As attacks between Palestinian and Israeli forces continue in the Middle East, affected students at BYU are speaking out against the violence.

Two Palestinian students at BYU have been separated for more than a year from their families due to the constant fighting. One student said her parents are caught like prisoners in their own homes. Enass Tinah, a doctorate student studying molecular biology from Ramallah, West Bank, said she tried to go home last summer but the situation was so bad, her parents told her not to try.

"It has really affected my family's life. My dad can't go to work. My mom used to teach at school. It used to be a 10-minute drive, now it's an hour and a half. My sister's college has been closed for six weeks," she said.

Bashar Sader, a doctorate student from the West Bank studying mechanical engineering, said he tried to return home last summer only to find Israel had closed all the borders.

Monday morning, Israeli helicopters attacked a car not far from Sader's home, killing two young boys and injuring seven other people in an attempt to kill a Muslim militant, the AP reported.

These types of reaction by Israel for last week's suicide bombings in Jerusalem are only complicating the peace process, Sader said. Most people in his homeland want peace on both sides, but minority extremists are continuing the conflict, he said.

Another perspective of this conflict comes from Rabbi Yossi Mandel, program director for the Chabad, a Jewish Synagogue in Utah. Mandel said most Israelis are extremely hurt by the constant attacks of the Palestinians after what the Israeli state has given them.

These attacks include the two suicide bombers that killed three dozen Israelis in the downtown district of Jerusalem last week.

"The Israelis have given the Arabs so much in terms of education and infrastructure, and they turn around and attack them," Mandel said.

Mandel, who spent six months studying in Kiyatgat, Israel, said he has friends who have been first-hand witnesses to the violence.

"There is a tremendous feeling of exasperation, that the Arabs have no intention of making peace. Yet, when Jews fight for their rights, they're accused of being belligerent or militaristic," Mandel said.

Israelis see the attacks of the recent suicide bombings as random attacks of murder, said Holzapfel. These attacks have been made against non-combatants such as high school students who have no part in the conflict, thereby galvanizing Israeli opinion against unconditional peace.

Whereas a year ago, many Israelis were strongly for an independent Palestinian state, these attacks have caused them to doubt, he said.

"A lot of people who wanted peace now question whether a peace deal will establish peace, or whether it will simply become a training ground for groups to bomb and attack Israel," Holzapfel said.

Many Israelis today recognize the claim of Palestinians to an independent state, but say this claim doesn't justify killing innocent people, Holzapfel said.

Kirk Belnap, associate professor of Arabic at BYU, said the majority of people in the Middle East want peace but have been ill served by their leadership.

"Both sides have at the very least made mistakes and have not been wise in pursuing their people's best interests," he said.

The peace process continues to be impeded by groups on both sides of the conflict, said Donna Lee Bowen, professor of political science at BYU. While both sides have large majorities who support peace, both sides also have extremists who are making the situation worse, she said.

The portrayal of the conflict has been a sore spot for many Palestinians. One Palestinian student refused to comment on the conflict, asking why the media was so interested now that Israelis were being killed.

Sader questions why nobody cares when Palestinians are killed.

"Why should you care right now? Nobody cared when Palestinians were dying. It's really bad feeling that your blood is so cheap," Sader said.

Belnap said he has recognized a bias on the part of the news media in America for Israel, but it has improved over the past 20 years.

As the conflict continues, Tinah said people in the occupied territories are disappointed and feel helpless, and those that are causing the violence, such as Hamas, feed on this.

"The point is we're not saying killing is OK, killing is not OK, it's just been a lopsided conflict from the beginning. Everybody is treating it as two equal sides, but it's not true," Tinah said.

Holzapfel said the most important issue at stake is recognition by both sides of their claims for self-determination.

"We are dedicated to peace, and both sides need to have assurances of self-determination. Until this can be addressed, it doesn't matter what happens. It's no good to point fingers in the middle of fight," he said.
Copyright Brigham Young University 12 Dec 2001