I consider this one of the darkest and most shameful periods in my history as a Palestinian and as a Muslim. Yet I take courage from my ability to discriminate between a justified rage on the Israeli side and a real commitment for peace; and the ability, likewise, to discriminate between a weed that must be uprooted on the Palestinian side and a promising garden. I take courage from the desperate need I feel to leave a better world for my children than the one I found myself. The same fighting spirit that ignited my thoughts and actions as I fought with the rest of my people to be free now inspires me to fight those who will obstruct my negotiated path toward freedom. The overwhelming urge I feel is to breathe life into what seems to be a dying process.
The current peace process is the only opportunity for hope our peoples have had during a half century of pain. Yet there are those on the Israeli side who will now depict it as a mistake, an expression of political naivete, of baseless trust. There are also those on the Palestinian side who are secretly congratulating themselves for having blown apart a “sellout deal” by Arafat and his followers. Such people do not understand pain, not even if it is inflicted on them, let alone if they inflict it on others. Nor do they learn by it.
For such Israelis, Palestinians will continue to reside as dark creatures in their minds and psyche, a monster that seems to grow uglier and fiercer, a nightmare that can never quite be abolished. For such Palestinians, Israelis will continue to impose themselves as a foreign body that is growing into their space, making geometric leaps in size even as it is bloodied. Looking upon each other this way, neither side will ever achieve the moral state of rest it aspires to. Neither side will feel complete, or realized, because each side will feel haunted by the other. On this holy land, where both Muslims and Jews hope to be closest to God, neither can be farther away from him, or from humanity.
Hope exists. But the challenge now is stronger than ever, and humanity must assert itself in the face of its enemies. In this confrontation, as in everything else, the interlocked Israeli and Palestinian societies are the most natural partners.
