For Israelis and Palestinians trying to lead an ordinary life, the complications of living in a\u00a0conflict zone can be extraordinary. Aziz Abu Sarah meets with people from both sides to understand how this\u00a0conflict impacts their daily lives.\u00a0 He is a cultural educator, a native of Jerusalem, and a National Geographic Emerging Explorer who works in international\u00a0conflict resolution. For more information about Aziz and his work please go to\u00a0www.nationalgeographic.com/conflictzone.
", "is_us_only": "false", "title": "Conflict Zone, Part 1: Uneasy Coexistence", "url": "http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/specials/conflictzone/cz-pt1-uneasy-coexistence/", "country_code_deny_list": [], "allowUserEmbed": "True", "related": { "link": [ { "url": "http://www.nationalgeographic.com/explorers/bios/aziz-sarah/", "name": "More About Aziz Abu Sarah" }, { "url": "http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/03/19/first-person-learning-to-stop-hating-israelis/", "name": "First Person: Learning to Stop Hating Israelis" } ] }, "credit": "National Geographic", "smil": "http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/data/xml/cz-pt1-uneasy-coexistence.smil", "country_code_allow_list": [], "HTML5src": "/video/player/media-mp4/cz-pt1-uneasy-coexistence/mp4/variant-playlist.m3u8", "still": "http://video.nationalgeographic.com/exposure/core_media/ngphoto/image/65353_0_616x346.jpg", "transcript": "[CHANTING]
Aziz Abu Sarah: These are the kids who live here in the town.\u00a0 The military is already prepared to confront the actual protesters.
Aziz Abu Sarah: You can see those who don't want to get to close and too dangerous are staying in the back.\u00a0 And then those who want to be right in the front, are moving to the front of the protest. That means you are willing to be arrested, that means your chances of being shot is much higher, that means you are really putting your life at risk.
Aziz Abu Sarah: In the Conflict Zone, everything depends on which side you are on. Here in Jerusalem, you are either and Israeli or a Palestinian. Both sides claim this small piece of land.
Aziz Abu Sarah: This land is divided by walls of fear, anger, and hatred. I'm here on a mission to understand why, and to try and put some cracks in those walls.
THE STATE OF ISRAEL WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1948 IN THE AREA KNOWN THEN AS PALESTINE...
AND A WAR FOR THE NEW NATION'S BORDERS BEGAN.
THE CONFLICT LED TO A PALESTINIAN EXODUS INTO TWO TERRITORIES: THE GAZA STRIP, AND THE WEST BANK.
NOW, SOME ISRAELIS ARE STAKING CLAIM TO LAND IN THE WEST BANK BY BUILDING COMMUNITES THERE CALLED SETTLEMENTS.
WITH THE SETTLERS COME THE SOLDIERS THAT PROTECT THEM...AND PALESTINIAN PROTESTERS THAT WANT THEM OUT.
I WANT TO FIND OUT WHY ANYONE WOULD WANT TO LIVE IN SUCH A VOLATILE PLACE.
Aziz Abu Sarah: Shalom
Guard: Can you please park the car to the side?
Aziz Abu Sarah: Normally, Palestinians, this settlement specifically are not allowed to come in. So it's a very, very controversial place.
MOST FAMILIES HERE JUST WANT TO LIVE A NORMAL LIFE, AWAY FROM ALL THE CONTROVERSY.
Tomer, Israeli Settler: Hi, how are you?
Aziz Abu Sarah: All I hear is settlements is the reason there's no peace. That's how it's often portrayed. So, what is your reasoning to live here?
Tomer, Israeli Settler: I actually know for sure that when we came here, we did not take anybody's land. Because I saw that there was nobody here. This hill, was a hill - nobody around it nobody was using it, it wasn't bothering anybody.
FOR SOME ISRAELIS, SETTLEMENTS SIMPLY OFFER AN AFFORDABLE PLACE TO RAISE A FAMILY.
BUT FOR OTHERS, IT'S ABOUT CLAIMING LAND THAT PALESTINIANS ALREADY CLAIM AS THEIR OWN.
Aziz Abu Sarah: We are now on our way to a refugee camp.
REFUGEE CAMPS ARE WHERE MANY PALESTINIANS CAME TO LIVE AFTER THEY WERE DISPLACED FROM THEIR HOMES WHEN ISRAEL WAS ESTABLISHED.
THE CAMPS STARTED OUT AS COMMUNITIES OF TENTS FOR DISPLACED FAMILIES, BUT THEY HAVE GROWN INTO VILLAGES OF MAKESHIFT HOUSING FOR HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PALESTINIANS.
ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS ARE BEING BUILT UP ALL AROUND THE CAMP.
Aziz Abu Sarah: How do you see settlements? How does it affect you?
Mazin, Palestinian Activist: Like all the Palestinians, they affect my daily life. Most of the time here we are in the summer without water, and most of the time in the winter, without electric. Because every month, the increase the number of the settlement and the settlers.
AS THE SETTLEMENTS PUSH DEEPER INTO THE WEST BANK, THE TENSION INCREASES, AND ROADS BECOME BATTLE GROUNDS.
Nauma, Israeli Settler:\u00a0 You drive and you're hearing good music in your car, and all of a sudden some bored boy take a stone and they smash your window in the middle of your day. They ruin your life. It's crazy.
Nauma, Israeli Settler:\u00a0 It's not safe. We can't go out of the fence. They can go anywhere they want. They don't' scare of anything. This is annoying. Like, why should I scare in my land? They don't scare. They suffer, but they don't scare. It's different. To be scared all the time, it's not a nice thing, believe me.
Udi Israeli Student:\u00a0 A bus stop that's three minutes from my house got bombed three times. Got blown up.
ISRAELI SAYS THIS VIOLENCE IS THE REASON THEY BUILD THE WALLS AND CHECKPOINTS THAT SURROUND THE PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES.
MANY PALESTINIANS CANNOT PASS THROUGH THESE CHECKPOINTS AT ALL.
Mariam, Palestinian Refugee: [TRANSLATED] I cannot visit my son because of the checkpoints.\u00a0 I loved sitting at the beach.
Aziz Abu Sarah:\u00a0 When was the last time you were in the beach?
Mariam, Palestinian Refugee: [TRANSLATED] It has been 42 years.
Tomer, Israeli Settler: You know I'm not blind, I see what's happening around me. We are two native communities, native people, different type of native ideas, which have to live together. It's not gonna change.
Aziz Abu Sarah: Why here? Why you live here? Why not somewhere else?
Mazin, Palestinian Activist:: It's, for me as a person, first of all, it's my father, my grandfather, my grandmother, my grand grand father and mother, that was born here and that was grow up here. This is our land, the Palestinian historic land.
Lidna, Israeli Settler: We are here because this is our promised land. This is my house like it's your house in America. I'm living here for 6 years, ok? I'm raising my children here. And that's it, this is my land, I've got no other place to go, and that's it.
SETTLEMENTS ARE PUSHING ISRAELIS AND PALESTINIANS CLOSER AND CLOSER TOGETHER...
AND PULLING THEM FURTHER AND FURTHER APART.
al><\ufffd\u0003\ufffd \u0010t\u0001\b0\ufffd\u0006\b\ufffd\u0007-size:14.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family: \"Times New Roman\"'>
ON THE OTHER SIDE OF ISRAEL, THE CONFLICT IS MUCH MORE DEADLY.
MILITANTS IN GAZA LAUNCH ROCKETS INTO ISRAEL THAT THREATEN THOUSANDS OF CIVILIANS - AND ISRAEL CAN RESPOND WITH CRUSHING AIRSTRIKES.
THE STRIKES TARGET MILITANTS, BUT CIVILIAN HOMES ARE HIT AS WELL.
Fahmi, Gaza Resident: This wheelchair belongs to my neighbor. She was an old lady, 85 years old.\u00a0 She's innocent, of course. She was killed by the Israeli attack.
Fahmi, Gaza Resident: And there is our home.\u00a0 I am Fahmi Reah Dalub. I work here in Gaza. This is my room. I can't believe that I made it through to tell you this story.\u00a0 We were all sitting just having dinner, but we did not hear anything, we did not feel anything. Then I started to realize that we are bombed.\u00a0 I don't know how I made it through to the street. It was a lot of dust, a lot of dark. And this is the first time I have returned here.
Fahmi, Gaza Resident: \u00a0\u00a0My uncle's home there were 10 killed people. I am still afraid of this area, of another war, of another attack. I feel like I am not safe everyday. When the electricity is gone, everyday, I panic. Because, for a second I feel like it is happening again.
WHEN PEOPLE ONLY KNOW EACH OTHER THROUGH THESE EXPERIENCES, THEY CAN ONLY SEE EACH OTHER AS ENEMIES.
I tr\ufffd\u0001m\f \u0010e\u0001H\ufffd\ufffd\u0006\ufffd\ufffd\u0004\u0007 personal beliefs aside. I just know that right now this is necessary and so I do it.
Aziz Abu Sarah: \u00a0Taking it from here, what do you think you want people to appreciate about your work in the army?
Dekan, IDF Commander: People around the world needs to know that the Israeli soldiers are exactly like everyone else and I really hope that we can all sit right now without those uniforms in the sea of Tel Aviv without the needs of weapons and all of that, but unfortunately we can't so, uh, that's why we're here.
", "id": "cz-pt1-uneasy-coexistence" } }