is possible if only you have the will. I've learned to take the initiative and how fantastic it is making arrangements for others. Additionally I have some friendships for life and a girlfriend whom I have now been with for almost 3 years. Thank you for that. It is exciting what is going to remain as the most important things for you when you will look back at your stay. I told you at the beginning of your stay that I expected that you to have a good style. You have fully lived up to it. Take it out into the world and it will go with you well. Thank you for coming. Rikke Forchhammer is the principal of Krogerup Folk High Schoolv

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'Pay me a million dollars, I’m not going back to Jerusalem' Yoram Binur's office on Tel Aviv beach

destroyed their facilities, their land, their society’s social structure and suppressed them till dust. The thing is you cannot fix historical injustice with another one." Do you, as a reporter, have the power to change the course of things? "No, you cannot affect anything. If you aim for an impact and the prime minister’s office doesn’t like it, they dismiss you. Decisions are being made in the government corridors and the ministries chambers. Everything else is just bullshit, they decide what will be in the media."

ion (DPO). To be a DPO in those issues is not simple and is being dealt with a great deal of sensitivity. A commentator on a Friday night TV-studio is like a God, he has tremendous influence. In my case I was fired because I didn’t play by the

- the biggest of all projects: To change the geography, demography, borders and control over the West Bank. The project is the annexation of the West Bank to Israel. The public has no clue what's going on there.”

If so, what is the role of a journalist? "To be used as a tool in the hands of the government and the economic factors. I'm talking about Television, the one who rules public opinion." Over the question 'is it worth while being a journalist' he straight away says 'No.' It is becoming a slave and you will have to

"Your country has been executing over 50 years what I call ’the Territory Project’ - the biggest of all projects: To change the geography, demography, borders and control over the West Bank. The project is the annexation of the West Bank to Israel. The public has no clue what's going on there" rules. Most of my time as a grown man I [have] spent in the occupied territories. There aren’t so many people, even Palestinians that know the territory like I do." How did he build trust? "I haven't tried. When you try you don’t succeed. I treat people like people. It is also years of experience. Whoever does what I do can never do anything else. As far as the interest, risk, intensive and the experience you go through."

elcome to my office," says Yoram Binu, pointing to a towel on a yellow mat spread out on the Tel Aviv beach. Yoram Binur was, until recently, the correspondent for Israel's Channel 2 television service covering Palestinian affairs. He is also author of the book 'My Enemy, My Self' (1989). Born in 1954, he’s son to native Russian parents living in Jerusalem. He’s a single and a sexy gentleman with 30

cb magazine vol. 10 edition no. 39

a big mouth and lack of any manners and courtesy. Regarding Jerusalem, he says "pay me a million dollars I'm not going back living there. I started working as a journalist on 83' for 'Kol Hair,' a weekly local newspaper published in Jerusalem. The Arab story was completely different then, Arabs were everywhere." After gaining experience and writing newspaper stories Yoram decided to write a book on the Palestinians’ daily life in Is-

rael and the occupied territories. For this purpose he impersonated an Arab, living among them, fluent in Arabic language and costumes. The book, according to him, ended up costing him more than just money. Since 1993 Yoram Binur has been working as a reporter and commentator covering the occupied territories. “The media covers a lot of topics. For the Security, Arabs and Territories issues, there are internal definitions. A commentator somewhat determines public opin-

Were you afraid? "There was a lot of anger sometimes, from right wing factors but my image was never a 'leftist'. My image , as I see it now , is as a man who doesn’t give a shit about no one, not even the biggest terrorists and is willing to go anywhere. A 'leftist' is a reporter who dose pieces on 'B'Tselem'." What do you think has changed within the Israeli society in relations to Arabs? "Everything. First of all it is all due to ignorance created as a result of unwillingness to know and by a takeover by the media. The terrorist attacks contributed to the situation, but it’s not the whole story. Your country has been executing over 50 years what I call ’the Territory Project’

The talks about two states, do you think it's possible? "I don’t see how it could happen. When talking about it , they say that there must be talking, but there are no talks on actually taking an action, and besides, when do you draw the line?”

marry your job, do you want to marry your job…?" One think I know for sure, there is nothing else he would rather do. Ravit Benaim is 27-year-old Israeli. She’s a geologist working as interviewer for a national student magazine.

Do you think it would be naïve to think that living one aside another is possible? "No, I don’t think so. I almost saw it happen. As far as the majority was concerned I was a witness to a window of opportunity in '94. There was the willingness for a true reconciliation. " In your opinion, does Israel as a country have the right to exist? "Yes of course! But I also understand the Arabs. We need to have a country after what our people had gone through and probably will go through. We need to have a country and it has to be strong. There is no other place. The difference between me and the leftists is that I’m not afraid to admit the facts that by doing that we have re-winded the Palestinian people, taken their houses, cb magazine vol. 10 edition no. 39

DEMENA MS Danish Association for International Co-operation

Spring co urse 2010 e n u dat J 12 es: 1 – y 0 Januar

JOIN THE CROSSING BORDERS GLOBAL STUDIES People today live in a networked world. The borders of our lives are no longer limited to towns, regions or countries. Our connections are spread across the world. Emails, chats and online social networking facilitate global communication. The people we care about are no longer just the ones we see everyday.

Crossing Borders Global Studies gives you the opportunity to: • Live, study and develop projects with fellow students from around the world • Learn about the Scandinavian Welfare State and participatory democracy • Learn about how globalization is experienced around the world • Gain skills in interpersonal and inter-group conflict resolution • Acquire tools for analyzing international conflicts • Participate in a 14-day study tours to Turkey and Kurdish region • Learn how Danish NGOs and civil society groups operate free access to the nearby famous Louisiana Museum of Modern Arts • 50 hours of basic Danish language and culture lessons • Prepare yourself for higher university education and an international career • Participate in the international current affairs course • Be part of the unique Solya Connect Programme

Become active in CB by becoming a member, volunteer or writer. Annual membership is 150 DKK, 200 DKK for a family, 100 DKK for students. Institutions and caompanies are welcome to support CB activities at their own discretion.

THE PRICE Spring course: 10 January - 12 June 2010: 33.100 Danish kroner (4.440 Euro)

WHAT THE FEES PAY FOR • Full Tuition costs • Full Accommodation in double shared room. Single rooms available for additional cost of 100 Danish kroner (14 Euro) extra per week • All meals - except during the study tour • Fourteen-day study tour of Turkey and Kurdish region. • Three-day tour of Denmark

For details, log onto: www.krogerup.dk or www.crossingborder.org

Scholarship Possibilities Students from new EU member countries can apply for partial scholarships through the college. For more information, contact the Krogerup Administration by email at: kontoret@krogerup.dk or by phone at: (+45) 49190380

As a member, you will receive the CB magazine sent to your private address, be invited to CB arrangements and courses and above all support a meaningful dialogue within the Middle East and across the Euromed region.