The story I'm going to tell is of a man whose life has been filled with death on many levels, but yet still has the courage to devote his life to peace. Bassam Aramin is co-founder of Combatants for Peace (www.combatantsforpeace.org) which was created in 2005 by 11 former combatants (seven Israeli and four Palestinian). The organization is currently comprised of 400 fighters from both the sides. Their goal is to help bring an end to the Israeli occupation of West Bank and Gaza Strip by sharing their stories and showing the world that people who once fought each other can work together and struggle jointly for peace.
Bassam Aramin spent his first seven years after the age of 17 in Israeli jails. At the age of 13, Bassam started to resist the struggle by raising the Palestinian flag and if caught he would have spent six months to one year in jail. From the beginning of his resistance to the age of 35, Bassam never met a "normal" Israeli. Instead, his only interactions were with settlers, soldiers, and his jailers. It was a shock for him when he met an Israeli soldier who had never met a "normal" Palestinian. This solider admitted to Bassam that he had served in the occupied territories for five years and had shot, arrested, and tortured them but had never truly seen a Palestinian. He never saw them because Palestinians are not treated as equals or often even as human beings.
Perhaps the biggest losers in the conflict are the Israeli and Palestinian children who are not fighters and don't want to be part of the conflict. Since 2000, roughly 1,000 Palestinian and 125 Israeli children have been killed in the conflict. Bassam's daughter is one of those causalities. On January 16, 2007 at 9:30AM Bassam received a call that his daughter had been shot by an Israeli soldier. Abir Aramin had just finished a math exam and was leaving the school with her sister and two friends. As they were crossing the street, Abir was telling them a joke and they laughed, and then they asked her to tell another joke. Seconds later they heard an explosion, which was actually a shot from an Israeli soldier, and Abir flew and fell face down on the ground. She was shot in the back of the head by a rubber bullet from 15 meters. However, at the beginning of the inquiry, the government insisted there were no Israelis present at the scene, instead claiming she was killed by a stone thrown by a Palestinian. Then the story became she was killed by a tear gas canister. Ultimately, the government stated that there were two soldiers who fired their weapons, out of a total of four present at the school, but they couldn't decide which soldier had actually shot her. Following this declaration, the investigation was closed and no soldier was charged in Abir's death. Bassam is currently appealing the decision, but often it takes up to two years for an appeal to run it's course. If the appeal is ultimately denied, he will then be able to seek justice in the international court.
Although, the tragedy of this situation is undeniable and the actions of one Israeli soldier reprehensible, 100 Israeli soldiers honored Abir's life by establishing a memorial at the site of her death. If warriors can realize the inhumanity of the conflict and use it as a base to sit together at the same table, anyone can.
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