"You have to know who you are," Said responded after detailing his ethnicities. Said's explanation affords a unique insight into a nationalistic Israeli who maintains his ethnic background. His characteristics appear to bridge the divide between the Israeli and Palestinian world. Though many Arabs populate Israel, few would claim these qualities, as Palestinians and Israeli clash. However, this was the purpose of visiting Kibbutz Metzer: to experience the bridge between the Palestinian and Israeli communities.
Said discussed his job, his lifestyle and how he responds to conflict around him. As a municipalities worker, he oversees the children's organizations in his area, both Palestinian and Israeli. Said's daily tasks epitomize the possibility of erasing the conflict. Yet this only appears on a small scale. After giving a brief description of his job, he answered several questions from the group. Questions circled round how his children feel; he paused before answering whether or not he would support his son joining the Israeli army. As a Palestinian, Said, "...can't identify with this system." Palestinian Israelis do not join the army, he clarified, as they would be fighting their own relatives. This is the division that occurs; since they don't join the army, certain benefits are not available to them. Said understands the repercussions, yet still he cannot include himself in the military actions. Though Said feels comfortable living in Israel, there exists a bias. He stated, "There are things you can't put your finger on, yet you know you're excluded." On a daily basis, he oversees youth groups attempting to destroy the barriers that separate our two societies, yet still he experiences a lack of respect because of his background.
Our visit to Kibbutz Metzer concluded with Dov, an Israeli worker for the kibbutz who explained the combined efforts by the Kibbutz with the Palestinian city of Maiser. Said and Dov are friends whose efforts are directed at destroying the barrier between Palestinians and Israelis. For example, the kibbutz shares the water well with Maiser and their agriculture projects interweave with one another. Maiser and the Kibbutz cooperate in harvesting the olive trees that permeate the fields in between the two. Dov acknowledges that "there is nothing closer to the Jewish people than Palestinian people." This statement asserts the brotherhood that should exist between these two cultures. Though our religions may be different, the Palestinians and Israelis have persevered beyond the strict British mandate to survive in the harsh climate of the Middle East to create a fruitful nation that blossoms amongst the bleak desert.
