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Students taken inside Israeli-Palestinian conflict

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| Tuesday, June 22, 2004 | No comments posted

Cynthia Beaudette

By Cynthia Beaudette

MUSCATINE JOURNAL

MUSCATINE, Iowa � Her parents named her Hagit, the Hebrew word for holiday, an ironic contrast to her daily life as an Israeli citizen.

Hagit Biton makes sure her apartment is neat and organized each day before leaving to assume daily activities in her war-torn land because she knows she may not return and wants to be sure her mother will not have to deal with the additional grief of sorting through her personal possessions.

"You think of crazy things people don't think of," the young Israeli woman said as she talked to Kathy Sunderbruch's Honors Colloquium class at Muscatine Community College.

Sunderbruch said the purpose of the class is to expose students to aspects of life they are not likely to encounter in the usual classroom.

"This is such an important issue," she said. "It's vital we consider both sides."

Former Palestine resident and MCC professor John Dabeet can relate to the lack of peace Biton refers to. He began striving to bring peace to his Middle Eastern homeland during his high school years.

Although their wish is the same, their perspectives are as different as their cultures.

Biton spoke and gestured with confidence, telling students that women in Israel have more rights than females in some Arab nations and that is one reason many people want to live there.

Although that aspect of the culture is appealing, she said most Arabs do not befriend Israeli people.

"Most of the Arabs still want Israelis to disappear," she added.

But Dabeet said he does not want Biton or anyone else to disappear. He just wants the members of his family to be safe and free.

Dabeet was born in Jerusalem and resided in Ramallah, Palestine, where he graduated from a private high school and obtained his bachelor's degree in business administration/economics before coming to the United States in 1989 to further his education. He has a master's degree in economics from Kutztown University in Pennsylvania.

In 2000, Dabeet became president and founder of Americans & Palestinians for Peace, or AMPAL, a national nonprofit organization that seeks to educate Americans about the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Dabeet said he is aware of the suicide bombers who die in the name of their Islamic religion for an Arab victory over the Israeli-dominated land, but he calls those people extremists.

"I believe there is now not any other solution but peace to solve this conflict," he said.

Cynthia Beaudette can be contacted at (563) 263-2331, Ext. 323, or cynthia.beaudette@muscatinejournal.com.