Birzeit--This morning, Monday, September 30, Suzan Mreish and Mohammed Abu Obeid, student volunteers at the Birzeit University Public Relations Office, polled faculty and students at the university to find out their opinions about recent events. They asked participants to respond to two questions: 1) What led to these demonstrations?, and 2) What comes next? The following were selected from their responses.
"The tunnel caused the eruption of an accumulation of provocations. The Netanyahu government does not realize the meaning of peace. It realize only the power of power. We are willing to break out into a "new Intifada" as long as Israel continues oppression and intimidation and persecution. Our lives are cheap in the face of the noble aim of living with dignity and freedom."
"The march was not a reaction to the tunnel ... The general aim is to get rid of the occupation."
"The aim of our demonstration was to close the tunnel and to enter Jerusalem, but this wasn't the only thing. Many things over time led to this eruption. We have not picked the fruits of peace. The situation become worse, especially in the shadow of the Netanyahu government. He is so arrogant, haughty. He looks for his interest only; he doesn't care even about his own people or his own soldiers."
"The first demonstration was meant to reflect the mood of the student movement at Birzeit University and to reject the decisions that Israel was taking each day.... It was to express the link of all Palestinian people to Jerusalem and to give protest to the actions that Israel has used."
"This was a normal reaction to all the humiliation experienced under the Netanyahu government."
"What has happened is a result of the non-war/non-peace situation facing Palestinians and the ongoing intimidation, persecution, oppression and the indescribable procedures taken by the Israel against the Palestinian people. Netanyahu, the intransigent man, is picking up the fruits of his stupid policies. He must know that we are not scared by his tanks, his American Apache helicopters, and the heavily armed soldiers–since our determination is much stronger than them."
"The demonstration erupted from 30 years of continuous occupation. We did not shoot at them in Haifa, in Tel Aviv—they came to Ramallah and Nablus. The tunnel was the straw that broke the camel's back. The frustration arose from the delay in implementation of key aspects of the agreements and the postponment of issues central to Palestininians while at the same time taking and implementing important decisions against the Palestinians—like the expansion of settlements, the confiscation of Palestinian lands, the continued closure, the economic strangulation of Palestinians.... The physical and psychological pressure leads to explosion."
"Three years of accumulated anger inside the Palestinian people led to this eruption, as well as widespread feelings among the Palestinian people that the Oslo Accords brought worse treatment rather than better. It wasn't only the tunnel."
"Martyrs and victims, and all the injured people sacrificed for the sake of the first spark. Jerusalem is a red line that cannot be crossed. After these bloody incidents we must not forget their sacrifices, we must fulfill their aims, namely access to Jerusalem. Jerusalem will be the capital of Palestine at any price. The Palestinian Authority must abide by the basic principles of the Palestinian people."
"The Palestinian Authority should take a firm stand concerning the basic principles of the Palestinian people."
"An international summit must be convened to oblige Israel to withdraw from all of "Zone A" and to redeploy in Hebron and to close the tunnel in Jerusalem and to start negotiations to return Jerusalem so that we avoid more bloodshed from either side."
"We must continue with struggle and revolution, even if this results in the martyrdom of all Palestinian people. The peace process and negotiations must be halted because they have proven barren, especially with respect to the Palestinian issues of Jerusalem, prisoners, and settlements."
"The political leadership must take a political decision to come together--the only fitting reward for the price the Palestinian people have paid during these days."
"The solution is the implementation of all what has been agreed upon between the Palestinian people and Israel. When I say Israel, I mean any government--Labor or Likud. There also must be improvement of the situation and conditions for Palestinians--economically and politically. Internally the Palestinian Authority must improve its performance. They must close the tunnel--but this is not so important in the midst of other issues. If they take steps like withdrawing from Hebron, actualizing other basic Palestinian rights this issue may not seem so important."