A Singaporean journalist gets a peek into how the war has affected Israeli and Palestinian civilians and how they have responded.Walking the streets of downtown Jerusalem, as one of the bloodiest chapters in the decades-long Israel-Palestine conflict plays out, the first thing that strikes you is the constant refrain, “Bring them home”.
During the trip, we were sheltered and nowhere near the fighting, spending most of our time in government buildings and nice hotels, where it seemed like the war was a distant thing. A poster with a collage of pictures of hostages held by Hamas on a street in Jerusalem on March 20. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
It is a human toll not seen since the first Palestine war in 1948, an event so traumatic for the Palestinians they call it the Nakba, or catastrophe in Arabic, as many lost their homes and what they consider their historic land. Muslims waiting for buses at a bus terminal in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem Old City on March 20. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOOLet’s not forget that the status of Jerusalem, which the Israelis and the Palestinians both claim as their capital, has been one of the most intractable issues in the conflict.
As many as 700,000 Israeli settlers – about 10 per cent of Israel’s Jewish population – are living in the occupied West Bank, and there is little chance they will vacate these outposts.In the Old City, some Palestinian shopkeepers spoke to us briefly about the restrictions they face because they do not want to apply for, or were not allowed to hold, Israeli citizenship. This means they are effectively stateless.
“Families are divided. People can’t go back, and they live from hand to mouth. How are they going to reconcile with each other?” he said. “You can see the pain. They are hoping the war will stop, but I think most of them are resigned to the fact that this will go on.”‘Gaza makes me cry every day’: Humanitarian Ang Swee Chai is devoted to helping Palestinians
“Just like you and me, they too share similar dreams and aspirations for their families and people,” he wrote on Facebook after meeting Palestinians from all walks of life during the trip.
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