WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:07.080 I am a former employee at the radio station, Israel's radio station in Arabic. 00:07.260 --> 00:11.160 I'm a journalist by profession in the Arabic language, not Hebrew, 00:11.620 --> 00:15.880 although Hebrew is my tongue, mother tongue, native tongue. 00:16.080 --> 00:18.960 And I'm also a scholar of Middle Eastern affairs. 00:19.120 --> 00:22.200 I have a PhD from Princeton University. 00:22.880 --> 00:27.640 And since 2000, I've been working on the attitude to the other 00:27.640 --> 00:30.840 and to peace in school books of the Middle East. 00:30.840 --> 00:37.800 I've done reports on Palestinian school books, Iranian, Tunisian, Egyptian, Saudi Arabian, Syrian, 00:38.080 --> 00:40.700 and also some work on Israeli school books. 00:41.140 --> 00:45.940 The root of the problem is that there are two full nations, 00:46.060 --> 00:54.240 very different from each other, living on the same land with aspiration on that very land. 00:54.240 --> 01:01.020 And they think, they believe very strongly that they both belong to that land 01:01.020 --> 01:07.160 and it is part of their identity, the Jews and the Palestinian Arabs, of course. 01:07.620 --> 01:13.560 So they fight about who is going to be supreme and who is going to have all the land. 01:14.160 --> 01:20.320 And in my opinion, both nations should divide the land between them. 01:20.320 --> 01:23.460 Some of them will live here and have their own state. 01:23.560 --> 01:29.420 And the other side, the other nation will have its sovereignty over the other part of the land. 01:29.900 --> 01:35.440 And both sovereign states will have minorities of the other nation within them. 01:35.860 --> 01:42.660 I found out that while Israeli school books have only one solution to the conflict, namely peace, 01:42.660 --> 01:53.380 and they are trying or are ready to recognize at least some of the rights of the other nation, namely the Palestinians. 01:53.900 --> 01:58.220 The Palestinians are stuck with the idea that the country is only theirs 01:58.220 --> 02:04.700 and Jews have no place to stay, have no right to stay in the country. 02:04.700 --> 02:10.620 They even don't have any holy places in the country against history, against all evidence we have. 02:11.200 --> 02:17.540 And they don't count the six million Jews living in Israel as legitimate inhabitants of the country. 02:17.740 --> 02:18.480 This is a problem. 02:18.760 --> 02:27.720 I think it's mainly politics, but religion is mobilized to strengthen the position of maybe the two sides, 02:27.880 --> 02:29.700 but mostly the Palestinian side. 02:29.700 --> 02:37.700 As I say, this is a holy land and we cannot allow other people to live here and the holy places are only ours 02:37.700 --> 02:45.520 and we are not allowed or not ready to share them with the other nation or the other religion. 02:46.060 --> 02:53.980 While in this country, in fact, the history dictates that most of the holy places are shared by all religions, 02:53.980 --> 02:59.720 both Muslim and Jewish, and even Christianity, they share the same holy places. 02:59.980 --> 03:11.860 To tell you the truth, I once quoted parts of the Quran, the specific verses that speak about Jews, 03:11.860 --> 03:22.340 and the Muslims were hearing them, listening, but after seconds, they just forgot about them. 03:22.500 --> 03:27.180 They didn't listen anymore, as if it entered from here and came out of here. 03:27.740 --> 03:36.400 But they are aware that these verses exist, and they don't teach it at all. 03:36.480 --> 03:37.320 Not the Palestinians. 03:37.320 --> 03:44.980 I found in an Egyptian textbook some verse which is mentioned in the school book, yes, but not the Palestinians. 03:45.320 --> 03:48.180 Hatred can only be eradicated through love. 03:49.320 --> 03:53.940 People of the book is mentioned in the Quran to be Jews and Christians. 03:53.940 --> 03:57.900 Muslims as well are people of the book as well. 03:57.900 --> 04:01.380 So we are no different from one another. 04:01.800 --> 04:10.560 And we have no right, we have no option to discriminate one prophet from the other, according to the verses in the Quran. 04:11.940 --> 04:17.940 Do the Palestinian society have any kind of information about this? 04:17.940 --> 04:29.940 I'm afraid they don't listen to such attitudes because they are so very heavily taught about the other sides of Islam, 04:29.940 --> 04:48.280 Islam, about all sorts of ventures and activities, martyrdom, jihad, ribat, and other values that contradict or they are made to contradict the actual situation on the ground. 04:48.280 --> 05:06.280 And for the time being, they are not listening, but I strongly believe that if both nations would listen more to their own culture, their own religious ideals, 05:07.280 --> 05:11.280 the road to peace would be much easier, in my opinion. 05:11.280 --> 05:12.280 Thank you. 05:12.280 --> 05:13.280 Thank you.