What I stand for

There are always two sides to the story, and that goes along with everything. It especially goes along with the Israeli and Palestinian conflict, and how peoples perspectives on the situation differs. Of course you have the side of the Israeli’s saying that Palestinian’s are “terrorizing” them and that they are the victims in this conflict. Then you have the Palestinians saying that, they are the ones being subjected to violence, occupation, imprisonment, and racism. Who is to believe?

I would like to say I’m a person of open minded views, and many of you would like to disagree with me for the reason that I am Palestinian and that of course I’ll be Pro-Palestinian. My response to that would clearly be that I’ve seen and heard from both point of views, and I’ve researched it, and experienced it. I have lived it.

Another thing I would like to state to all the people who say just because I’m for Human Rights in Palestine, I’m a “Jew-hater” or I’m a “Hamas Lover”. I would love to reject both of those comments because: a) I have Jewish friends, and I  am intrigued of how beautiful the Jewish culture is. b) Any form of terrorizing, I am against, Israeli and Palestinian alike. I believe in Peace, and I also believe in Human rights and humanity.

Most of the Israeli kids I have spoken to have been on a school program to go to Israel for a semester and learn about Israel and its culture there. What most kids tell me when I ask if they have ever been the Palestinian side is “no”. It seems as if the whole program that sends these students to go to school in Israel, totally rejects the fact that Palestinian’s even exists, which is sad to me. That’s as if, American education totally rejects the fact that Native Americans were here before us. I believe that the Israeli’s need to learn about the Palestinian struggle, because without a true understanding and communication, of course there is going to be conflict. Not only am I saying this to the Israeli’s, but the Palestinian’s as well.

One thing that people mistake me for when I talk about Palestine, is that they believe I am anti-Israel  and that I’m for the extremist actions that a small number of factions use in Palestine. Let me tell you something to all of those people who think that, I am for a solution towards peace. I’m not into politics. Politics are lame, and it is the politics that are splitting people up and making this world go on a downward spiral. I know that Israeli’s are never going to leave, and I also know that Palestinian’s are never going to leave, so how can we achieve peace between each other?  That’s what I’m trying to get out there and that’s my mission that I’m dedicated to. Not politics.

Another argument that people may have against me is that Palestinian’s have so many other places to go, why can’t they just leave and save all the trouble? The answer to that is simple. Look at all the surrounded Arab countries. Have you ever been to a refugee camp? They treat Palestinian refugee’s worse than the Israeli government does. They aren’t welcomed anywhere.

When Israel is trying to kick out the Palestinian people, where are they to go? That land is where they were born, and most of the Palestinian’s there have  been there for thousands of years. It’s what they know, its their home, and home is always where the heart is. Rationally, it’s as much there land as it is the Israeli’s. Before 1948, Israeli’s and Palestinian’s were living on that land together peacefully. What happened? How come we can’t achieve that again? Think of it as rationally as you can, and not politically.

That land is just as much part of me as it is apart of all the Israeli people. My family has been there for thousands of years. My ancestors, my blood, my heart. I don’t care what anybody says, that land will always be apart of me. Call it Israel, call it Palestine, I don’t care, because that piece of land is my home, and home is where the heart is.

Think about this before you click out and tell everybody of how an “anti-sematic” person I am because I’m for peace and I reject Zionism. The Jews were persecuted for many years and were struggling for freedom.  Why are the Jewish people now turning their back and doing something to the Palestinians, that was once done to them? It makes no sense to me. It’s not logical. All people should be treated equally, and should not be denied freedom from others.

Billboard’s Message: Stop sending money to Israel

The recent Billboard "Coalition to stop $30 billion dollars to Israel" put up.

          In Albuquerque, New Mexico, a group of people who formed “Coalition to Stop $30 billion dollars to Israel”, has broken a new barrier in the United States. They made a billboard telling the congress to stop spending our American dollars on Israel.

         Back in April, the Coalition put up billboards similar to the ones shown in the picture above. They were torn down after 3 weeks of being up. The contract was set for a longer time period. People complained to the billboard company and said that Israel shouldn’t be at fault for their crimes against humanity.

        This brought a lot of International Media attention, but now the billboard is back up! It took a lot of effort to get it back up, but it happend. The first billboard was supposed to be at another location, but then after 45 minutes of being up, it was torn down. So now, there is a new location and so far it’s been going smoothly, but the Coalition hopes to expand the billboards into different locations.

            There has been ongoing support for the Coalition  from all over the nation and even the world. People sending in letters thanking the Coalition for their efforts to raising awareness of this problem that effects Americans everyday, whether they know it or not.

          We spend $30 billion dollars of our money to a country who uses that money for murdering others. That’s our tax dollars that can go to American Education and helping fix the economy problem. Instead of trying to help Israel’s economy, we need to start focusing on our own.

           The Coalition in Albuquerque is very active in their intiatives to raise awareness. Throughout the state of New Mexico, they send out their message in creative ways that not many people do in New Mexico. They hold out signs on bridges that says “Stop Israeli Aparthied”, and they are committed to helping the Palestinian cause. Certainly by putting a Billboard up that condemns Israel, it’ll sure bring attention to the cause.

For more information on this Coalition visit http://www.stop30billion.com/

The fight for 1,550,003 square feet

                                                                                                                                                 

           Known as Al-Aqsa and the Dome of the rock to the Muslims, and the Temple Mount for the Jewish people. Both claim this part of the Old City to be the holiest to them.  Right now, the Muslims have that piece of land for the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa. In recent weeks, the Israeli government have been going in to the mosques and starting havoc. In westernized media, it’s been said that the Palestinians are the cause of all of this havoc. On October 25th, 2009 the Israeli government responded to two Palestinian boys throwing stones at them on the other side of the city, by raiding Al-Aqsa and shooting rubber bullets at people who were praying inside the Mosque. My conclusion for all that is going on: It’s planned.

          The Jewish people believe that the “Temple Mount” is the holiest site in their religion. They believe that temples were built there, and it was the place where the first synagouge was built. They started excavating that area, and are digging beneath the Dome of the rock because they believe their is a wall where David prayed.

         The Muslims believe “The Dome of the Rock” is where Mohammed prayed and the angel Gabriel came down and talked to him. They also believe that “Al-Aqsa” is the mosque where all of the prophets came and prayed together.

         So you can see the significance of both religious ideas and why they are fighting for that piece of land. That’s not all that who is fighting for it though. It becomes complicated, because it’s not just religion, it becomes politics. The Israeli government clearly isn’t respecting the Muslims right to pray in their mosque. A few weeks back, the Israeli government even barred all Muslims to even go inside Al-Aqsa and the Dome of the rock.

          Ever since Israel has been created, America and other Christian countries have been giving support to Israel because of what it says in the Bible. In the Bible it says that once all of the Jews return to their homeland, and the third temple is built, that Jesus will come down from the Heavens and the rapture will begin. That is why America and a lot of countries give aide to Israel and support them in killing innocent people.

          I have a feeling that, soon everything will turn into complete chaos and that area will be destroyed by the Israelis and many questions will be answered. The Israelis live in the moment and don’t look into the future and into their consequences, so if and when they do destroy Al-Aqsa and the Dome of the rock, people will see that the “chosen ones” have abused their “powers” and it will lead to major consequences. What might be those consequences? We will never know until that day comes. That 1,550,003 square feet of land brings hope to so many people, beliefs are revolved around that land.

         My question is… What will happen if they did destroy it, and they find nothing? What if they do build that Temple and Jesus doesn’t come down? What if everything is just in rubbles, and everything they were fighting for turns out to be nothing? What would humanity do? I think it will change the world. With no faith, there will be no hope, and with no hope, there will be no determination. All answers will be questioned, and faith will be destroyed for many. Maybe sometimes it’s better to have unanswered questions so that faith can still thrive.

Freedom…Concrete or Abstract?

A Palestinian child on a Hilltop looking over the Settlement of Ariel on the other side.

 

      One abstract word, that can have concrete actions. One ideal way of having the pursuit of happiness for you and your loved ones. Freedom. The word with so much definition. In America, that word comes up frequently. The Land of the Free. Interestingly enough, that word is just a mere possibilty for most people around the world. One country specifically has hope for this one word, freedom.

     Barred from travelling at their own free will, some Palestinians have no idea what 5 minutes away looks like. They are limited to travel, and from even seeing some of their family. In Bethleham, the Israelis completely encaged that city with walls and ugly barbed wire fences. They can’t look outside those walls and see the other side of beauty. Freedom is what they don’t have… Freedom is what they want and all human beings need.

     Imagine being only 30 minutes from the Holy city of Jerusalem, and not being able to travel and see buildings and amazing artifacts where some of their decendents were a part of. What right does a human being have to deny another human from rights to have freedom? No human is superior to another human. I don’t care if you disagree, just because in the Bible it says that the Jewish people are the “chosen ones”. That does not mean you are superior to anybody. God also said that all human beings are equal.

    Palestinians are people and every human should have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. If you treat them like animals, and if you oppress them so much..of course they are gonna get angry and want to rebel. Do you expect any less of that? Palestinians have emotions, feelings, and a heart. Yes, a heart. Some people are lacking that these days. The people who opress the Palestinians, don’t have a heart.

     Palestinians’ live on that land too. That land is just as much Palestine, as it is Israel. That land is for all people…If you do not believe that…You are a segregationist and a racist. There are no superior human beings. No human should have the right to limit the freedom of another human being. Every person has only one life, why should somebody ruin that one life, by limiting their actions and their freedom? People have free will…and should be able to travel anywhere they like.

    Freedom, it’s what every human being on this earth searches for. No government should limit that. Freedom should be a way of life, and not a dream for some. Freedom should be a concrete action for all.

The Holy Land, not so holy…

 

Infront of the Damascus Gate, an entrance to the Old City.

 Jerusalem- (n.) an ancient holy city and a center of pilgrimage for Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

      Jerusalem is said to be one of the holiest places ever. Not just for one religion, but for 3 religions, that often get into conflict with eachother. The home of three centralized religions: Christianity, Judaism, and Muslims. All believing in one God, but with different viewpoints of who God is exactly. In the Christian faith, they believe that God is the father of Jesus. They believe in God, the Trinity, and the holy spirit. In the Jewish faith they believe in Yahweh. Yahweh is the supposedly the same idea as what the Christians believe in, but they beileve Yahweh is the one true God who delievered Israel from Egypt and gave the Ten Commandments.  In the Islamic faith they believe in Allah, another name for God. They believe that you should not worship anything or anyone but Allah. They all believe in one centralized God. So why are they fighting so much?

     In the Old city of Jerusalem, you run into people of those three main faiths. You see Jewish Orthodox men walking past Islamic women with Hijabs, and then you see the Catholic  Nuns walking into a Muslim owned store to pick up groceries. That city is full of diversity, but at the same time full of tension. They are also full of fear. Jerusalem has a long history of religious conflicts. Between the Jewish people, The Christian Crusaders, and the Muslims. They all have fought for this city claiming that it is the true religious spot for their particular religion. It’s funny that they all think that, since they all have a share in this city for thousands of years. They have the Christian Quarter, the Jewish Quarter, and then the Muslim Quarter. It’s not unusual for this Holy city to have a different reigning power. The Christians have ruled this city, the Muslims ruled this city, and the Jews have ruled this city…all once upon a time.

      So right now, i’m sure how you could imagine how diverse it is in religion and race. So you might think it’s a loving place. Maybe for the tourist, they might look all innocent and loving, but between themselves their is a whole lot of discrimination and prejudice. If you are Muslim and you try to walk into the Wailing wall, they will arrest you and throw you in jail. They are being prejudice. In the Dome of the Rock, if you are of the Jewish religion and sometimes even the Christian religion, you are not welcomed, but since the Jewish have the permission to use big machine guns, they walk in there anyway. In the Catholic Churches, its a sort of a different story. If you are a tourist and try to walk into the church without descent clothes (i.e. Shorts, shortsleeves, sleeveless), you are kicked out and humilated infront of everybody. Way to be a religious figure, right?

     These people that claim they are so holy, don’t act so holy. You are supposed to love thy neighbor, whether they are your faith or not. If they have real evidence that  they are going  to harm you, then i’m all for you to not allow them in, but you have to have clear evidence! You can’t just say, “oh well his name is Mohammed, so he must be a terrorist.” No that’s not how it should go. If that Mohammed guy looks suspicious and you see a weapon on him, then you can judge, but you can’t judge him because of the name on his passport. That is not Holy what-so-ever, and i’m sure that all of those religions don’t allow anybody but him to judge a person. Jerusalem is supposed to be the most holy place in the world, but is centered towards the sins that all religions condemn: Greed, Racism, Discrimination, and Hatred.

       The Priest’s, Rabbi’s, and Imam’s all use their life in religious context. They all read the books and the scriptures and spend their whole life studying their own religion. They are full of religion and know so much about it, but one thing they certainly are lacking in that city, are social skills. They don’t know how to act with people and think they are better than other people because they are so “wise” and “holy”.

         If that city is so “holy” as it claims it is, how come the people don’t act so holy? It can’t be just the tension between the different religions and races that are going on in that land, but the religious people must think they are superior than everybody else. What would God, Yahweh, or  Allah think about this?

Israeli military silences laughter of children

Two 10 year old Palestinian boys who could in the future be subject to Israeli Military brutality against young boys.

During the Gaza war, the Israeli’s killed more children than anybody else. The Israeli’s excuse was “They were being used as shields by Hamas”. I highly doubt that. The Israeli military has a tendacy to bully, beat up, and kill children in Palestine. They arrest them and beat them up, without any evidence of wrongdoing. They threaten them and then threaten their families. No child should have to deal with this. This is a true example of child abuse. They especially target young boys from ages 11 to 17.

In this article I read on the BBC website, a former IDF commander exposes the truth of what Israeli troops do to those kids. He states that before Israeli troops arrest the kids, they blindfold them first, and then they scare them and abuse them. Imagine if you were that kid, you would be afraid for your life because you had no idea what was going on and why you were being treated so harshly. If you read that whole article, its disgusting how the Israeli’s treat children in Palestine. You really get a sense of what injustice there is, especially for the kids.

In Hebron young children get attacked and beaten on all the time. Sure it’s not by the Israeli military, but the Israeli military supervises it and obviously doesn’t have a problem with the horrific assualts that the settlers commit. It’s disturbing actions like this, that makes Israel look like a total unhumane country. It’s one thing to treat adults horribly, but to treat children like this is extremely vicious and cruel.

Another example of what the Israelis do to these children is straight up kill them. I read a headline today on Al Jazeera news, and it said “Palestinian youth shot by Israeli soldiers”. Now think about it if you were that mother or that father, what would you think? What if you were that little brother or sister of that 15 year old that got shot? You would think that the Israeli’s are monsters and that nobody is safe, not even the children. You would be afraid.

The Israeli’s use the excuses like, “he threw a stone at my big tank.” ,or, “they are brainwashed by Hamas”. Now if you ask me, thats a bunch of tatical ways to get rid of the next generation of Palestinians. Bombing schools, shooting children, arresting children, assualting children? I mean c’mon those are obvious actions of somebody who is Fascist just like the Nazi’s. The Israelis are afraid that one day these Palestinian children will grow up to be something they won’t be able to compare to. It will happen one of these days, and I will spend my whole life making sure it does. It’s not about politics for me at all. It’s about human lives. It’s clear that the Israelis don’t care about the human race. They are selfish people who in the end will be punished for all of their crimes against humanity. People like that shouldn’t even be able to run a country with a whole bunch of nuclear bombs.

Anybody who supports Israel and their efforts to bring all the Jews to the “homeland”,good for you, but, you clearly don’t read and you’re a follower. I want you to think about this though, the Israeli government is selfish, and in the end, they don’t care about you, or anybody else for that matter. They think once they finish off the Palestinians, they are gonna turn around and try to finish off the rest world except for themselves. I have many accusations about Israel that I can make, but this blog is about the violence against children.

Anybody who can be able to kill a child or even beat a child should be shameful. It doesn’t make Israel any bigger by proving to the world that they can kill a child who throws a small stone at their big tank with an AK-47 in their hands. If anything, it makes them look like weak human beings. I’d like to make a personal shout out to those who support these horrfic actions done by Israel. Listen up, if you say you truly support whatever Israel does, then you are not human. Israel kills people because they want too, not because they “have” too. Put your self in a Palestinians position. Imagine your child being beat to death because its entertainment for the soldiers watching.

Children are supposed to feel safe and secure. I’m talking about ALL children. Children are precious gifts of innocence that bring joy and laughter to life. That child is a son or daughter, a brother or sister, a human being. For once stop thinking of yourselves, and imagine your self in their poistion. Imagine your family, your children or your young siblings. The laughter of a child is the same all over the world. Don’t deminish it by your own selfish agenda.

Articles of child brutatlity by the Israelis:

Israeli troops ‘ill-treat kids’

Palestinian youth shot dead

Settlers attack two children in Hebron

IDF kills women and children holding white flag

A divided Palestine

Hamas and Fatah alone does not compare to Palestine as a whole.

As the conflict of the Palestinians and the Israelis continue with more tension and chaos everyday, there are conflicts between the Palestinians that need to be resolved. There are two different major parts of the Palestinian territories, Gaza and the Westbank. Gaza is controlled by Hamas, and the Westbank is controlled by Fatah.

Hamas is a political group in Palestine who strives for the resistance of the Israeli occupation. In western media you might see them being called “militants” or “a terrorist organization”, when they are actually not because they are a branch of government who has military control. Hamas was founded in 1987 in Gaza. They won the election in 2006 that set off a lot of anger from the Bush administration and Israel. Right now, they are in power in Gaza and still resists the Israeli occupation.

Fatah is a political group that controls the Westbank and most of the government in Palestine today. Fatah was founded in 1958 by Yasser Arafat a former President of Palestine. Mahmoud Abbas is the current President of Palestine and also a leader of Fatah. They’re also a resistance to Israel, but not as strong. Fatah has a tendency to be persuaded to be more nice towards Israel and the United states. Fatah is more involved in the governments of Palestine and not so much their own people.

Hamas and Fatah are a rivalry against eachother. They both want power of Palestine, for the same reason, but also for different reasons. They both want Palestine to be liberated from Israel, but they both have different strategies and different mindsets of how and why they want to do it. Hamas is for the people, Fatah is for the politics.

They all have the same goal though, right? They both want to help liberate Palestine. When people ask me, “are you for Fatah or are you for Hamas?”, I say, I’m for Palestine. How could you help liberate Palestine if you go against your own people? Imagine if everybody in Palestine united as one resistance against Israel. They would have a better chance of liberating the Palestinian people by working together. Instead, what Fatah and Hamas are doing, is trying to fight for power for themselves and not really thinking about the people. They are arresting their own Palestinian blood because those people support the opposing party. What they need to be doing is arresting the Israeli’s who commit crimes against the Palestinians, and stop with this Palestinian on Palestinian conflict.

In order to get any further in the resistance against Israel, Hamas and Fatah, and every single Palestinian need to come together and help one another. There should be one group and that group should be called Palestine. A group that will help the Palestinian people and help liberate Palestine. A group that will not take away from their people, but give to them. This group will be the closest thing to liberation. Until the Palestinian people stop fighting with eachother, they won’t stand a chance against Israel.

The hypocrisy within Israel

An Israeli military jeep that highly resembles the Nazi jeeps, driving in the Palestinian territory.

I’d like to start off with this post saying that I am not against the Jewish religion what so ever. I am not Anti-Sematic, and that would be weird if I was because I am Sematic. I am also not a Jew hater. I just dislike the actions Israel makes and how they are destructive towards the Palestinian people.

I think it’s weird how history repeats itself. Back in the 30’s and 40’s, the Nazi’s almost elimated the Jewish people. They put them in death camps and treated them like they were lower than dirt. Right after that happend, the Jewish people came to Palestine and pretty much did the same thing to the Palestinians as the Nazi’s did to them. They took away homes, killed people, took land, and took the rights of the Palestinian people. Now in a different day in age, they seem to be repeating almost everything the Nazi’s did to their ancestors.

Everytime somebody says something bad about Israel or calls them out on something they did wrong, they immediately call that person “Anti-Sematic” or they pull the “My people were in the Holocaust” card. They can never take blame for what they do wrong, and that just bugs me. During the Gaza war, when the UN stepped in, the Israeli’s were trying to tell everybody that the UN hates Israel and that is the reason why the UN are saying these “lies” about Israel. If they had any common sense, they would realize that the UN is trying to HELP people. What’s so wrong with helping people? Why do the Israeli’s hate the Humanitarian workers that help the Palestinians? It makes no sense, but then again it does. They want to repeat history, but this time eliminate the Palestinian race. The Israeli’s are pure fascist. Sort of reminds me of the Nazi regime in Germany when Adolf Hilter ruled.

Another example of this hypocrism would be about this one Israeli Defense Force soldier named Gilad Shalit. He was captured by a Palestinian group in 2006. They make such a big deal about this one guy. I agree that every life is valuable, and it’s wrong to keep him held hostage, but the Israeli’s do not acknowledge the fact that the IDF captures and kills innocent Palestinian people every single day. Why isn’t that on the news or on everybody’s mind? The Israeli’s kill more Palestinians than Palestinians kill Israeli’s, and that’s factual. When you read on the headlines that “Israeli’s killed 20 militants today.” They are covering up the fact that they actually killed innocent civilians.

Whenever Hamas fires those firework rockets, I call them “firework rockets” because they look like fireworks and don’t harm anybody, the Israeli’s cry about it and then they go in and kill 1000’s of innocent Palestinians with their huge missiles and tanks, machine guns, and the hi-tech missles that can pinpoint a target, (I.E. The Gaza war). And when somebody calls them out on it like the United Nations, they cry and say “well they did it first”.

You feel this hypocrism everywhere around Israel. I’m not saying that hypocrism is a feeling, but you can just tell when you talk to most of the soldiers and most citizens, that they don’t follow the golden rule which states: “Treat others how you would like to be treated”. This hypocrism is practically all around you when you go to Israel. If you have every been there and you travel through the Palestinian areas, you’d see these jeeps that look like an exact replica of the jeeps the Nazi’s used to have. It’s really scary, and it just makes you think, why would they do that? It seems like it would be an insult to their own people.

Anyway, that was my post about the hypocritical ways of the Israeli government. I would continue with it, but there are so many hypocritical acts that the Israeli’s have done that it’s too much for me to type. There would be pages and pages of examples. The Israeli’s seriously have no conscience about what they do. They don’t think and they act like toddlers when they get caught. I think Israel will destroy itself by their own hypocrism.

The innocence of this chaos

Children hanging out on the village streets with nothing to do.

       I decided to dedicate my first post to the children of Palestine. When I first went to Palestine, I was a child.. I loved playing soccer and hide n go seek with the Palestinian kids in my dads village. When I went back to Palestine this past summer, this would be the summer where I realized and learned so much. I would see children working and not enjoying their childhood. Because of the Israeli occupation, Palestinians have limited money and limited space. The Israeli government has put so many restrictions on education and the childhood of these innocent children.  When I went to the Israeli part, I would see kids laughing and playing with their cool playgrounds and nice soccer fields, and riding skateboards on sidewalks. The Palestinian kids play with what they have, which is not much. They sure don’t have fancy playgrounds and soccer fields. Instead they have concrete and dirt to play soccer on. The soccer ball they play with is usually flat, but they still make it work and try and have a good time. It’s hard to think of a child not having a safe place to play. In America, most kids have playgrounds in their backyard and have parks they can go to. In Palestine, there is no such thing as public parks. When I would play soccer with my cousins on the concrete dirt, I scraped my elbows, knees, and hands, and trust me it really wasn’t the best feeling in the world.

       When I would always get back from a trip to an Israeli city, all of the children would ask me, “Whats it like there? Is there grass and trees?”, and It would always be hard for me to reply, because these kids have practically nothing. The life of Israeli children and Palestinian children are on different ends of the spectrum. When you travel through Palestine and the Israeli Territories.. It’s like you’re at two different places at the same time. You are practically in two different worlds, but it’s all so close together, it’s hard to believe. One side is green with flowers, the other side is full of dust, concrete, and torn up billboards & signs.

       The Palestinians pay the same taxes as the Israeli’s do, but they are limited to what they get. If there are humaniatarian efforts to try and help build a park for the Palestinian children, the Israeli government will condemn it. It seems like the Israelis don’t want the children to be children. During the Gaza war they bombed schools and killed children. Now, why would they do that? They are afraid. They are afraid the children would grow up to become educated and peaceful. The last thing Israeli’s like are educated and peaceful Palestinians. It starts with the kids. If we make efforts stronger to help keep the children peaceful, playful, and educated, I know this will help liberate the Palestinians.

      One day I hope to build a park in Palestine, a park of hope and childhood. A lot of people don’t realize what this conflict puts on these children. It’s important to have a childhood because without childhood, there is no direction and for some no purpose. These Palestinian children go through a lot. Most of them have never been outside of Palestinian territories, so they don’t know what it’s like for the Israeli children. It’s sad to say this, but for the Palestinian children, the grass is literally greener on the other side, and it’s harder for them to see it for themselves because of the occupation. Without laughter of all children, there is no peace.