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CNN Saturday Morning News
Interview With Ma'ayan Poleg, Mohammad Motar
Aired April 26, 2003 - 09:20 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KELLI ARENA, CNN ANCHOR: To the ongoing Middle East conflict now. This coming Tuesday in Ramallah, the Palestinian parliament is to vote on the cabinet of Palestine prime minister designate Mahmoud Abbas, who's more commonly known as Abu Mazen. It's the final step before the expected release of a new Mideast peace plan. President Bush talked about the so-called road map to peace with NBC's Tom Brokaw.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, NBC NEWS)
TOM BROKAW, NBC NEWS: Is the Middle East peace process going to accelerate greatly now that Arafat has accepted a prime minister?
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think it'll -- it will accelerate. The selection of Abu Mazen as the prime minister is very positive, primarily because Abu Mazen has stated publicly that he is against terror, and will use whatever powers he has to fight off the terrorist activities that have really prevented peace from moving forward.
BROKAW: Will you him to the White House without Arafat for...
BUSH: I will one of these days, yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ARENA: The road map was prepared by the U.S., the U.N., the European Union, and Russia. It calls for creating a Palestinian state by 2005 on land now held by Israel.
Well, joining us now are two young people who may one day be sowing seeds of peace in the Middle East. Mohammad Motar and Ma'ayan Poleg are in our New York bureau.
Thanks so much for joining us, both of you.
MOHAMMAD MOTAR, SEEDS OF PEACE: Thank you.
MA'AYAN POLEG, SEEDS OF PEACE: Thank you.
ARENA: Mohammad, we will start with you. You live in Gaza City, but you are here studying in the United States.
MOTAR: Right.
ARENA: How has your perspective changed since you have been away from home looking at things from quite a distance?
MOTAR: Well, actually, the biggest challenge for me being here away from my family, and hearing about all the things that are going on back home, is so hard, so I had to be able to get in touch with my family all the time and make sure they are OK.
And being a member in the Seeds of Peace organization is a very important part of my life, that truly helps me do that, where I have a lot of friends who, at least, told me, they like to call me all the time whenever they hear of anything going on back home, to make sure that my family is all right, and I am doing fine.
ARENA: When you do talk to your family, are they optimistic about the state of events? Are you optimistic?
MOTAR: Well, of course, they are always optimistic, we always hold hope in our hearts for the future. We always hold the hope for the future and the new generations who -- we are -- because we never fear that war will go forever. We always have the hope that peace will be achieved one day, and that's why we are working hard and we are doing our best in this organization, because hope is still in our hearts.
ARENA: Ma'ayan...
POLEG: Yes.
ARENA: ... what is the most striking difference for you living here, versus living in Israel?
POLEG: Well, basically, I don't live here. I am here for just a week. But living in Israel right now, things are very rough. The situation is very sensitive between the Palestinians and the Israelis. There is a lot of violence going on, a lot of people are very scared. People are afraid. It's a very hard situation.
ARENA: Would you describe it as a hopeless situation, or are you also optimistic about the future?
POLEG: I am very optimistic. I don't think it's a hopeless situation. I think it's the people that have lost hope. But that is why we have Seeds of Peace, because we still have the hope. We are working for a better future. I don't believe this is a hopeless situation, because if it was, I weren't here, I wasn't here to be trying to work for a better future.
ARENA: Now, both of you, obviously, participating in the Seeds of Peace program. How vital has that been in your being able to understand where the other is coming from? Mohammad let's start with you.
MOTAR: Well, it's always good to have the opportunity to know what's the other side is thinking about you. For me, I have never known -- I have never heard an Israeli telling me what they ever thought about Palestinians, or, like, anything about Palestinians. I was asked first, what do I think about Israel? for instance, by an Israeli, and that was, like -- that was a really hard question, because it was asked by one of my friends.
And I would say -- I wouldn't say Israel our -- is our enemy, but I still had a friend there. I can't say it's our friends, because this war is still going on, and that situation and my family's still suffering, for instance, from that bad situation.
So it's always good to have -- to get to know people from the other side and open discussions between those, especially youngsters, and that kind of negotiations that we had the opportunity to do in the camp, in our camp, in the Seeds of Peace camp.
And it's really great for me, because I get to think bad things from the -- and to look at them from the third dimension also, because my -- like, I used to take things and think about things from only the Palestinian point of view, it -- and the Palestinian perspective before. But since I started joining Seeds of Peace, I started to think about others, and put myself in the others' position when I think -- when I think about things.
ARENA: Ma'ayan, have you had a similar experience?
POLEG: Yes. The most important thing I got from Seeds of Peace is understanding of the other side. I was always a person that believed in peace, but I never really understood what is going on the other side. Just a few weeks ago, there was a bombing right outside my house, and as hard as it was for me, I did not turn to hate or anger, because, in some ways, I understand why the person that committed the suicide attack did that.
And I think that is what allows our friendships to go on, because I know that no matter what I think, or my Palestinian friends think, we understand each other, we respect our ideas, our opinions. That is what makes our organization so unique, so special.
ARENA: Well, thanks to you both. I wish you both luck. Thanks for joining us.
POLEG: Thank you.
MOTAR: Thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired April 26, 2003 - 09:20 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KELLI ARENA, CNN ANCHOR: To the ongoing Middle East conflict now. This coming Tuesday in Ramallah, the Palestinian parliament is to vote on the cabinet of Palestine prime minister designate Mahmoud Abbas, who's more commonly known as Abu Mazen. It's the final step before the expected release of a new Mideast peace plan. President Bush talked about the so-called road map to peace with NBC's Tom Brokaw.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, NBC NEWS)
TOM BROKAW, NBC NEWS: Is the Middle East peace process going to accelerate greatly now that Arafat has accepted a prime minister?
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think it'll -- it will accelerate. The selection of Abu Mazen as the prime minister is very positive, primarily because Abu Mazen has stated publicly that he is against terror, and will use whatever powers he has to fight off the terrorist activities that have really prevented peace from moving forward.
BROKAW: Will you him to the White House without Arafat for...
BUSH: I will one of these days, yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ARENA: The road map was prepared by the U.S., the U.N., the European Union, and Russia. It calls for creating a Palestinian state by 2005 on land now held by Israel.
Well, joining us now are two young people who may one day be sowing seeds of peace in the Middle East. Mohammad Motar and Ma'ayan Poleg are in our New York bureau.
Thanks so much for joining us, both of you.
MOHAMMAD MOTAR, SEEDS OF PEACE: Thank you.
MA'AYAN POLEG, SEEDS OF PEACE: Thank you.
ARENA: Mohammad, we will start with you. You live in Gaza City, but you are here studying in the United States.
MOTAR: Right.
ARENA: How has your perspective changed since you have been away from home looking at things from quite a distance?
MOTAR: Well, actually, the biggest challenge for me being here away from my family, and hearing about all the things that are going on back home, is so hard, so I had to be able to get in touch with my family all the time and make sure they are OK.
And being a member in the Seeds of Peace organization is a very important part of my life, that truly helps me do that, where I have a lot of friends who, at least, told me, they like to call me all the time whenever they hear of anything going on back home, to make sure that my family is all right, and I am doing fine.
ARENA: When you do talk to your family, are they optimistic about the state of events? Are you optimistic?
MOTAR: Well, of course, they are always optimistic, we always hold hope in our hearts for the future. We always hold the hope for the future and the new generations who -- we are -- because we never fear that war will go forever. We always have the hope that peace will be achieved one day, and that's why we are working hard and we are doing our best in this organization, because hope is still in our hearts.
ARENA: Ma'ayan...
POLEG: Yes.
ARENA: ... what is the most striking difference for you living here, versus living in Israel?
POLEG: Well, basically, I don't live here. I am here for just a week. But living in Israel right now, things are very rough. The situation is very sensitive between the Palestinians and the Israelis. There is a lot of violence going on, a lot of people are very scared. People are afraid. It's a very hard situation.
ARENA: Would you describe it as a hopeless situation, or are you also optimistic about the future?
POLEG: I am very optimistic. I don't think it's a hopeless situation. I think it's the people that have lost hope. But that is why we have Seeds of Peace, because we still have the hope. We are working for a better future. I don't believe this is a hopeless situation, because if it was, I weren't here, I wasn't here to be trying to work for a better future.
ARENA: Now, both of you, obviously, participating in the Seeds of Peace program. How vital has that been in your being able to understand where the other is coming from? Mohammad let's start with you.
MOTAR: Well, it's always good to have the opportunity to know what's the other side is thinking about you. For me, I have never known -- I have never heard an Israeli telling me what they ever thought about Palestinians, or, like, anything about Palestinians. I was asked first, what do I think about Israel? for instance, by an Israeli, and that was, like -- that was a really hard question, because it was asked by one of my friends.
And I would say -- I wouldn't say Israel our -- is our enemy, but I still had a friend there. I can't say it's our friends, because this war is still going on, and that situation and my family's still suffering, for instance, from that bad situation.
So it's always good to have -- to get to know people from the other side and open discussions between those, especially youngsters, and that kind of negotiations that we had the opportunity to do in the camp, in our camp, in the Seeds of Peace camp.
And it's really great for me, because I get to think bad things from the -- and to look at them from the third dimension also, because my -- like, I used to take things and think about things from only the Palestinian point of view, it -- and the Palestinian perspective before. But since I started joining Seeds of Peace, I started to think about others, and put myself in the others' position when I think -- when I think about things.
ARENA: Ma'ayan, have you had a similar experience?
POLEG: Yes. The most important thing I got from Seeds of Peace is understanding of the other side. I was always a person that believed in peace, but I never really understood what is going on the other side. Just a few weeks ago, there was a bombing right outside my house, and as hard as it was for me, I did not turn to hate or anger, because, in some ways, I understand why the person that committed the suicide attack did that.
And I think that is what allows our friendships to go on, because I know that no matter what I think, or my Palestinian friends think, we understand each other, we respect our ideas, our opinions. That is what makes our organization so unique, so special.
ARENA: Well, thanks to you both. I wish you both luck. Thanks for joining us.
POLEG: Thank you.
MOTAR: Thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
