I write this from Khawalid, my (Bedouin) village in the hills of the Galilee, northern Israel, as an Israeli Arab, a Bedouin, (a minority in my own country), to offer my perspective on the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
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All talk of West Bank "convergence" ended in July 2006, when Hezbollah launched a cross-border attack from Lebanon into Israel. Eight Israeli soldiers were killed and two reservists kidnapped. (They later died, and their remains were returned to Israel in a prisoner exchange). This attack triggered a month-long war. Israel responded with an air, sea and ground campaign, while Hezbollah fired some 4,000 rockets and missiles into Israel. My village was under attack.
These plans -- "disengagement," "convergence" -- demonstrate that Israel can make tough decisions on all the issues. But let's negotiate about all of them. Of course, the settlement issue is a big problem. My 2½ years as Israeli Consul in San Francisco (December 2006 - May 2009), as well as my frequent visits to many other places around the world, convinced me - to my great surprise -- that the media's anti-Israel bias in their reporting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is making settlements into an even bigger problem.
This is why I increasingly feel the need to explain from my village in the Galilee what Israel stands for -- and that it wants a democratic, independent Palestinian state existing alongside it in peace and security. I do not seek to portray Israel as the angle Gabriel, who has no flaws; Israel, like America, is not perfect. Rather, I wish to describe the Israeli-Palestinian situation at it really is today -- and to point out both sides' need for peace.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ishmael-khaldi/an-israeli-arabs-views-on_b_752413.html