VOA Panel Discussion
Adriana Amat: What possibilities for peace in the Middle East do you see, between Israelis and Palestinians, and returning to psychological warfare, children in school are taught from a very young age to hate “the enemy”. The enemy is Israel, or the Palestinian. In an opinion survey, there are people who don’t want to appear on camera, who have a strong opinion about this on the Palestinian side. One asks them “what do you want to happen” and they take out a map of Jerusalem and say, “this is my land. And I am going to teach my children to fight for this land.” You go and ask an Israeli the same question, and get the same answer.
Grant Smith: Well, for many centuries, Jerusalem was a city shared by three faiths. It is not impossible that it will return to that status. We are always directed to focus on “Palestinian terrorism” forgetting that in 1948, the terrorists were the Israelis. Yitzhak Shamir was considered by Britain to be terrorist #1 of the Middle East. Israeli terrorist groups such as Irgun and Stern were integrated into the Israeli military.
There was more consciousness and tolerance for the transformation of the “terrorist fighting for his land” toward a state. However, the world, particularly the US no longer has this same type of patience for the Palestinians, who are the true victims in this case.
Full VOA Discussion (Windows Video 400 kbps) Transcript (English HTM)