CB Magazine Vol. 10 Ed. 38

28 journalists on a personal journey into unknown territory

Can we believe it?the Middle east is

desperate for change after the war on Gaza,

but can president obama deliver?

cb magazine vol. 10 edition no. 38

2 cb magazine vol. 10 edition no. 38 3 cb magazine vol. 10 edition no. 38

eace is a break between wars," said by Leo Tolstoy, the Rus-sian author. In the Middle East, peace is something that supposedly everybody desires,

yet they seem to act oppositionally. "We are never going to recognize Israel," says a spokesman of Hamas. This is not good start for a peace agreement. A few days before the new year, Israel re-sponded to eight years of Hamas bombing cities in the sovereign state. It's sad that in the 21st century, wars are still used to resolve problems. My home is in Beersheva, the city that Hamas launched Grad bombs on all day, every day. War is never easy—both sides are suffering. It's doesn't matter who kills more, because every one is a person who has the right to live in this world. The population in the city under attack is very frightened. No-body is going to work. Children are sitting in the shelters. Schools and kindergartens are closed. A few people are taking their chances to go out to their businesses: "We shouldn't stop our lives because of the war," says Josef (26). “They (the Hamas) started, and we’re simply defending ourselves." Suddenly the siren starts crying, and con-fused civilians start running like mad in all

directions, trying to find a shelter to hide in. After a couple of seconds a loud noise sounds in the air. Boom. Everybody is bewildered and trying to call their relatives to check their conditions. "Where is my mother?" a little girl screams, crying and shaking from fear. No one can know where the Grad bomb will fall and what kind of damage it will cause. Unsecured reality makes everybody crazy. People in southern Israel have lived in fear a long time, and people of Gaza are suffering from Israel’s defense against Hamas’ attacks. As I write these words, the siren is still working outside, and people on the streets are probably running from shelter to shelter. The news shows pictures from the last attack and describes bombs falling. It was near my home, in the high school. Luckily the city council forbids studies while Hamas is shoot-ing missiles, which means a huge disaster was prevented and a lot of youth were saved. At night the siren takes the place of alarm clocks. At least twice a night we need to run to the shelter until we hear a boom outside. It's not hard to fall a sleep after bombing, because you’re so tired from the situation and you feel positive that no body got shot this hour. "After a boom my children are crying," says Gila (39), a mother of three. "It's so frighten-ing to be under attack all the time. My nine-

year-old son still wets his bed," Gila sadly continues. "I don't understand the Hamas, why don't they care about them selves, about their children?" The sound of sirens is creepy. It starts low and grows stridently, repeating itself until people are annoyed. "I can’t take it any more, my house has been struck and it ruined my room," says Dana (16), whose parents send her to her grandmother’s in Tel Aviv. "It's more safe here without siren and bombs," she claims. David (78) lives in Ashdod which is also under attack. He remembers history. "I have been in all Israel’s wars. In 1948 we didn’t start the war, but we won, and a lot of Ar-abs ran away like Jews ran away from Arab countries. In 1967 again we didn't start the war and we won. In all wars people die and lands are conquered," he says. "Nobody asked them to land bombs on Israel. We have to defend our citizens.” Maybe this is the last war. Perhaps there will be an agreement that will end all deadly fighting. Unless Palestinians recognize the state of Israel, silence in the area will never come. And more blood will be spilled.

Mark Shulman is a 27-year-old Israeli. He studies communication and journalism at

Sapir Academic College

"People in Israel bump into sad reality: bombs from the Gaza strip fall on the sovereign state. Israeli civilians search for shelter while sirens do their part."

runninG FroM shelter to shelter

Grad rocket after landing in the middle of Ashkelon city Photographer: Avi Ochaon, Government Press Office

"pwas in the corridors of the hos-pital when I saw a woman crying and screaming, “That’s an open hell!” Her home was bombarded and she lost her four daughters and husband in one second. It

was 11:30, when I just left my home, heading to the university to pick up some notes for the final exams start-ing on Wednesday, when a massive sound of a series of blasts rocked the city, making a mass of smoke over different areas of the Gaza city. I checked the smoke to figure the explosions’ target, but I have seen smoke in different areas, so I went back home to check the news. I didn’t believe it when I heard over 150 peo-ple were killed at initial count. I as-sumed it was just a guess based on the explosion’s volume. I was called to document the acci-dents, where I saw with my own eyes the body parts and destruction. We thought the bombings would

just stop, but when we heard the real numbers of casualties rising over 1,000, we realized that it was a new massacre and aggression that would change our lives. A sudden, wide and long aggres-sion was planned to start on the 27th December 2008, everywhere in Gaza strip, and justified as an end to the Hamas government in Gaza, but ev-eryone who lived every moment of this aggression could only call it war against the Gaza strip. My family has lived under the same circumstances as others: We had to evacuate our home at night af-ter receiving a threat for attacking a mosque and other buildings in the neighborhood, moving to my aunt’s house hoping it would be safer. Un-fortunately it was next to the Islamic university of Gaza, which was bom-barded the same night we evacuated. Over days, the situation was getting worse. People have lived the last year

"Over 1,000 souls were dispatched and over 4,000 were injured on the 19th day of the war; the number totaled the same as the number of students at my university, where I was planning to graduate from this spring. Now my future has become dark."

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G A Z A S P E C I A L G A Z A S P E C I A L G A Z A S P E C I A L G A Z A S P E C I A L G A Z A S P E C I A L G A Z A S P E C I A L G A Z A S P E C I A L G A Z A S P E C I A L

and half under a severe siege and the last month with no bread and wheat, so the new-style aggression made them dead souls. The power was to-tally cut, and sewage and water lines were destroyed. Food ran out in ev-ery home, and the daylight was ex-changed with a high level of unsafe, dark and horrifying moments. Days passed, and the number of dead people was increasing, because the bombardments didn’t stop for a single hour. Mosques were destroyed during prayers, gas stations were burnt because of missiles, and homes were attacked randomly, causing the death of whole civilian families. Over 1,000 souls were dispatched and over 4,000 were injured on the 19th day of the war; the number totaled the same as the number of students at my university, where I was planning to graduate from this spring. Now my future has become dark. Nobody knows, but I do know that many children, women and ci-vilians were killed in their homes—unarmed people whose only concern was to live in peace like children and civilians everywhere.

Nasser Barakat is a Palestinian journalist living in Gaza.

waron Gaza


hen watching the Israeli news, broadcasting the Gaza war around the clock, one might think that Gaza is only build-

ings, roads and worriers—no civilians, cars or any kind of normal life. It's get-ting there. The Israeli channels systematically show only pictures of Israeli cities, anxious and sometimes wounded Jewish people and soldiers. They do not show pictures of in-jured or dead people from Gaza, pictures the whole world is seeing. More than one thousand people are dead in the streets of Gaza: women, children and too many innocent men. And yet, Israeli television keeps showing the same pictures of a ru-ined house, a burned car in one of the cit-ies in Israel, or places in which a disaster almost happened. This is the way Israeli media keeps the people of Israel on the army’s side, avoiding the disaster that is really happening in Gaza, fueling the pa-triotic aggression and the fear that main-tains the notion of the Jewish state.The killing of civilians in Gaza is mini-mized and the awful pictures the world is seeing are classified as a directed pro-paganda of Hamas. The killing is also blamed on Hamas and the fact that it shoots missiles. No responsibility is placed on the Jewish side. The common agenda of the Israeli media is that in a time like this there is no room for criticism. I believe the contrary—this the perfect time for criti-cism. The media is blinding the Jewish public's eyes, choosing to air articles about birthday celebrations of soldiers and little children in Sderot, showing their support in the war, knowing that this is the only way. Well, it is not and I believe the media should be the one to show that. Hamas has been throwing missiles on in-nocent civilians for the last eight years - that is a fact. The people of Sderot are suffering and this is no way to live. Another fact is that the Israeli government and media ig-

nored Sderot during all these years, only to embrace it now as a just cause for aimlessly shooting and killing all over Gaza. Talking to the Hamas was never a real option. There were talks, but these talks never considered the Hamas as a legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. It is a terrorist or-ganization in the Jewish Israeli eyes, but so were the PLO and Fatah. For Jewish Israelis all around me, this war is a force of reality. "We didn’t want it,” they say, "they made us do it.” Jewish Israelis prefer to perceive themselves as the ultimate victims, while ignoring 60 years of armed occupation and maltreat-ment, to say the least. There is a great fear in the Israeli society of Arabs, supposing they are just waiting for the chance to kill us, when all that we have been doing since the first Jews settled here, is kill them. In Sderot, this war feels like a rescue mis-sion, especially when watching the unbal-anced Israeli channels that do not air the painful pictures from Gaza. The citizens of Israel don't even have the chance to stop and think. It seems there is really no need for thinking during this war. If just a little thought were put to it, and not only blind vengeance and electoral calculations, this killing wouldn't have even begun.Yes, Hamas is aiming at innocent civilians in Israel; still, killing innocent Palestin-ian citizens is not the answer. The conse-quences of this attack, like many others before it, will only plant more hatred in the people's hearts, as it is already doing and will continue to do for generations to come. The result of a war is always more war and never a hope for peace. In my eyes, only if we stop being so afraid and accept the Palestinians as our brothers, with equal rights in this country, we might start the redemption that is needed in this situation. Just before writing this article, I heard about the decision to disqualify the Arab parties from entering the elec-tion. This is another example of how this

"I live here, this is my country, and I have the right to demand that my country pay for its historical crimes and starts being the kind of country it claims to be—democratic and peace-seeking."

war under CaMouFlaGe

wwar and the way it is reflected in the me-dia makes all the Jewish public blinded with hate. As a citizen of this state, I am ashamed, although not surprised; it has happened before and will happen again. That is, until this country decides once and for all to be a brave democracy in the shattered world it helped to destroy. I live here, this is my country, and I have the right to demand that my country pay for its historical crimes and starts being the kind of country it claims to be—demo-cratic and peace-seeking.

Eness Elias is a 27-year-old Israeli. She is working as a historical researcher in

television.

nd I love my life, because if I died, I would be embar-rassed of my mother’s tears,” wrote the late Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish

while in Israeli prisons in perhaps his most famous poem: “My Mother.” So many Palestinian boys and girls, young men and women loved their lives, but died in the giant Israeli pris-on of Gaza since Dec. 27th, 2008, and so many mothers wept. But only those who died were embarrassed over the tears and suffering of their mothers, who wept, alone. Those who deemed their lives dispensable and unworthy re-mained arrogant and unmoved, as they have been, historically. Israel continues its blatant usuals of having the legiti-mate right to kill and destroy others be-cause they have superior morality, and the Palestinians, being inferiors should be killed and destroyed not only be-cause they should be killed, but because they actually caused it. How is it that Israel has, for the most part, convinced the world that Palestinians are inferior and have no legitimacy to live and to ex-ist? How is it that the United States and Europe agrees and follows along? Azmi

Bishara, a political analyst and former member of the Israeli parliament, states that Israeli parlance and media has suc-cessfully criminalized the victims and victimized the aggressors. It required a breaking off of the history of the Palestinians, deleting the narra-tive of their tragedy, and avoiding the grotesque irony about Gaza, which, in any other conflict, journalists would be writing about it in their first reports: that the original, legal owners of the Israeli land on which Hamas rockets are detonating live in Gaza. That is why Gaza exists in the first place, because the Palestinians who lived in so-called Ash-kelon, Askalaan in Arabic, were dispos-sessed from their lands in 1948 when Is-rael was created. They, along with their children and grandchildren and great grandchildren, are among the one and half million Palestinians crammed into the overpopulated Gaza, 80 percent of them who once lived in what is now Is-rael. This, historically, is the real story. Most of the people living in Gaza do not come from Gaza. Watching the Israeli and foreign media, you would think that history began yesterday, where a group of Jewish-hating Palestinians

popped up in Gaza and began firing missiles into peace-loving, democratic Israel, only to meet with the righteous vengeance of the Israeli air-force. The truth is, both Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres said back in the 1990s that they wished Gaza would just go away and drop into the sea. This is because the existence of Gaza is a permanent re-minder of those hundreds of thousands of Palestin-ians who lost their homes to Israel, who were driven out or fled during the eth-nic cleansing of 1948. They now live in the most over-populated region of the

world, dispossessed, hungry and living in darkness, amidst refuse and sewage. I absolutely cannot comprehend the logic of Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Liv-ni’s statement to the BBC that Israel was targeting Hamas but “unfortunately in a war… sometimes also civilians pay the price”— an argument she would never make had the fatalities been reversed. Hamas’ Jan. 2006 legislative election victory seemed to have set the stage for this power struggle, along its continual insistence to “refuse” to recognize the state of Israel, even though every other sentence uttered by their spokesmen begins with the word Israel. Their 30 kg Qassam rockets, launched from the Gaza strip, seem to be the biggest ex-cuse Livni and others could utilize. The rockets have definitely been counter productive; they have not been an ef-fective means of resistance for the Pal-estinians nor have they pointed out the dire realities of Gaza since 1967. Come to think of it, Israel has utilized the Qas-sam rockets far better than Hamas has. For every Qassam rocket that fell, Israel was capable of portraying itself as a vic-tim with a legitimate right to vengeance against an immoral and illegitimate aggressor. And for every F-16 missile, weighing 1-2 tons, that fell on populat-ed buildings in Gaza, destroying them completely and killing its inhabitants, the Israeli government and its allies thought that was deserved. Israel’s argument, pointed out by Is-raeli government spokesman Mark Re-gev, was that “it was pointless to play the numbers game.” Yet if more than 1,000 Israelis had been killed versus 20 dead Palestinians, the “numbers game” and the disproportionate violence would have been very relevant. The simple fact is that Palestinian deaths matter far less than Israeli deaths to Israel and its allies.

Jihan Abdalla is a 22-year-old Palesti-nian. She studied philosophy and jour-nalism in the US and is now working as

a freelance journalist.

who's eMbarrassed?

"a

"I absolutely cannot comprehend the logic of Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni’s statement to the BBC that Israel was targeting Hamas but “unfortunately in a war… sometimes also civilians pay the price”—an argument she would never make had the fatalities been reversed."



w"If you allow me, when it all ends, I will be the first to come and help you rebuild your houses and hopefully you’ll be able to rebuild your life."

hat is the scale of destruc-tion and what are the con-sequences of the devastat-ing war in Gaza? How can we measure it? Should we compare?

The lust for blood and human body parts shown on TV, sent by email, uncensored, is cheap and degrading. Have we become animals? We assume that human beings since an-cient times have the right to the freedom of movement and to be able to live anywhere: to trade, to work, to study, to grow. What about my country, my rights? Democra-cy, legitimate decisions as well as chosen leaders, can have devastating effects even though they are considered acceptable. Who draws the line? Is it acceptable to use the word ‘resistance’ for shooting rockets? Is it acceptable to teach someone the mean-ingful term of hatred towards someone you disagree with? Is it acceptable to use innocent children and civilians as human shields? Is it acceptable to inscribe violence on your flag as a trivial way to solve prob-lems? Is there a choice?

Israel is a democratic country, named un-der the name of its people. Hamas, meaning "Islamic Resistance Movement," was cho-sen democratically and calls for the recap-turing of the State of Israel and replacing it with a Palestinian Islamic state in the Gaza area. Eight years ago the Hamas started to claim it, and for eight years the civilians in Israel suffered a daily death threat. Today Israel had made a decision to put a stop to it—eight years too late. When the air alarm is activated, people feel helpless. ‘What would happen to me if the rocket actually falls here?’ goes through the mind. Once, when an alarm caught me unprepared, I prayed to God and started crying. I thought I would get used to it, but as time passes by, I realize what it all means. I was crying and at the same time I asked myself how I could be crying when there are people in a much worse situations than I just 40 kilometers away? It didn’t matter. I was still afraid and as helpless as those 40 kilometers away from me. Yes, there is a choice: Life. We understand how precious it is only when it is at stake. We share the same fear today, not know-

ing for sure what will be tomorrow. I ask of you, the citizens of Gaza, to condemn those who use you and your faith in them, to treat you like someone they could spare. Condemn the ideology of violence as a way to solve problems. What matters is life. As Albert Einstein said, “Don’t let dead rules kill healthy sense.” You could read those lines thinking I have gone mad, giving you lectures on good behavior. You could throw this away and go back to the same life style you had, but you could also stop for a mo-ment and wonder for a minute what is good for you? What is it that you really want at the end of the day, for you and your family? There’s no winning here, only the loss of many innocent lives, destruction, fear and a questionable future. It is your choice. I’ve already made mine. If you allow me, when it all ends, I will be the first to come and help you rebuild your houses and hopefully you’ll be able to rebuild your life.

Ravit Ben-Naim a 26-year-old Israeli. She works as an interviewer for a National

Student Magazine, Student for Environ-mental and Natural Science.

a Cry oF warninG

he crisis in Gaza uncov-ered a new Middle East. The big players in forming and structuring the new Middle East were named as Tahran-Damascas Axis against the

Arab Moderate Axis, trying to lead the region instead of Egypt. I find myself obliged to discuss this crucial turn in the Middle East which might lead to a new era in the region. We see the Tahran-Damascas Axis is cur-rently using cultural violence against Egypt through media campaigns us-ing Al-Jazeera TV and Al Aalam TV to create chaos in Egypt. They do so by positioning one party against an-other: The Islamic Brotherhood in Egypt against the government, reach-ing the point were the street and the militants unite against the govern-ment and then Qatar, Syria and Iran will lead the Middle East and imple-ment their own agenda. The Tehran-Damascus Axis is also strengthening Hamas’ Islamic brotherhood against the legal Palestinian Authority for the same reasons—to assist Iran and Syria in its talks about nuclear weap-ons in Iran and the creating pres-sure in Gaza regarding the Syrian-Israeli peace process. This means that Iran has no real inten-tion to hit the US with nuclear weapons. I believe it’s only propaganda to be be-lieved by all Muslims and Arabs in the Middle East and also to end the Islamic Sunni power in the Middle East and to make the Islamic Shiites spread out, which is an old aim for Iran, especially in the Arab Gulf region. It’s time to point to the problematic Gaza-Israeli conflict and violence. Be-fore the Israeli attack on Gaza and the Gazans, we heard speeches from Ira-nian and Syrian figures sounding like

they were willing to support and back us in this conflict. But after weeks of continuous mass killing and mass de-struction in Gaza, I don't see any real support by Syria or Iran nor Hezbol-lah as an Iranian proxy in the region. I thought they would attack Israel from The Golan Heights or from Lebanon in order to help the Palestinians and fight with Palestine as they always claim they will. I thought Iran, as Mahmoud Ah-madinejad said, would “wipe Israel off the map.” Isn't this the time to wipe if he really was honest in his speeches and goals? But why would we need to wipe Israel out? I think we must live with Israel as a re-ality and in peace with them. I think the Palestinian factions must be more prag-matic since they are alone in the battle and no one will fight with them. No one wants to die and why should they have to die? I believe we have peaceful means to get our rights. Therefore my question is, why must Palestinians always pay the price of the regional political inter-ests? And why have we entered this war with Israel? This pointless conflict must be solved with peaceful means—not death. “How do we get out of the current cri-sis?” everyone asks. From my perspec-tive, the way out of the crisis is by mak-ing our own decisions, not depending on other regional influential political wills, then trying as much as we can to create a unified government in Pal-estine, governed by moderate figures with no influence from radical parties. Palestine needs a government based on pragmatic solutions, not radical and ir-responsible means which, as we see in Gaza, lead to death and genocide. I think this is the main step Palestin-ians have to take before international observers between Israel and Gaza can

be deployed in order to have real truce and time for peace negotiations with Israel. They should be based on a re-gional package solution, because peace will not come true unless the Syrian-Israeli conflict has an end and the Ira-nian nuclear weapons program ends, as well.

Mohammad AboRamadan is a Palestinian from Gaza living in Sweden. He has an MA in

Peace, Conflict and Development Studies.

"In Palestine we need a government based on pragmatic solutions, not radical and irresponsible means which, as we see in Gaza, lead to death."

t

new Middle east out oF Gaza Crisis, and the way out


Cb advisory boardProf. 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 boardMs. 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 secretariatMr. Garba Diallo (Director), Mrs. Nina Brinck (Chief Fi-nancial Officer) and Ms. Farhiya Khalid (Project Intern)

Contact usCrossing Borders, Krogerup Højskole Krogerupvej 9, 3050 Humlebæk, Denmark tel +45 49213371 web www.crossingborder.org e-mail [email protected]

Crossing borders partner organizationsisrael Givat Haviva palestine Peace and Democracy Forum jordan Masar Centre Germany Dialogue Lab Finland The Finnish UNESCO Asp.net

palestinian CoordinatorMs. Suheir Hashimeh tel +972 544292574 e-mail [email protected]

israeli CoordinatorMs. Dorit Maor tel +972 544901415 e-mail [email protected]

jordanian CoordinatorMr. Khaled Shorman tel +962 795545574 e-mail [email protected]

egyptian CoordinatorMs. Marianne Nagy Tel +20 180 21 5331 E-mail [email protected]

editor-in-ChiefMartin Selsoe Sorensen e-mail [email protected]

language editorShawna Kenney e-mail [email protected]

photographersPatrick Holbek, Andrew Pellett and Peter R. Pouls-en, Cover photo by Shawna Kenney (Poster mural by Shepard Fairey taken at 14th and U. Streets, NW, Washington, DC)

art directorMatt Baumgardner e-mail [email protected]

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.

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the other sideRavit Ben-Naim proposes peaceful activism as a way to fight the powers-that-be.

obama is a leader to rely onFakhria Ali hopes that Obama’s presidency means more peace for the Middle East.

the refugees Must returnInes Mrieh stresses the importance of helping displaced Palestinian refugees above all else.

Cold peace in a warm environmentMark Shulman proposes travel and tourism as keys to a true peace in the Middle East.

the nile, a source of Conflict as well as peaceOne Eritrean writer hopes that Crossing Borders can help to heal parts of Africa, too.

being Cool in arabicPreserving one’s native language while integrating internationally is music to Ghassan Khoury’s ears.

plastic Cards do double dutyMiki Levi enjoys the unexpected connections made through his father’s phone card collection.

a push for tolerant artsKhaled Al-Hilaly sees that art has acted as a catalyst for change throughout history.

less dreaming, More doingQamar Daher finds satisfaction in actively reaching out to Haifa’s youth.

the palestinian audacity of hopeJihan Abdallah encourages fellow Palestinians to dream big, just as Obama did.

a bunch of Faithful participants awaiting the intervention of the supernaturalOne Crossing Borders participant demands less talk and more action—of both herself and her peers.

Change for a Change When we ended the autumn seminar in Aqaba, Jordan, last November, we asked the participants to fill this issue with their hopes and aspirations for the future. Less than two months later we learned once again that hopes are a fragile commodity in The Holy Land. Just as we were finishing the magazine, the Israeli govern-ment declared that it was going to invade Gaza to stop rock-et attacks on its Southern cities, and launched a war on the strip. Hamas fought back, and the vicious circle of violence and hatred spun at a frightening speed. Soon the drama spread to our email inboxes; shocking-but-familiar pictures of death, suffering and fear took over when words were deemed insufficient. Strong accusations fol-lowed suit, and participants threatened to withdraw their ar-ticles or pull out of Crossing Borders altogether. Fortunately, no one did. Everybody stayed on board and remained loyal to the principles of Crossing Borders. As a dialogue-oriented organization, we try to remain true to our principles. We allowed the parties of the conflict to speak for themselves, we tried not to speak for them and we remained on the side of those who want dialogue and non-violent means of communication and conflict resolution. At the time of writing the war seems to be over, or at least in recess. While the individual suffering continues in the af-fected areas, at least the TV-screens, airwaves and newspa-per columns are somewhat cleared of the suffering for now. In this issue of Crossing Borders Magazine we’ve dedicated a special section to views from several sides of the Gaza con-flict, but still devote most pages to the hopes and visions for the new year and the years to come. The new Ameri-can president who was elected based on his campaign for

change seems to be a hope-generat-ing force. If he as president also takes on the Middle East, that would be a most welcome change.

—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 Politi-ken & 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 organisati-ons. The opinions are the sole responsibility of the individu-al writers. We invite you to comment on any of the articles in this magazine by emailing us at [email protected]

11 cb magazine vol. 10 edition no. 38

treets Come Alive as Relief and Exuberance Greet End of Conflicts…" said a state-ment on the cover of The New York Times handed out

in the streets of Manhattan on November 12, 2008. On behalf of a collective of liberal ac-tivists, 1,000 volunteers across the US handed out 1.2 million copies of a spoof of The New York Times, dated July 4th, 2009 under the sensational headline ‘All THE NEWS WE HOPE TO PRINT.’ The group looked into the legal issues raised by the use of The New York Times name-plate style and used it believing they were

within the bounds of what's known as ‘fair use’ under federal copyright law. "The pa-per provides this vision of what's possible if we all work together," said Steven Lam-bert, an editor of the parody. Actions cannot be undone. That is a fact. We often aren’t asked before decisions are put into action by our leaders. The ques-tion is, do we act ourselves to make any difference? Asking myself how I would act if I was on the other side of any wall, I would consider myself an activist. Talking is not enough– words are shouted a lot easier than deeds are done, so in order to make a difference, even the slightest difference, one must act. How can we be heard with-out harming anyone and protecting our own interests? I see myself as the head or one of the founders of an unarmed party. I gather people I trust with the same morals and ideology to reach those who wish to lis-ten through education. There should be no forcing, but if necessary, imposing. We should be concerned with being wise more than being right. Sometimes saying nothing is saying more than anything, as in silent demonstrations alongside riots. Reasonable conversation should happen with reasonable people. We want to help

those who don’t have democracy under-stand the importance of being united to achieve their rights and freedom in a democratic way. As the proletariat grows by numbers, it will become aware of its power. After-school programs, theater plays, movies, festivals, youth move-ments, sport events etc. will allow us to be a legitimate party with the ability to fundraise and grow. Too much power can make people lose their sense of morality and patience. It can make them judgmental and patron-izing. I would spit back on someone for being disrespectful. The self-defense jus-tification usually cannot be applied to ac-tions committed after a crime has taken place. Violence is never a wise weapon. One should look deep inside himself to see how good a person he or she is, before making any judgment or taking any ac-tions. Both sides are here to stay. Can we start by accepting that?

"Things do not change; we change." Henry David Thoreau.

Ravit Ben-Naim a 26-year-old Israeli. She works as an interviewer for a National

Student Magazine, Student for Environ-mental and Natural Science.

Nobody wants to man a check-pointI share Nivine’s hopes and I wish for a time that neither walls nor bomb shelters were needed. There are some mixed studies on the separation wall. The security services of Israel are saying that the separation wall improves the security in the streets of Is-rael. We as citizens do feel that we are be-ing terrorized. Anyway, I wish for all this to be over soon so both sides feel safer. I really do not think that any Israeli prefers to guard a checkpoint all day instead of be-ing at home with his or her family or on holidays.—Meir ’Miki’ Levi, Israel

Responsibility Ahmad Safi, Palestinian VisionI was very impressed by how one Danish girl presented herself as an activist in a Crossing Borders workshop arranged by the Jordan River Foundation in October 2008. She told how she was inspired by a Palestinian lecturer and went on to play a role in society for the ad-vancement of all humanity. While she looked at the audience with her big shining eyes, I felt optimistic about the new generation. Afterwards, she started to distribute publica-tions (the CB Magazine vol. 9 no. 36), which has an attractive cover with powerful words. With a quick look at the subject matter, I not-ed some points which made me uneasy. I was drawn to reading the magazine and zoned-out from the rest of the presentation. As a journalist I have learned that ethics are not what they used to be in the journalistic world. Nonetheless, as journalists we must be smart when dealing with objectivity as to not have it come-off as propaganda to oth-ers. I am not trying to be a teacher, but in my opinion the editor has no right to give people directions, disguises, or aliases. The editor has no right to analyze and make predictions that are not substantiated. Quotation marks, bold or underlined text can help the reader to understand the text, if it is used in a reason-

able way. Also the choice of images/pictures may attract attention, but must be balanced to underline the topics in the text without obscuring the message. For example: Page 10 of this issue includes an article called "Dancing Moon," about an Arab flamenco dancer, who finds freedom from societal constraints in an Israeli dance studio. This text is bold. What does this mean? The readers would think that Pales-tinians persecute and threaten the art, and that an Arab woman must escape to Israel to be free. Yet we, or most people, know where belly dance originates. Another article on page 14 contains the thoughts of an "anonymous Arab" about the future of the Middle East. The weakness of this article relates to four issues: First, the "anonymous Arab" presents himself as an an-alyst or predictor of war in the Middle East, while he is actually only a journalist. Second, the editor and the writer must have believed his credibility, since both allowed the article to be published (which does not include the information, knowledge or background on which he based his point of views). As a re-sult, many readers now will want to know what will happen, since such a war, as he predicts in the Middle East, will not be easy. Third, why is it so important to put ‘that he believes a war will come’ in quotation marks and bold, on page 16?Fourth, the big picture of the wall (page 14) is not related to the subject of the article. The comment on top left corner, which the reader thinks relates to the picture, con-tains a huge mistake when the editor makes a general description of generations. The whole article shows how much danger Israel lives in, how pitiful and poor a nation they are. Indeed, most people on the planet have the general idea that Israelis and Palestin-ians are enemies, but do they know why? I do not think it is a hard question, but per-haps it would be best if both sides of the coin were shown.

For instance, home-made rockets called ‘Al Qassam’ (not more than 2 meters in length, carrying less than five kilograms of explosives, with little ability to be directed) have been launched by Palestinian resis-tance fighters upon Israel. Statistics show that such rockets have killed eight Israelis since the start of the escalated violence in Gaza, and many others have suffered from shock associated with their sound. On the other side of the coin, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in Rafah and Khan Yunis by Israeli air force attacks and other kinds of ground tanks. So we are now under the Israeli formal news umbrella so far from objectivity and reality. It will be better if you just mention that the rockets came from the Palestinian side because of _____ and that the sky is not raining rockets above Israelis. Since Hamas won the election in 2006 no rockets have hit Sderot. No mention was made of the thousands of kids in Palestine living in fear who developed sleeping problems since the Israeli air attacks. In the article named "Love Beyond Borders", Inas Mrieh tried to explain the barriers Pal-estinian love can face. The wall isolates 15 vil-lages from contact with the rest of the West Bank so 13.000 Palestinians are isolated be-tween the wall and the 1948 borders. The wall has created a security area east of the Jordan River, used by 22 percent of the West Bank. This area includes 40 settlements. Security ar-eas at the west of the green line, and are used by 23.4 percent of the people from the West Bank. A security area used by 4.7 percent from the West Bank divides the big Palestin-ian city into eight areas like holes in Swiss cheese. This is not all, but maybe not only love is obstructed by the wall, but so is the life and humanity in Palestine. Lastly, I apologize if I challenge the knowl-edge of some, but I think we are in a free world where we have freedom of speech, without fear.

"Violence is never a wise weapon."the other side

We often aren’t asked

before decisions are put into action by our leaders. The question is, do we act ourselves to make any difference?

»

LETTERS EDITORtothe

"s


’m sitting in a rooftop bar in Aqa-ba smoking an argeila after a long day of seminars in the Crossing Borders Media course. We have been sitting in a room with artifi-

cial plants and painted windows and air that just keeps getting heavier as the day goes by. Brave Mozn from Egypt is sitting with her feet in the couch, inhaling the smoke with a se-rene satisfaction, explaining to me why the focus in our discussions has been quite wrong. Far too often we ended up discuss-ing the conflict between Palestine and Israel, talking about the invis-ible hand, also known as “the occu-pation.” But as Mozn explains with a determined look burning in her eyes, there are much more crucial topics to discuss. Women’s rights, discrimination, poverty and social inequality are still deadly relevant topics for the major-ity of the people on this planet, so

why focus on a conflict that has been going on forever, with no apparent solution in sight? Listening to the endless discussions that have taken

place and lead nowhere, I get a grow-ing suspicion that many of the par-ticipants have been infected by the very contagious pandemic known as passivity. This disease is characterized by a faithful waiting for the intervention of the supernatural, instead of tak-ing matters into one’s own hands. All the participants in this course have shown good will, by even at-tending it, but it is fair to ask if it is not possible to demand more from each other. Instead of talking about the famous cartoons from Denmark, let’s instead talk about issues that are much more pressing. We could, for example, talk about human rights, gender equality and censorship. These are all issues relevant to all of the participants, despite nationality. It is much easier to talk about the things that are not easily changed. This does not require active partici-pation and at least it does not de-mand involvement and . Still, the next time I attend a course like this one, I hope we all - myself included – will have been cured from the vi-rus. Discussion and action, instead of abandoned talks in favor of party-ing, would be more useful. This night on the roof in Aqaba – a simple conversation over a lit argei-la, on satin pillows in bright colors, drinking cheap Jordanian beers – at least fired up my thoughts. Now I just have to take action!

Kathrine Tschermerinsky Lund Kirkeby is a 20-year-old Dane. She studies

anthropology at Copenhagen University

a bunCh oF FaithFul partiCipants awaitinG the intervention oF the supernatural

i

People here in the course

focus too much on the things they can-not change, and too little on the things they can.

»

"I get a growing suspicion that many of the CB-participants have been infected by the very contagious pandemic, also known as passivity"

very year is a big challenge for me—lots of expectations and hopes, especially for someone living where I live. I'm living in Jerusalem but I

travel between Ramallah, Jenin, Nab-lus and Bethlehem on a daily basis for work, meeting so many people with interesting stories to tell. I really want to live a calm and stable life, but living under Israeli occupation is not easy at all. I want a normal life like anybody in the world and to be able to travel in the West Bank without checkpoints, walls, soldiers, dirt barricades and other ob-stacles, and to be able to plan my life well. Here, things change all the time. I don't know how long it will take from Jerusalem to Ramallah. I know it’s 14 kilometres, but sometimes it takes 40 minutes, one hour or two hours. God knows. But when I know that I can go to all these places as a journalist I feel lucky, since so many Palestinians can’t do what I do. In November during the American elections, I was optimistic that maybe this time there will be a change, as the Palestinian people have been waiting for a change now over 60 years to have independence and freedom like any-body else. The Bush administration didn't solve the conflict in the Middle East yet and people are still waiting for change to come. In this part of the world we have heard so many promises of ending the occupation and having a better life, but people lose hope when they see the facts on the ground. Israel is still building more settlements, walls and checkpoints. In this new year, I'm thinking of

people I met throughout the past year, wondering what will happen to them and to their lives. And I’m thinking about the dreams they shared with me. I remember Rabiha from the Jabaliy Refugee camp in Gaza. She is 65 years old and her dream is to see Jerusalem. She told me “I want to go to Jerusalem, to walk in the streets of Jerusalem to smell the earth of Jerusalem, to see the city we are dying for.” I felt so bad for Rabiha because Jerusalem and Gaza are only one hour apart, but the Erez checkpoint makes it impossible to leave the Gaza strip. I looked into her eyes and felt so bad. It shouldn't be a big deal to travel to or from Gaza, but now it’s a big dream to do so. Another guy I remember is Adnan from Jenin who was 39 years old. When I saw him, he asked me where I was coming from. “Haifa,” I answered. “You are so lucky to live there by the sea, my dream is to see the sea. I have pictures of it and I want to see it and to swim in it,” he said. For me it was a shock. Growing up in Haifa, I took the sea for granted as it’s part of the scene here. I can see it from every angle of my house. As a child I enjoyed going there to swim, play and eat ice cream. It's part of me and my memories. Yet Adnan is 39 years old, lives only half an hour from Haifa and was never allowed to enter because of the checkpoints. These two small dreams mean a lot to Rabiha and Adnan, and I really hope these dreams will come true in 2009. Inshallah.

Nidal Rafa is a 32-year-old Palestinian. She is a journalist and a producer with CNN in

Palestinian Territories.

to seethesea

e

I grew up in Haifa, I took the sea for granted as it’s part of the scene here. Adnan is 39 years old, he lives only half an hour from Haifa and was never allowed to see it.


Carmen GodeanuRomanian. 24. A BA in international relations and intern at Bna'i Brith International in Brussels. Has

participated in CB since 2007.

Through all of the CB activities I learned every story has two points of view (and usually

many more), which taught me the importance of hearing other points of view. The people I’ve met in CB have made me more optimistic about finding a solution to the conflict and these people aren’t strangers to me anymore. I won't refer them as others, but as friends.

»

amira Chaykh Danish. 19. Working as a substitute teacher

while studying medicine at the University of Copenhagen. Has been a part of CB since 2007.

My experiences in CB made

me realize how condemning people can be, just because one has a certain religion or comes from a particular country. The impression that the media gave me about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is quite different from the experience that I had in the program.

»obaMa is a leader to rely on"I put great expectations on Obama not because his father was Muslim or because has an Arab middle name, but because he seems realistic and frank."

n November 5th 2008, the USA elected Mr. Barack Obama as the president of the most powerful country in the world. America got a very bad reputation in the

last eight years (2001-2008) because of George Bush and his gang. Actually I felt very happy for this election's result. Not just because the world is rid of the ex-president, but also because Obama really deserves it. He represents the

Democratic Party, which is the same party as President Bill Clinton, who was considered more just and balanced in dealing with the conflicts in the Arab world. The world, in his era, was better with less news of war, bloody conflicts, terrorism and discriminations than Bush's era; he filled all our lives with blood, war and hatred to get oil from Iraq and to serve special agendas. Many Americans themselves hate and refuse Bush's policy. An American woman

told me once “if McCain – the Repub-lican candidate – wins the election, I'll never go back to America, and I'll con-sider Yemen as my real home. McCain is another Bush.” I put great expectations on Obama not because his father was Muslim or be-cause has an Arab middle name, but be-cause he seems realistic and frank. In his first speech as President Elect, Obama confessed that the US has a bad image and he'll do his best to reform its picture

and reputation. He called for equality, peace and change for the better. I am an Arab citizen, so I should not rely much on the leaders' speeches, but this time it is a different leader who himself had suffered from discrimina-tion for his color and name. Some people will laugh at me for put-ting such expectations on one person. But all of this mess I want to rid the world of is from another person's deeds. Now Obama is replacing him and he will amend all the mistakes of the ex-president who had shoes thrown at him by a journalist in Iraq as a farewell to his bloody period and for the widows and orphans resulting from his war. I will not just wait for the support from Obama; I will still work hard, fighting for my cases and challenges, using my role as a journalist and activist to reduce the conflicts and call for a policy of dia-logue. I will lead awareness campaigns to let the people in my country respect the law, gender issues, and integrity. The average people are not my sole tar-get, there are also many others I have to make aware—people who don't know about my religion and my country and judge me by my name and shape with-out caring about what I have inside. People should know that there are bad and good people from any party, reli-gion or country, even among the people of their own religions and countries. My religion, country and nationality have been in danger since Bush became president and my personality and iden-tity became defensive. I hope this will end with Obama's era.

Fakhria Ali is a 26-year-old Yemeni. She works as executive director at the Media

Women Forum in Sana’a, Yemen

o

My religion, country and

nationality have been in danger since Bush became presi-dent and my perso-nality and identity became defensive. I hope this will end with Obama's era.

»

cb magazine vol. 10 edition no. 38 17

President Barack Obama wrote a book entitled, "The Audacity of Hope," highlighting not only the importance of hope but its possible effects, its power. It

challenges the idea that hope is simply stating what you would like happen in the future but doing nothing to ensure it. For Obama, hope is audacious, daring, and effective. Obama achieved the American Dream, starting from scratch and reach-ing ultimate greatness. In the American mindset, Obama is the embodiment of the term and the dream itself. Of mixed race and with a funny name, as he put it, Obama has neither the face, nor the name or background for success. But that is part of the dream, the unlikelihood of the person, and the dream itself. It is sur-passing the challenges, being stronger than the challenges and the many disap-pointments along the way. Achieving a dream is envisioned as a journey, which is difficult and rocky at the beginning but perpetually improves as the person gets stronger, learns and surpasses the necessary challenges. At the end of the road there is ease and per-fection – that is the reward for having reached this far. What about us Palestinians, are we even entitled to dream in the first place? What happens when dreams conflict with oth-ers’ dreams? Dreams and hopes are noth-ing but the infringement of desires on the future. Setting aside the road or journey

"Should dreams be restricted to those that reality can accommodate? That would clearly go against the concept of dreaming, and certainly the American Dream."

the palestinian audaCity oF hope

metaphor of achieving dreams, dreams are either an extension of the present into the future, assuring sameness, or, the hope for the negation or overturn-ing of the present. The case of Obama is a classic case of overturning; he negated others’ expectations and stereotypes of him. For us Palestinians, our hopes also include overturning: overturning our current conditions. We fantasize about the removal of the power and injustice that is exercised on us. We fantasize about coming and going without regard of a cement wall or checkpoints guarded by soldiers, we imagine entering or leav-ing Jerusalem to visit, or go pray without Israeli permits, and we dream about the day we can travel without mistreatment at the airport. And yet all these fantasies are nothing but the direct opposite of what is happening now. Can we imagine a future that is beyond the overturning of the present?Occupation in its state and being is re-strictive, of life, and of dreams too. It restricts life now, and extends towards what dreams can include. The Palestin-ians’ dream of emancipation can only be achieved through replacing the Is-raeli state with a Palestinian one – some-thing that is conceived to be impossible. And so maybe another dream should be dreamt. Are dreams a choice, then? They ought to be, I think. But should dreams then be restricted to those that we think reality can accommodate? That would clearly go against the concept of dream-ing, and certainly the American Dream, which is based on the unthinkable, the extraordinary. Our dreams are limited because the ’Palestinian dream’ has not even been dreamt yet, the road has not been laid out and the obstacles have not been cement-ed. The Palestinian dream has not been dreamt, let alone lived and achieved. Indeed it would be extra ordinary for Palestinians to override their current conditions and establish their own state. But it should be envisaged, drawn and dreamt. And without anyone going to sleep, the unlikely Palestinian dream should be seen, lived and realized in our wake. We need to live the rocky road metaphor.

Jihan Abdalla is a 22-year-old Palestinian. She studied philosophy and journalism in the US and is now working as a freelance

journalist.

p

The Palesti-nian dream

has not been dreamt—let alone lived and achieved.

»

schlomit atzabaIsraeli, 24. Art student at the Hebrew University in

Jerusalem where she is the spokesperson of the Students Union. Joined CB in March, 2007.

Sometimes you feel you know everything about certain things…

you were in the army, you were an officer, you know many Israeli

Arabs, you’ve lived in Jerusalem all of your life, you know what

the Conflict area looks like. Then sometimes you’re

surprised by how different a situation seems when you

talk about it thousand kilometers from home.

Words like “check-point” and “terror” sound

different and the faces of "the other side"

become unique and personalized.

»

sa'ad amiraPalestinian, 19. Has been a part of CB since 2007. Studies media and journalism at BirZeit University near Ramallah.

The Crossing Borders program and Daniel Pearl Foundation gave me a good start in practicing journalism

at the International news agency in Ramallah. As a Palestinian I knew how foreign people from Europe and other Mediterranean countries view Palestinians through their media. After participating in these seminars and activities I chose to study Media and Journalism at Bir Zeir University.

»

cb magazine vol. 10 edition no. 38 cb magazine vol. 10 edition no. 38018

n conflicts between the oppressor and the oppressed, the oppressor always has powers that outdo the oppressed. This is t he case with my Arab Palestinian people, who have been groaning under the sword of

the Zionist occupation for 60 years, since the Palestinian calamity took place in 1948.The Palestinian people were dis-placed to Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. My hope and future vision is that the ordeal of my Palestinian people will stop. Everybody should know that Is-rael is an apostate state. That is, it is a revelry state that breaches resolutions of the United Nations and the Security Council, according to Zuhair Andreas, a media expert who specializes in Mid-dle East affairs. When I interviewed him and in statements to many Arab and Hebrew newspapers, Andreas said that Israel hasn’t carried out around 60 International Security Council resolu-tions paramount of which are the UN partition resolution No. 181 stipulating that, “the Palestinian land should be divided into three new entities; that is an Arab state, a Jewish state, while Je-rusalem and Beit Lahm stay under the international custody.” This resolution was the first attempt to settle the Arab-Jewish conflict in the Palestinian land, but Israel didn’t con-form to it. The second UN resolution No. 194 stipulates »Palestinian refugees who were displaced during the calam-ity are allowed to return to their houses inside the areas occupied in 1948«. This is considered the most UN important resolution with regard to the Palestin-ian problem. However, Israel refused to abide by any of these resolutions. I hope and dream of the return of the

"We live here and this matter is not due to a favor by anyone. We are not guests or passersby in our country."

the reFuGees Must return

cb magazine vol. 9 edition no. 37 019

Palestinian people to their homes during the upcoming year as their return is more important than establishing the Palestin-ian state. Palestinians will not calm down until all refugees come back to their plun-dered home, Palestine. I say that during the time I feel pain for those Palestinian refugees living in the scattering camps in conditions that are, to say the least, ‘non-humanitarian.’ I don’t want to feel the same depression that comes every year when I see Israel celebrating its indepen-dence day. I wonder how they celebrate their independence whereas they occupy others’ land by the power of weapons. Therefore, I don’t think that Israelis have the right to celebrate their independence at the expense of the Palestinian people’s pain and land. I hope that the state that pretends de-mocracy—Israel—will give us, the Pal-estinians living as minority, affiliation to the state. We, the Arab Palestinian minority in occupied 1948 areas, are dif-ferent from the other minorities in the world. We were born in the holy land of Palestine. We live here and this matter is not due to a favor by anyone. We are not guests or passersby in our country. Since I was a child, I have heard state-ments by officials that talk about equality. Unfortunately, these slogans remained ink on paper. Governments talked about equality while stabilizing the apartheid policy against Palestinians, the original people of the Palestinian land. The Is-raeli successive governments distanced the Palestinians from their lands and no one cared. Amid all these conditions, we will not renounce our rights.

Inas Mrieh is Palestinian. She works as journalist for the Arabic Ma’ Alhadath

newspaper.

i

I hope and dream of the

return of the Palesti-nian people to their homes during the upcoming year as their return is more important than establishing the Palestinian state.

»

"What we've done shows that people can do what governments should have done. If people stand up against injustice, we can truly be the conscience of the world."

Palestinian art student painted a mural depicting the siege around Gaza, yet showing some hope. His portrait shows a ship sail-

ing in the Mediterranean and cross-ing the sun in order to break the siege. Two weeks later, on the 23rd of August, two small boats, the SS Free Gaza and the SS Liberty, successfully landed in the Gaza fishing port, breaking the Israeli blockade of the Gaza strip. It might be considered coincidence that what we create with a brush could be realized by a human insistence. On board the boats were a group of 47 international human rights activ-ists from 17 countries, bearing one simple message: "The world has not forgotten the people of this land. To-day, we are all from Gaza." After sailing over 350 kilometers through the choppy seas and experi-encing its rough conditions, and de-spite threats from the Israeli govern-ment, they continued with hope that materialized as they arrived in Gaza to the cheers and joyful tears of Pales-tinians who came out to the beach to welcome them. Jeff Halper, an Israeli professor and one of the Free Gaza ship partici-pants said, "What we've done shows that people can do what governments should have done. If people stand up against injustice, we can truly be the conscience of the world." Huwaida Arraf, a human rights ac-tivist and a member of the Free Gaza ship, described what they've seen in

Gaza as total devastation and more than what they read about. They vis-ited hospital without basic medicines or basic equipment. Hundreds of pa-tients have died and people in Gaza cannot travel outside, which means that students cannot leave to study abroad. This is punishment, which is illegal and violating the Geneva Con-vention. “Israel is clearly violating the international conventions and no one is doing anything about it,” said Mrs. Arraf. "We recognize that we're two, humble boats, but what we've accom-plished is to show that average people from around the world can mobilize to create change. We do not have to stay silent in the face of injustice. Reaching Gaza today, there is such a sense of hope, and hope is what mobi-lizes people everywhere." Maybe this action didn’t bring free-dom to Gaza or changed the humili-ated life of the Palestinians living in it, but it has definitely enriched the souls of us with hope and insistence to continue our struggle for freedom and life. What these 47 humans rights activists did is inspiring for every hu-man willing to live with dignity and hope. Eventually, I would like to say that "what one man can do, another can do,” so let's all work for the sake of equalizing our humanity.

Nasser Barakat is a 21-year-old Pale-stinian living in Gaza. He works for the Media Town Agency and Mercy Corps

International Organization.

sMart resistanCe in the ForGotten land

a

20 cb magazine vol. 10 edition no. 38

t's my first visit to Jordan, and I’m very excited to meet my Crossing Borders fellows again. When I heard that the meeting was going to be in Jordan, I was a little bit worried. The simple reason is that "It’s not safe for Israelis to go to

Arab countries," as it says on the homepage of the Israeli Foreign Ministry. The Hezbol-lah organization spreads fear and threatens Israeli targets, so Israelis are more careful when they leave their country now. But why does that fear grip the region? We have a peace agreement with Egypt and Jor-dan. Israel made peace with Egypt in March 1979, and with Jordan in October of 1994. So why is it unsafe for us to visit those places? The reason is that we have a “cold peace,” a peace that is written on cheap paper with poor signatures. Many people in those countries don’t believe in the peace proj-ect. Israel evacuated its citizens from Sinai for the sake of peace with Egypt. In Egypt, president Anwar Sadat was killed because of his agreement with Israel. With Jordan, it’s a little bit different; we have a peace, a peace of mind. But I don't see Jordanians visiting my country since the agreement between us was made. Cold peace is when you have peace agree-ments and everything appears peaceful. But everything is not peaceful. Under the surface there are more and more frustrated people, who don’t believe in peace and who hate their neighbours more and more. In the end everything will blow up and the peace agree-ments with those countries won’t be worth the ink that signed them. Even the Arabs who have Israeli passports suffer from this kind of peace. They claim that the Jordanians and the Egyptians con-sider them traitors and see them as Jews who speak Arabic. "Because we accept the citizen-ship of Israel", says a 28-year-old Palestinian

girl living in Israel and working as journal-ist, "they blame us that we are enjoying while they are suffering", she explains, concluding: "They believe that we sold our lands to Jews". What to do about the cold peace is to warm it up, but not with guns and more conflicts. The cold peace will melt if the relations be-tween nations – and not between politicians – get stronger. "We should encourage tourism from Arab countries to Israel and in the opposite direc-tion,” says one Muslim girl with an Israeli passport. I remind her that the Egyptians and Jordanians are afraid to come to Israel, because of national security. "The security will see this visit as non-acceptable; the national security will refer to them as dangerous persons," she says.

To build relations among neighbouring countries demands change of minds through education. So the people in the Middle East must learn each other’s history and explore the culture of one another.

Mark Shulman is a 27-year-old Israeli. He stu-dies communication and journalism at Sapir

Academic College

i

021

Cold peace is when you have

peace agreements and everything appears peaceful. But everything is not peaceful.

»

Cold peaCe in a warM

environMent"Even the Arabs who have Israeli passports claim

that the Jordanians and the Egyptians consider them traitors, seeing them as Jews who speak Arabic."

Crossing BordersCrossing Borders is the

only way

To achieve a peaceful and sunny day.

Crossing Borders moves

like the sand,

In a safe and wild land.

Crossing Borders is always online

It makes you feel fine.

And changes your wrong political mind.

Crossing Borders makes you feel

the light, white and bright peace in the Middle East.

Even if you are already wise,

It usually brings an unbelievable surprise

Its mission gives us permission on certain matters

In her daily edition………

Crossing Borders is our way To achieve coexistence today

and everyday.

Crossing Borders always stands here for you, dear!

And makes you forget your painful tears.

Crossing Borders uses hope and knowledge it drops…

It won't stop.

Written by: Sahar Samara – Arab Israeli

cb magazine vol. 10 edition no. 38 23 cb magazine vol. 10 edition no. 3822

t has always been my dream to be a journalist. I believe that I have the skills, the dedication and a deep un-derstanding of the media landscape in Israel, from the perspective of a Pales-

tinian Arab citizen, to really make an im-pact in journalism. I’ve participated in a number of foreign trainings for journalists – at Al-Jazeera in Doha, Qatar and most re-cently with Crossing Borders in Denmark. But unfortunately, like most Palestinian journalists in Israel, not only are the train-ing opportunities scarce in Israel, there is little room to implement the skills and knowledge gained through participation in such trainings. Arab Palestinians are underrepresented in the Israeli media landscape. According to research, only one percent of all Hebrew-language journalistic reports present news on the Arab Palestinian society, 80 to 90 percent of which promote negative images. There is no Arabic television station. Arabs account for a mere one percent of the total staff employed in all Israeli media institu-

tions. “They are totally excluded from par-ticipation in media policy-making bodies, and are underrepresented on the boards of media regulation bodies,” said Haneen Zoubi, General Director at I’lam Media Center for Arab Palestinians in Israel in June 2006. When Palestinian citizens of Israel do ap-pear in Hebrew media reports it is most of-ten as a "security threat," or a "demographic threat." The security-heavy perspective of the Israeli establishment ignores this seg-ment of the population’s own political and cultural visions and discourse, reinterpret-ing them into "enemies of the state." There seems to be some hope on the ho-rizon with talk of the Arabic commercial channel, which although not yet existent, would be a possible outlet for young Pales-tinian journalists like myself. For the last seven years, I’lam, the non-governmental organization for which I work, has been the foremost NGO advocating for the Cable & Satellite Authority to release funds for the Arabic commercial channel. I'lam contin-

ues searching for suitable candidates or groups showing real or sustained interest in applying for financing. I hope the Arabic Commercial Channel will materialize so that I can bring my skills to an environment supportive of growth and development of the Arab Palestinian community. I could report on the positive aspects of Arab society, its culture, instances of cooperation among its communities, the various activities happening at local, grass-roots levels in education and social out-reach, all of which work towards building a stronger, more resilient society. I would work towards providing more Palestinian perspectives in reporting on Palestinian is-sues and society rather than the biased and skewed writing that currently makes up the majority of the media in Israel. This is my journalistic dream – to tell of the truth of diversity and hope in our community.

Kholod Massalha is a 29-year-old Pale-stinian. She works for the media center

Ilam – a Palestinian NGO.

My journalistiC dreaM

i"Arab Palestinians are underrepresented in the Israeli media landscape, and there is no Arabic television station."

t was a typical summer night in the “Little Prince,” a bohemian book-shop-cafe in Tel Aviv. Writers, jour-nalists and students of literature and philosophy enthusiastically ex-

changed texts and ideas in a flirtatious ambiance. It was a nice hang-out and perhaps a kind of intellectual Renais-sance, compared to the dull alternatives in commercialized Tel Aviv. I visited the cafe, as I often do, to do some work and scratch some muse from the bottom of a restless day. Tel Aviv is no city for Arabs, everybody knows that, but it's even harder to locate an Arab in the Little Prince. Time after time, I find myself being the only Arab around. On this day, I stepped into the smokers’ zone to find myself amidst a raging po-litical discussion. "Don't you understand they want us out of here and will kill you in every chance they have?" shouted a self-confident, but sentimental man at a younger lady. "A naive leftist", he said. "You're blinded and paranoid!" she screamed back at him, "When was the

i"I couldn't help but notice his confusion about having his first real conversation with a Palestinian. Not as a soldier or a client in some cheap market, but as an equal counterpart."

CoFFee with a diFFerenCe at the little prinCe

last time you spoke to an Arab?" I kept silent as everyone in the room joined the discussion – the realists, the pacifists and the cynics. “Ask any Arab in the street and he’ll tell you how welcome you are in this land,” the right-winger asserted. “The Jews will always be persecuted,” he said, and then he brought up the holocaust. While looking somewhat amused by the situation, a member of the group turned to me and asked "what do you think? You're the only one who didn't speak." All eyes gazed at me, waiting for an answer. "Well, I'm that Arab from the street that you're talking about," I replied. A few sec-onds of deafening silence followed. The

air was heavily charged with deep embar-rassment. It took no more than one cup of coffee until I started hearing the right-winger apologizing to me, reasoning his belligerent accusations. I couldn't help but notice his confusion about having his first real conversation with a Palestinian. Not as a soldier or a client in some cheap market, but as an equal counterpart. I still wish to believe that this man left the table with at least slightly different views. I want to believe that more coffee con-versations are making a difference out there.

Hakim Bishara is a 29-year-old Palestinian. He is working as a freelance journalist.t

'You're blin-ded and

paranoid!' she screamed back at him, 'When was the last time you spoke to an Arab?'

»


t the beginning it all seemed so absurd. In Asmara, the travel agency assured me that the best and easiest way of get-ting to Uganda, a country

less than 2000 kilometers away, was to the Horn for Yemen, and then United Arab Emirates, taking off and land-ing four times just to arrive at another part of the greater Horn. As I had no other choice than to accept their offer, I followed this route, but even those two days in the air and in between countries

was not enough for me to understand the situation. This situation needs a so-lution, I thought to myself. Hopefully one day our efforts in Cross-ing Borders will bear fruit and solve the problem of such anomalies. And then we will be able to boast that it all started in Kampala, in the very first evening of the seminar, when all the participants that had reached the venue had dinner together. And the rest will be history: We were all ’ear-witnesses’ to Dr. Nya-ba's enlightening presentation, in which

he emphasised the importance of the pillars on which the unity of a nation should be based: justice, freedom, de-mocracy. We all listened to Garba's pre-sentation about the nature and possible resolutions of conflicts in Africa. We all had the opportunity to spend a highly entertaining evening in Ndere Centre where we were briefed on the cultural diversity of Uganda in a most amusing manner. The next day we were all taken to the Source of the Nile, and where we were told that John Hanning Speke, the

British explorer, on his expedition to Africa between 1857 and 1858 had real-ized that he was standing at the source. Just opposite that very place, across the river we were shown to a memorial dedicated to Ghandi whose last will was to have his ashes thrown into the Nile. Although these two persons' intentions could not be farther from each other, the lessons we could learn from both of them are invaluable. One of these men told us about the source, which is seen as a precious re-source and hence a possible source of conflict, while the other envisioned a peaceful flow, where the river represent-ed connection, a means of communica-tion rather than a source of hostilities. My vision is that we follow the lat-ter advice. We are not to forget that at some point in time and space we shared our present. Our ideas met in Kam-pala, near Lake Victoria, and after the enlivening experience there they have started their individual flow along the river Nile. May the source never dry...

The writer is an Eritrean participant and wishes to remain anonymous due to the

political situation in Eritrea (The girls in this photograph are not

affiliated with CB or the article in any way.)

"a"The river is a precious resource representing connection, and a means of communication rather than a source of possible hostilities."

the nile, a sourCe oF ConFliCt as well as peaCe

FaCt box:Apparently, the Horn of Africa is a turbulent area. Strictly speaking, the Horn consists of Ethiopia, Eritrea, So-malia, Djibouti and Sudan—countries that may sound familiar to everyone and are mostly associated with war. At present, Ethiopia and Eritrea are belligerent states, although there is no war. Actual fighting lasted from 1998 to 2000, but their relationship has not yet normalized. Ethiopia, on the oth-er hand, is engaged in the civil war in Somalia, where she backs the present government. Sudan and Somalia both fight internal wars. Somalia has been in a seamless state of anarchy since 1991, and at present the so-called Is-lamist insurgents refuse to accept the Western-backed Somali government. Meanwhile, the conflicts in Sudan that the government has been fight-ing with the southern peoples and the notorious Darfur area have attracted much attention worldwide.

ake 20 youngsters from five east African countries, add a small hotel in Kampala, Uganda and spice it with discussions on the conflicts in the greater horn of Africa. Some might think that this was a recipe for a Molotov cocktail, but I beg to differ. On my way from Copenhagen to Kampala I had just one single thing on my mind. ‘Peace in the Horn’ was the name of the seminar, but I had not

been to east Africa in more than a decade and the suspense was killing me. Nine days of discussions with youth from the horn of Africa: Ethiopians and Eritreans, Somalis and Ethiopians, Sudanese and Ugandans. What did I have to offer, and was my knowledge of the challenging conflicts in the region insufficient? Was this going to end up in a giant melting pot creating a neo-African dream or one more conflict to add to the thousands already occurring as I write this? I am happy to say that all the anxiety was unnecessary. What I met there were im-pressive youth from the Horn not only able to reflect on the situations in their own countries, but also able to put themselves in the shoes of the ’rival’, so to speak.Through games, discussions, films, lectures and marvellous project proposals, we all learned more about our neighboring relatives in the Horn of Africa than one could ever learn from years of studying. Every single participant had something to offer. Whether it was dialogue, conflict resolution or silly games to erase the first signs of shyness, it worked because we all pitched in. The most important thing I learned from this seminar was to see an individual for who he or she really is. Many times one has the tendency of looking at nation’s inhab-itants as a mass instead of people with different characteristics. As Dr. Peter Adwok Nyaba, Sudanese Minister of higher Education put it: “To think of youth of the Horn as the leaders of tomorrow is a mistake; they are the leaders of today.”There is no reason to wait until the future to try to resolve the conflicts in our region. Unfortunately, it seems some of the hardest borders to cross are also the closest. But not all youth think of this as an impossible mission. Ephrem from Ethiopia wrote:

“It would be naive for one to believe that the complexities and intensity of conflicts in the Horn could not be alleviated by the efforts of the youth from the Horn.” Such positive thinking shows that if one is not afraid to lend a helping hand and the other side not too proud to take it, the future looks bright.

Farhiya Khalid is a 24-year-old Somali-Dane. She is an intern

at CB in Denmark and a future journalism student

the hardest borders to Cross are also the ClosestThere is no reason to wait until the future to try to resolve the conflicts in our region.

t


heater, cinema and television in particular are some of the most effective ways of raising tolerance and awareness in society. Journalists and media

can draw attention to certain artwork, increasing their audiences while in-creasing the possibility of religious co-existence. Journalists and media work-ers in Crossing Borders have a better chance than other participants of using our work to create a sustainable dia-logue of tolerance. Art has been a source of many miscon-ceptions between nations and religions, but it can also celebrate peace and im-plement tolerance. Art can do what politicians fails to do or mass media are trying to do. It can cross into the minds, hearts and consciences of its audience. It is more effective than speeches or articles. For example, only very little attention has been paid to the edito-rial that was published alongside the controversial cartoons in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-posten, while the cartoons themselves have been debated

for months. Regardless of the freedom of speech, the cartoons have created confrontations between Muslims and Danes. The cartoons were border-mak-ers rather than border-crossing art. Recently, the play ''Nathan the Wise,'' the masterpiece of German writer Got-thold Ephraim Lessing, was performed in Arabic in six Yemeni governorates. The play is set in 12th century Jerusa-lem. It shows how Jews, Christians and Muslims maintained friendship and re-ligious tolerance crossing racial and re-ligious divides. The performance by the Yemeni ‘May 22 Theater Troupe’ was aimed to help educate public about re-ligious tolerance and was supported by German House in Sana'a, the German ngo Deutsche Gesellschaft für Tech-nische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) and the European Union. Banned by the Nazis in 1933, this play teaches us that it's very possible for reconciliation and com-munion to replace the current religious persecution and violence. Surprisingly, the issues addressed in this old text are suitable for the current the era. The

theme of prejudice is very much alive. The new Egyptian film "Hassan Wa Margus"(Hassan and Margus) discusses the religious conflict between Egyptian Muslims and Christians in a comic way. The story is about a friendship between a Coptic Christian priest and a Muslim cleric. As a Muslim, it helped me know some of the Christian perspectives and made me develop an understanding to-wards their beliefs and behaviors. On the other hand, the movie also illumi-nates how intolerance can quickly turn into hate and racism, and ultimately, violence. Songs of Ofra Haza, the popular Is-raeli pop star of Yemenite Jewish de-scent, have bridged the split between Israel and Arab countries. Singing in Arabic, Hebrew and English while blending Middle Eastern and west-ern instrumentation and dance beats helped her recordings find their way to a wide audience both in the Middle East and internationally. You can hear Haza songs coming from a shop or a car in streets of Sana'a. Haza is also

known for her performance for peace in Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo in 1994. Let's highlight all kinds of tolerant arts. If we really want to disseminate tolerant values, renounce violence, extremism and hatred, we should not ignore plays, films, television or even songs calling for genuine dialogue between civilizations. "If you start judging people you will have no time to love them," Mother Te-resa once said. So let's forget the hate even if it's true you hate me; I should be able to listen, talk with and respect you.

Khaled Al-Hilaly is a 29-year-old Ye-meni. He works as a journalist for the

Yemen Times

a push For tolerant arts"So let's forget the hate, even if it's true that you hate me; I should be able to listen, talk with and respect you."

Art has been a source of many

misconceptions bet-ween nations and re-ligions, but it can also celebrate peace and implement tolerance.

»t

t a Crossing Borders seminar, after a long day of heated dis-cussions, the participants re-laxed in a cozy rustic lounge, sipping white wine and chat-

ting easily. We were finally able to shed our cloaks as representatives of Palestin-ians, Arabs or Israelis and just be our-selves, genuinely crossing borders in that chill late night atmosphere with Danish pop music blaring in the background.

“My mom grew up in Paris and then moved to Israel,” one Israeli person told me.“Nice,” I said. “France is beautiful.”Her face clouded, and with a tense and

disappointed tone she said, “I haven’t been to France.”“No?”“No, and she didn’t teach me French.

She knows French and I don’t.”Her mother had probably come to Israel

in search of a better life. I looked at this Israeli girl, once a soldier, and now a fel-low Crossing Borders participant. Did she long for a better life?I wondered if she dreamed of going to

France someday. How many people liv-ing in Israel and Palestine dreamed of moving to France?

On another day, I had another memo-rable Crossing Borders discussion. “Don’t think that as an Israeli I am comfort-able, because I am ‘the occupier’ and you think we are the strong ones, because I am afraid. I am afraid to go out of my house. I am afraid every day,” said one participant.I was grateful for my own safe home yet

feeling ill-at-ease upon realizing that I was in a room full of people living in a state of war, not far from my home, whileI could not do anything to help. Even say-ing, “I understand” in compassion made me feel like a fraud. I could not fully un-derstand what it meant to continuously live in fear of being killed. I have never experienced a war.I wasn’t alone, though. In that work-

shop there were Palestinians, Israelis, Jordanians, Yemenis, Egyptians and Danes. Yet everyone was voicing his or her opinions about the conflict quite strongly. A Tracy Chapman song went through my mind. The soulful lyrics say: “Don’t you know, talking about revolution sounds like a whisper?” I was reluctant to add my voice to the mil-lions of people voicing their opposition of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, while knowing that it was all just a whisper. Upon reflection on the Crossing Borders

workshop, I had one question burning in my mind: Why don’t the Israeli par-ticipants, who were unhappy with their lives, leave? If their parents had chosen to come to Israel for a better life, did they not have the right to choose a better life as well? If we remove the political mo-tives and jargon and just get down to the basics, people were not supposed to live in these inhumane conditions, not for a minute, and definitely not for a lifetime. Placing blame and finding rhyme and reason for staying in Israel just did not make rational sense when perceived on a personal level. I cautiously broached the subject with some Israelis and got the general response of ‘why should we leave? Why shouldn’t the Palestinians leave?’ Everybody knows that Palestinians did

not come from France, Palestinians came from Palestine, and they did not choose to be in a war, nor live in these harsh conditions. Israelis did. Not my fellow Crossing Borders colleagues, but their parents. The reality was that they had an alternative; they could choose to live freely and lead a happy and secure life for themselves and their children, yet they decided to end all hope of a better future by living in a seemingly endless war. I have yet to find somebody to explain this personal choice.

Dana Shekem is a 27-year-old Jordanian. She works as a freelance journalist.

why stay, iF you Can leave?

a

Everybody knows that Palestinians did not come from France—Palestinians came from Palestine, and they did not choose to be in a war, nor live in these harsh conditions.


he green plantation, old brick houses and mountains in the background are not in northern Israel, my homeland, or Aqaba, from where I'm writing this. It's scenery from Yemen. The big

temple with the marble floor isn't the one I'm looking at from my hotel window. It's in Syria. Those pictures are only two of almost 30 that are spread on the table in front of me. Spring in Jordan, local plants, a mosaic from Madaba – these are all ex-amples of the images decorating the phone cards from those respective nations. The first thing I did after returning from Vallekilde wasn't an assignment for school or for Crossing Borders. Right after pick-ing me up from Ben Gurion Airport, my father asked me to send an e-mail to all of my CB friends. "Ask them to bring you some phone cards from their homelands for the next meeting," he said, as if his life

depended on trading these cards. He is a serious collector of those colorful, but ar-chaic, plastic cards. He owns a few thou-sand of them. As soon as I arrived to Aqaba, a place that I was fascinated to see, I immediately re-ceived two gestures from my friends: a handshake with one hand, some cards in the other. Afterwards, a short explanation came. The places, objects and images on the cards came to life. Each friend, with his own voice and attitude, told me stories of the images on the cards and the way they connect to their personal lives. I, myself, exchanged some cards from Israel with a Jordanian fellow, which is how I learned he is breeding turtles. "Stay in touch" is written on one of the cards. "Now you can talk from anywhere at any time to anyone" is written on the other. Suddenly, those cards reminded me of their initial purpose – connecting people in re-

mote places. Ironically, that's what they did for me, only in a different way. We joined together in one particular place and didn't connect through a wire, from a distance. The fact is that those cards were some kind of catalysts, things encouraging us to interact and overcome our ideological differences. But can you really talk "from anywhere at any time to anyone"? What will hap-pen to this interaction after each of us goes home and leaves this so-called laboratory that CB is? Can we stay in touch? Will we? Will I ever see those places with my own eyes or will they stay decorative images on old, used phone cards? The distance, geographically and prob-ably perceptually, won't vanish. Despite this, interacting, even around insignificant objects, can reveal a world – personalities, emotions and lives. This is a start of over-coming perceptual borders, and can make a difference. Hopefully, sometime I can

"Phone cards were some kind of catalysts, things encouraging us to interact and overcome our ideological differences."

plastiC Cards

do double

duty

tSuddenly, those cards

reminded me of their initial pur-pose – connecting people in remote places. Ironically, that's what they did for me, only in a different way

»razan nasser23. Works in the financial markets at Citigroup and is a freelance journalist. Has attended 8 CB seminars.

Crossing Borders left me with a broadened set of horizons. Something

that remains with me in every aspect of my life; in dealing with problems, in work, in my writing or even when I'm just watching the news. It taught me that there is more than one side to every story and not to take things at face value. It offered me a priceless set of skills, great friends and unforgettable memories.

»

Crossing Bor-ders has given me the oppor-

tunity to meet new people. I have seen how my country, my religion and my life look through foreig-ners’ eyes. I had earned friends that have helped me to discover new parts of the world as well as parts of myself.

»netta Moshe Israeli. 23. Student of Philosophy, Politics and

Economics. Working at the Israeli National Institute for Testing and Evaluation. Has been part of CB since 2007.

tour those places on the cards myself, with the guidance of the people who revealed them to me for the first time.

Meir ’Miki’ Levi is a 27-year-old Israeli. He studies communication and journalism

at Sapir College and writes for the college newspaper, Spiralar.

cb magazine vol. 10 edition no. 38 cb magazine vol. 10 edition no. 38 31 30

he end of a long week in Amman had finally ar-rived. I grabbed my books and headed to my neighborhood coffee shop to study. As I settled in the corner and started to read, my concentration was cut short by the chatters of what sounded like

a group of American tourists. But to my surprise it was a bunch of local teenagers who kept on chatting in English without mentioning a single word of Arabic.I started to wonder why. Does it arise from the fact the glo-balization is making the world one city with one language? Should we blame it on the media? Does it extend deeper to the level where we are rebelling against our own identity, in denial of who we really are? I walked over to their table, invited myself to their conver-sation and after getting to know them I dropped the bomb-shell, why do you speak in English? They were caught by surprise, but soon started sharing their thoughts. Some stated that it’s because their high school education was mostly in English, this being a crucial period in their development of social skills and communi-cation meant that they would express themselves better in English. Others said that the job market demands fluency in Eng-lish which encourages job seekers to invest more time and effort in learning English. Moreover, some were attracted to western tv, music and lit-

erature requiring proficiency in English, which stems from the wide diversity western media offers. I was glad to hear that despite the world wide attacks against Arabs and their culture, these teenagers took pride in their Arab roots and the Arabic language. However, they were dismayed that Arabic was being left in the background due to the global as well as local preference of English as a means of communication in most fields such as business, education and even art. Our beloved Amman is a rapidly changing city. In it’s versatility you find people from different social and ethnic backgrounds. The rich, poor and middle class live side by side oblivious to the existence of the other. United by geog-raphy and a common tongue. I believe in the beauty of learning other languages as it ex-poses us to new dimensions, but we should never forget who we are and where we come from! I hope we can integrate our identity – our mother tongue – with science and progress forward without being consid-ered backward thinkers. In my opinion we can even be 'cool' in Arabic. All we need is to believe in ourselves and have faith in the beauty of our language.

Ghassan Khoury is a 22-year-old Jordanian. He studies medicine in Amman

"Are young Arabs speaking English in rebellion against our identity?

tbeinG Cool in arabiC

e is repeating, in a very ironic way, a sentence he has heard from his grandmother—a sentence that clearly means nothing to him except for a punch line. He uses a sen-

tence that was said by an elder with a tone of hope, belief and a pinch of pain. The young man is a very effective reminder of how important it is to educate the youth of Haifa regarding the Palestinian cause. I have been introduced to my nation’s real historical struggle only recently, mean-

ing about a year ago. In light of this fact I promised myself I would try to reach as many youth as possible and remind them of the truth that must not be forgotten.The fact that Haifa is the city of a so-called coexistence, that it’s a mixed city located kind of far from the region of hos-tility and tension, makes it easier for an average citizen to excuse herself for being ignorant regarding the cause and for be-ing very self-concerned. I believe many teenagers are being raised in a normal-ized home with the principle of the new

millennia: “my city is the best as long as all material needs are covered.”However, if one takes a very good look into the hidden consequences laying in such a materialistic principle, then she might find that it can actually be deceiv-ing. Some are taught that even basic rights should be considered as privileges. My point is that I find that we are at a very sensitive state in which it is more than important to educate what we believe are the next generation, the future leaders. Currently, I'm working with a group of teenage students in a program touching on daily issues: human rights, identity, history of the Palestinian nation, gen-der and equality. We meet once a week for two hours, trying to build together a core messenger group–a group of 15-20 people that are aware of the situation and have the power to influence many other teenagers. I intend to provide this group with all the necessary tools for understanding the issues and our ability to face them in a reasonable and practical way. With this program I feel I have begun fulfilling my hope and vision for 2009 even before the year starts, maybe because I see it as an urgent step that must not be considered a hope or a vision, but rather an essential need. I want to avoid spending time on hopes and dreams; it is better to be dedi-cated to working on the cause itself.

Qamar Daher is a 21-year-old Palestinian. She studies Communication Disorders; Audiology

and Speech Therapy

"h

less dreaMinG, More doinG

"I find that we are at a very sensitive state in which it is more than important to educate what we believe are the next generation, the future leaders."

DEMENA

MS Danish Association forInternational Co-operation

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.

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 companies are welcome to support Cb activities at their own discretion.

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.

www.crossingborder.org

Autumn course date: 23 August – 19 December 2009

JOIN THE CROSSING BORDERSGLOBAL STUDIES

• Live, study and develop projects with fellow students from around the world

• Explore the roots of democracy and despotism

• Examine globalization through the lens of fair trade, freedom of speech, religious fundamentalism, and climate change

• Gain skills in interpersonal and inter-group conflict resolution

• Acquire tools for analyzing international conflicts

• Understand how globalization around the world

• Undertake study tours to Turkey to learn about this important country’s past, present and future perspectives

• Visits and placement at Danish NGOs that are active in making the world a better place

• Free access to the world famous Louisiana Museum of Modern Arts

• Prepare yourself for higher university education and/or work in international organizations

Autumn/fall course: 23 August - 19 December 2009: 26.175 Danish kroner (3.512 Euro)

• Full Tuition costs

• Full Accommodation in double shared room. A single room costs 600 Danish kroner extra per month

• All meals - except during the study tour

• Ten-day study tour to Istanbul and other cites of interest in Turkey.

• Three-day tour of Denmark

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

Students from new EU member countries can apply for partial scholarships through the college.

For more information, contact the Krogerup Administration by email at: HYPERLINK "mailto:[email protected]" [email protected] or by phone at: (+45) 49190380

CrossinG borders Global studies Gives you the opportunity to:

the priCe

what the Fees pay For

sCholarship possibilities

Documents

CB Magazine Vol. 10 Ed. 38