The lives of Palestinians in West Bank refugee camps and surrounding villages have become a "nightmare" as a result of the intensified military campaigns by the IDF against militant groups operating there, says Haaretz West Bank correspondent Hagar Shezaf on the Haaretz Podcast. 

Two days after the Gaza cease-fire went into effect, Israel began operation "Iron Wall" - an aggressive campaign targeting Palestinian militant groups. It is focused on the Jenin refugee camp, and includes air strikes and raids, the demolishing of infrastructure like water, roads, and electricity, and repeatedly forcing civilians out of their homes.

“You can't argue there are militants in these places, but at the same time, there are regular people who just live there, and their life has become a nightmare over the past two years,” particularly since October 7, says Shezaf, discussing how the war - and the cease-fire - has affected the West Bank, which she has covered for the past five years.

 

The lives of Palestinians in West Bank refugee camps and surrounding villages have become a "nightmare" as a result of the intensified military campaigns by the IDF against militant groups operating there, says Haaretz West Bank correspondent Hagar Shezaf on the Haaretz Podcast.&nbsp;
Two days after the Gaza cease-fire went into effect, Israel began operation "Iron Wall" - an aggressive campaign targeting Palestinian militant groups. It is focused on the Jenin refugee camp, and includes air strikes and raids, the&nbsp;demolishing of infrastructure like water, roads, and electricity, and repeatedly forcing civilians out of their homes.
&ldquo;You can't argue there are militants in these places, but at the same time, there are regular people who just live there, and their life has become a nightmare over the past two years,&rdquo; particularly since October 7, says Shezaf, discussing how the war - and the cease-fire - has affected the West Bank, which she has covered for the past five years.
&nbsp;

From Haaretz – Israel's oldest daily newspaper – a weekly podcast in English on Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World, hosted by Allison Kaplan Sommer.

From Haaretz – Israel's oldest daily newspaper – a weekly podcast in English on Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World, hosted by Allison Kaplan Sommer.

Your audio guide to Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World.

Haaretz Podcast

From Haaretz – Israel's oldest daily newspaper – the Haaretz weekly podcast in English on Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World, hosted by Allison Kaplan Sommer. 

From Haaretz – Israel's oldest daily newspaper – the Haaretz weekly podcast in English on Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World, hosted by Allison Kaplan Sommer.

'We're beyond the point of denying that Israel has an apartheid system in the West Bank'

Ittay Flescher, like most peace activists who devote their lives to cultivating Israeli-Palestinian dialogue, has gotten used to being called dangerously deluded and naive. 

“I hear it at least five or six days a week. Recently, there have been thousands of online comments saying that I am naive,” he told host Allison Kaplan Sommer on the Haaretz Podcast, in a conversation about his newly published book “The Holy and the Broken: a cry for Israeli-Palestinian peace from a land that must be shared.” 

After teaching about Israel and the Middle East in his native Australia, Flescher immigrated to Israel from Australia six years ago. Since then, he has brought together Israeli and Palestinian teens aged 12 to 16 through Kids4Peace, a program where they talk about religion, identity, history, learn each other’s languages, play games and attend summer camp. The goal of the exercise is for participants to “become less afraid of one another and build friendships and build trust.”

Since October 7, that work has become significantly much more challenging. In his book, he writes of these challenges – including a personal crisis of faith sparked by seeing Palestinian teens he worked with expressing support for the actions of Hamas on October 7 on social media. 

“I think anyone that works in peacebuilding and says nothing changed in the last year is not telling the truth,” he said. But at the same time, he stressed, “There are also hundreds of other stories of people who, as a result of these kinds of experiences and dialogue, are speaking out against October 7 if they're Palestinians. And Israelis who are speaking out against the destruction and bombing of Gaza.”

Ittay Flescher, like most peace activists who devote their lives to cultivating Israeli-Palestinian dialogue, has gotten used to being called dangerously deluded and naive.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I hear it at least five or six days a week. Recently, there have been thousands of online comments saying that I am naive,&rdquo; he told host Allison Kaplan Sommer on the Haaretz Podcast, in a conversation about his newly published book &ldquo;The Holy and the Broken: a cry for Israeli-Palestinian peace from a land that must be shared.&rdquo;&nbsp;
After teaching about Israel and the Middle East in his native Australia, Flescher immigrated to Israel from Australia six years ago. Since then, he has brought together Israeli and Palestinian teens aged 12 to 16 through Kids4Peace, a program where they talk about religion, identity, history, learn each other&rsquo;s languages, play games and attend summer camp. The goal of the exercise is for participants to &ldquo;become less afraid of one another and build friendships and build trust.&rdquo;
Since October 7, that work has become significantly much more challenging. In his book, he writes of these challenges &ndash; including a personal crisis of faith sparked by seeing Palestinian teens he worked with expressing support for the actions of Hamas on October 7 on social media.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I think anyone that works in peacebuilding and says nothing changed in the last year is not telling the truth,&rdquo; he said. But at the same time, he stressed, &ldquo;There are also hundreds of other stories of people who, as a result of these kinds of experiences and dialogue, are speaking out against October 7 if they're Palestinians. And Israelis who are speaking out against the destruction and bombing of Gaza.&rdquo;

I get called naive every day after October 7. But I won’t stop trying to build Israeli-Palestinian peace' 

Israel and Ireland are in the midst of a diplomatic crisis – with the Israeli embassy in Dublin closed in protest of Ireland’s decision to join South Africa’s genocide lawsuit at the International Court of Justice and its recognition of a Palestinian state.

But that didn’t stop the Irish embassy in Tel Aviv from inviting peace activist Bronagh Hinds to meet with Jewish and Palestinian civil society organizations and women’s groups to share the lessons learned in Northern Ireland and encourage them to take bold steps towards peace even as their leaders hesitate. 

Hines is best known for helping create a women's coalition that played a key role in the Good Friday agreement negotiations. On the Haaretz Podcast, Bronagh discussed her visit and the tense Israeli-Irish standoff. “In Ireland, people are sad about the shuttering and the breaking of the relationship,” she said, but “they also understand the Irish government's position.”

She noted that until the 1990’s, the ethnic and territorial conflicts in the world considered most intractable were Northern Ireland, South Africa and Israel and Palestine. “I'm not surprised that South Africa and Ireland did what they did, because in both of those conflicts, the issues of equality and the human rights and the humanitarian issues were extremely important … I truly believe that the Irish government is doing what it has done from an understanding about how one gets to a peace process.“ 

The process of reconciliation between peoples with a violent and traumatic history of conflict is deeply challenging, Hinds admitted, emphasizing that successful conflict resolution must be “as inclusive as possible.” In Northern Ireland, the Good Friday talks “included people who called their counterparts terrorists,” she said. “It’s all painful, but the prize is peace in the end.”

Israel and Ireland are in the midst of a diplomatic crisis &ndash; with the Israeli embassy in Dublin closed in protest of Ireland&rsquo;s decision to join South Africa&rsquo;s genocide lawsuit at the International Court of Justice and its recognition of a Palestinian state.
But that didn&rsquo;t stop the Irish embassy in Tel Aviv from inviting peace activist Bronagh Hinds to meet with Jewish and Palestinian civil society organizations and women&rsquo;s groups to share the lessons learned in Northern Ireland and encourage them to take bold steps towards peace even as their leaders hesitate.&nbsp;
Hines is best known for helping create a women's coalition that played a key role in the Good Friday agreement negotiations. On the Haaretz Podcast, Bronagh discussed her visit and the tense Israeli-Irish standoff. &ldquo;In Ireland, people are sad about the shuttering and the breaking of the relationship,&rdquo; she said, but &ldquo;they also understand the Irish government's position.&rdquo;
She noted that until the 1990&rsquo;s, the ethnic and territorial conflicts in the world considered most intractable were Northern Ireland, South Africa and Israel and Palestine. &ldquo;I'm not surprised that South Africa and Ireland did what they did, because in both of those conflicts, the issues of equality and the human rights and the humanitarian issues were extremely important &hellip; I truly believe that the Irish government is doing what it has done from an understanding about how one gets to a peace process.&ldquo;&nbsp;
The process of reconciliation between peoples with a violent and traumatic history of conflict is deeply challenging, Hinds admitted, emphasizing that successful conflict resolution must be &ldquo;as inclusive as possible.&rdquo; In Northern Ireland, the Good Friday talks &ldquo;included people who called their counterparts terrorists,&rdquo; she said.&nbsp;&ldquo;It&rsquo;s all painful, but the prize is peace in the end.&rdquo;

What can Israelis and Palestinians learn from post-conflict Ireland?

With 59 hostages still in Gaza, both dead and alive, Jon Polin, the father of slain Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, doesn’t believe it’s appropriate for any Jew to have a festive Passover celebrating freedom this year. 

"The point," he says, "is let's lean into the pain this year, and not even try to sugarcoat it for our kids"

Polin and his wife Rachel became prominent international advocates for their son Hersh’s release until the tragic news of his murder by Hamas terrorists in an underground tunnel last August. The couple continue to advocate tirelessly for the release of the remaining hostages.

On the Haaretz Podcast, Polin spoke with host Allison Kaplan Sommer about how his family is facing their difficult first Passover Seder since Hersh’s death and how he believes others should treat the holiday.

“We've talked about symbolic things that people should do: Maybe put a lemon on your table. A lemon because it's yellow, the color of the hostage struggle, and because it's bitter - to reflect the bitterness that the hostages and their families and all the Jewish people are going through,” he said, also suggesting “instead of just dipping our greens in the salt water, let's drink some salt water, because we know from testimonies of recently released hostages that is what they are drinking." 

In recent weeks, Polin made headlines in Israel by calling for members of the coalition to refrain from wearing yellow ribbon pins symbolizing solidarity with hostage families and on the podcast, explained his rationale. 

“If you're in a position of authority and you are not willing to do the things necessary to bring home hostages, that's your political choice. But then, don't wear the pin.”

With 59 hostages still in Gaza, both dead and alive, Jon Polin, the father of slain Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, doesn&rsquo;t believe it&rsquo;s appropriate for any Jew to have a festive Passover celebrating freedom this year.&nbsp;
"The point," he says, "is let's lean into the pain this year, and not even try to sugarcoat it for our kids"
Polin and his wife Rachel became prominent international advocates for their son Hersh&rsquo;s release until the tragic news of his murder by Hamas terrorists in an underground tunnel last August. The couple continue to advocate tirelessly for the release of the remaining hostages.
On the Haaretz Podcast, Polin spoke with host Allison Kaplan Sommer about how his family is facing their difficult first Passover Seder since Hersh&rsquo;s death and how he believes others should treat the holiday.
&ldquo;We've talked about symbolic things that people should do: Maybe put a lemon on your table. A lemon because it's yellow, the color of the hostage struggle, and because it's bitter - to reflect the bitterness that the hostages and their families and all the Jewish people are going through,&rdquo; he said, also suggesting &ldquo;instead of just dipping our greens in the salt water, let's drink some salt water, because we know from testimonies of recently released hostages that is what they are drinking."&nbsp;
In recent weeks, Polin made headlines in Israel by calling for members of the coalition to refrain from wearing yellow ribbon pins symbolizing solidarity with hostage families and on the podcast, explained his rationale.&nbsp;
&ldquo;If you're in a position of authority and you are not willing to do the things necessary to bring home hostages, that's your political choice. But then, don't wear the pin.&rdquo;

'We're beyond the point of denying that Israel has an apartheid system in the West Bank'

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