Close encounters of a third kind
Former Palestinian prisoners and IDF combatants overcome mutual distrust on path to peace
An unlikely group of individuals met at the Tel Aviv home of singer David Broza Monday evening. However there was not a guitar in sight, nor a musical note in the air. This was a group of Israeli elite soldiers and Palestinians - all of whom have served time in Israeli prisons. This meeting was one of the first in which the group convened before an audience of "non-combatants". Their goal: To spread a message of their shared commitment to non-violence.
Combatants for Peace is a non-profit organization comprised of dozens of Israeli and Palestinian individuals who were personally involved in the ongoing cycle of violence. They formed the group after each had reached a turning point, either as a militant or as an Israeli combat soldier, bringing them to the realization of the futility of bloodshed. The alternative path reached them independently of each other and it surprised them to find others who shared similar thought processes on the "other side."
After overcoming initial mutual suspicion, the former enemies met in secret for about a year, before going public at a "liberation gathering," held during the Jewish Passover holiday and coinciding with Palestinian Prisoner Day. Their mission is to change Israeli and Palestinian attitudes by promoting the belief that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict cannot be resolved through violence. Their mutual pledge - to set aside arms - is a prerequisite to their path of dialogue.
In a nutshell, Combatants for Peace calls for the end of the occupation and violence, the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem alongside Israel, and return to 1967 borders.
Initial mutual distrust
The group slowly grew by word of mouth, and has now reached nearly 150 people from both sides. At each meeting Palestinians and Israelis describe their roles in the conflict and the turning points that led them to abandon violence.
During initial meetings, members of the group said they couldn't speak, they just stared at each other - the Israeli side wary it was a trap and the Palestinians suspicious that the men facing them were undercover agents from the Israeli security services. However, when they were ready to speak, they did so with complete honesty, sharing stories that ultimately led them to mutual trust.
Osama Karsh, a Palestinian, who served a three year jail sentence in an Israeli prison, attended the meeting with his 7-year-old-daughter. He said that he had no idea who Jews were before these meetings, but now he believes the two sides should educate the next generation for peaceful coexistence, so as not to repeat the mistakes of past generations.
This was the first time Karsh's daughter had ever met Israelis other than soldiers at checkpoints, and she was somewhat bewildered by the attention of the 'friendly people' she had learned to hate while her father was sitting out his jail sentence.
“Pretty much the only Israelis I had met before were my jailers, but now I’ve been able to meet Israelis as equals and share a common goal with them for peace and justice,” he says.
'Going to the West Bank without a gun'
Zohar Shapira (37), a member of the group and a former elite unit soldier, told the audience comprising some 100 people crowded together in the small garden, that he had never met a Palestinian fighter outside of the battlefield before that first meeting, and that he was suspicious of the "other" side's motivation and purpose.
The group was formed after Shapira and several other reservists realized the futility of the conflict with the Palestinians and signed a declaration that they would no longer serve in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. An Israeli acquaintance introduced Shapira to Suleiman al-Himri, a local leader of the Palestinian Fatah movement in the West Bank city of Bethlehem.
Suleiman al-Himri had served a four-year prison sentence for organizing stone-throwing demonstrations against Israeli soldiers, but he too began to consider another path. He expressed an interest in meeting Israelis who had resisted service in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and an initial meeting with the group of reservists was held in Beit Jala south of Jerusalem in March of last year.
Shapira recalls meeting Suleiman: "It was scary going into the West Bank for the first time without a gun, I looked around for the army to protect me. I wondered who these people were and whether they might be setting a trap. It was very tense at first, but slowly trust was built and developed into friendship. We found we had a lot in common. It was very moving for me to have Palestinian friends. Until then, these were people I had either pitied or shot. It was a very strange transition."
Suleiman couldn't attend the meeting Monday as he was not granted a travel permit by the army, but he is nonetheless committed to non-violence.
Shapira said he would have refused to fight in the recent Lebanon war after it expanded beyond retaliation in the first few days, and would have most likely refused at the beginning had he been called to attack a civilian target.
"But if they had called me to fight Hizbullah in the village of Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon where fighting was fierce, I would have gone," he said.
According to Shapira, his turning point came about during the second Intifada, when he found himself carrying out orders he just couldn't live with.
'End occupation, end violence'
Former Fatah member Bassam Aranmin, 38, served a seven year prison sentence in an Israeli jail after being arrested in Hebron when he was 17 years-old.
Ironically, Aranmin says that it was while serving time that he began to understand the need for reconciliation. He had lengthy conversations with a prison guard and found that, rather than an enemy, the soldier had become a dialogue partner. He said he was astonished to discover that the Israeli public had no idea what went on in the territories. Aranmin says that there is no compulsory conscription into Hamas and Fatah, but in their desperation, death became a better option than life. "This occupation," he adds, "creates violence on both sides."
Refuting myth that there is no partner for peace
Aranmin says the group's main principles are to put an end to the Israeli military occupation in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem; to be free of settlers and soldiers and walls and checkpoints; and replace killing and bloodshed with peace and reconciliation between the two peoples. He also advocates a two-state solution, living side by side in full cooperation and peace. But most importantly, he would like to refute the myth that there is no partner for peace.
Both sides are showing outstanding courage by embarking on this new path, Aranmin says.
"Our members are very courageous. And I want to thank them. Also I want to thank the Israeli combatants and soldiers for their moral and courageous stand to refuse to be a part of Palestinian suffering, refusing to be a part of the occupation."
"We've already spilled so much blood, now we want to save lives on both sides. This is why I've joined this movement. Our religion is tolerant and our message instructs us not to hurt innocent people," Aranmin says.
Land given to two peoples to live side by side
Mohamed Asayad from East Jerusalem is also a former Fatah leader who was shot in the head with a rubber bullet by an Israeli soldier during the first Intifada. He too has spent a total of four years in Israeli jails. He told the audience that he eventually came to realize that Israel could not be destroyed nor could Israel destroy the Palestinians.
"God has written that this land was given to two peoples to live on it side by side." When asked whether his motivation was inspired by wanting peace or just not being able to destroy the "enemy", he insinuated that maybe now it is a call for non-violence because the fighting isn't achieving anyone's goals, but that he didn't want his children to relive his experiences, and if we now break the cycle, future generations can enjoy real peace.
Highly sensitive to prisoner issue
Just as the second Lebanon war was ignited by Israel's sensitivity to the abduction of Israeli soldiers, a solution to the long, detentions and incarceration of Palestinian prisoners is a key factor in this group's agenda.
"There are no laws about apprehending Palestinians, and punitive measures are purely arbitrary, depending on the judge and his state of mind on a particular day," both Israeli and Palestinian members say.
'IDF has committed war crimes'
Chen Alon, a major in the reserve army, said that after 15 years of reserve duty throughout the territories, he would rather go to jail than serve in the West Bank or Gaza. During the second Intifada he sat out a 50 day sentence for "refusal" to serve in the territories. He says he is not ashamed to admit the IDF has committed war crimes.
He asked the audience of Tel Avivians if they had any idea what was like to live under a curfew for years, deprived of leaving their homes at night, visiting friends or attending to medical emergencies.
"The turning point for me was when I was leading a group of soldiers who were ordered to demolish an illegal building. As we soldiers neared the house with bulldozers, we were attacked from all sides. We spent most of the night in a fierce battle at al-Hadar," says Chen.
"I'd go into houses and apprehend 10 year-old suspects who'd go to prison without trial for years, and I wouldn't even know what they were accused of. And I did this night after night."
"It was absolute madness. We risked soldier's lives just to demolish an illegal terrace. Our government policies are continuing to create dead end situations," Chen says.
TA meetings better than European, US tours
After the group went public last April, it is ready to tour the world to bring their message to the people.
In October, an organization established by the Faculty for Israeli-Palestinian Peace, FFIPP, has invited the group to the States to tour campuses, give lectures and meet students and the media. However, members of the group say that meetings like this one in Tel Aviv are worth more than 10 European or US tours, as this is what brings the message directly to the people concerned.
