Bright and early this morning, we met with an Arab Muslim Israeli journalist, Khaled Abu-Toameh, from The Jerusalem Post. We metm with him because of his expertise on Middle Eastern conflict and his ability to discuss both sides to the dilemma of Palestinian leadership and failed peace possibilities between Israel and its neighbors. Khaled’s 31 years of experience covering the debated topic, including advising president Machaud Abbass and also John Kerry regarding peace talks, aided him in expressing his pro- Israeli, pro-Palestinian views and his slight hope of a solution.
Like “most Israelis”, Khaled wants a two state solution, however he thinks that the reluctance of the parties to agree on a percentage of land for Israel to give up causes negotiations to be prolonged. Also, Khaled believes that ” If you want to make peace with Israel, you have to prepare your people for peace”. The way the media has “poisoned” the atmosphere regarding peace with Israel hinders the ability of the leaders to negotiate peace. Khaled suggests that the only workable solution is by physical separation. He compared the two nations to a married couple in need of a divorce, who would be forced to coexist in an extremely small region. Khaled believes that coexisting is impossible because of how the Arab “media has poisoned the minds of millions of [Arab] people”.
Through his ideologies and experiences, Khaled stimulated our group to both wake up and expand our perspective on the unanticipated obstacles making peace in the foreseeable future impossible.