Subject: INterview with a Palestinian friend
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 15:16:34 -0700

Hi, its Ben in Jenin. i'm sick, i resisted it well but finally
succumbed, everyone here has had it. Yesterday i was working on a farm, pulling
weeds that i was allergic to, and that pushed me over the edge. It was a
good thing we were there though, as 5 soldiers crossed thry the settlement
fence and came up to the field where we were working.
Tnight i am convalescing at my friend's house, much nicer than the ISM
flat {he calls it the goat house}.he let me stay here so i can get some rest etc.
This short interview will consist mostly of yes or no and short
answer questions because i am SUCH a slow typer.
Whats your name? "Nidal"
How Old are you? "28"
From?"Jenin"
Whats your job? "taxi-driver"
Why do you have an Ashnabi {foreigner} at your house? "Tough
question...{laughter} ummmm, because Ben believe in our case, so i
believe in him. And because we became friends, good friends, and Ben is sick, so i
would like to help as much as i can. Thats it."
How did we meet? "by chance, i dropped some ISMers off, it was curfew,
and we met."
What does curfew mean? "Not allowed to go out of home....you might get
shot, if you will. They can do anything to you if they catch you. You
have no rights, in a few words."
How does curfew affect your life? "Too much, financially, emotionally,
alot of stress, makes you feel depressed, angry. Sometimes you hope that
God didn't even create you, but it makes you feel more stronger in your
fight, because they don't have a right to make curfew."
What is your fight? "Whats is my fight?........{long pause} " To get my
freedom back, my honor, dignity. To live my life. And for sure to
have my homeland back. "What do you mean by 'your homeland'? "My homeland that Israel took from us, in force."
Do you mean erasing all of Israel? "No. i don't care about Israel, to
be existed or not. I want my homeland, Palestine. I wanna live like any
human being in all over the world, but with honor, not without. I wanna feel
safe with my family, friends, everybody.Not to try just to survive,
everyday. I feel sick of that."
So, Palestine beside Israel? "I don't really care."
Would you be happy with a Palestinian nation consisting of the West
Bank and Gaza Strip, free of all settlements? "This is the lower thing that we
can think of at this moment.At least to have a house, without the noise of
tanks."
So, you are not interested in the politics? "ts just a game, they made
up everything."
So, what is Palestine? "Its a state which was existed before. A
nation before, even if i can't find it on the map right now. But it still
exists in our hearts..........and minds. We won't forget it."
What is Palestine today? "Metal bars, of what it was before, all the
cities separated from each other, most of the roads are closed, you can't get
in or go out from you're own city, or where you live. What else? Its
controlled, they control us, how we should breathe, what to eat, they control all
of the water resource, even the air."
Do you hate Israel? " i hate nobody. God created us to respect each
other, and to be forgiven. But i dislike the Israeli acts and how they treat
my homeland. I wish i can change their minds, to be more merciful, as
human beings."
Why are they here? "Because of their acts in the past, and cause one
of their habits, to cheat, and to get what they want without a right. So
the other countries wanted to kick them out of their land, so they helped
them to occupy Palestine, and that kept them away from Europe and England,
unfortunately."
What about the Holocaust, didn't it lead to the creation of Israel?
"i think it wasn't like that. i think the Nazis did that to make the Jews
be scared and to push them to leave from there."
Of course it scared them, millions were killed. Do you think thats
only a warning? "Its not a warning, its just the way that they made them
leave, to make the whole world believe in their story, to feel sympathy for them,
so they could take my homeland. But even so, everything was because of
what Jews did all over the world. "So, the Jews deserved the Holocaust? "Nobody deserve to get killed, but they paid for what they did."
What had they done? "i prefer to talk about what they do, it would be
the same. They are killing people here, innocent people, civilians. They
expect everybody to respect them by this way? I don't think so."
So, most westerners would read this and say that you hate Jews and
don't care about the Holocaust. True? "As i said earlier, i hate nobody,
even Jews, but i hate their acts, i hate what they did to my family, i hate
how they destroyed my own house without a reason, i hate when they insult,
humilhiate me for nothing. But about the Holocaust, it wasn't me. I
didn't do that to them. As its our destiny to live under ilegal occupation,
it was their destiny to pass the holocaust."
Do you feel sadness for the millions of Jewish kids who died? " Yes,
but i feel sadness when i see Palestinian kids die everyday too, without any
mercy.
Would Palestinians ever leave Israel in peace if you got a free
Palestine? "If Israelis would leave us to live in peace."
Do you have Israeli friends? "i had. a bunch of them, i'm not sure if
they still see me as a friend, but i'm worried about them. They are my
friends. We ate together from the same plate."
Are all Jews bad? " Not all your fingers are the same."
What do you think about the Palestinian fighters? Are they terrorists?
"No way, they are Resistance, they are giving their souls , blood, to the
others, to have their dignity back. They have the right to resist."
What about you, what are your hobbies? "To survive, live in peace,
save my family, to live in a free Palestine, in honor, with dignity, to live as
a normal human being."
What is your message to Israelis reading this? "Think twice, of what
your leaders do. Is it fair what they do? When this gonna stop? Please do
your best to have peace on earth."To Americans?" Tough question. Stop supporting the bad things being done. Don't believe all of what your leaders say. Believe in love. Find out whats right and whats wrong."