The other side of conflict: a tale of three girls
Israel, Politics, 10/15/1997

Far away from where their families live in northern Israel, three Arab girls moved to live in Jerusalem to study. The three, two sisters and a friend, had lived a routine quiet life in a number of areas in West Jerusalem over the past year. The fact they are Arabs did not bother that much the cluster of Jewish neighbors around them. But lately, things have dramatically changed when they decided to move to a new building in the old Musrara quarter in Jerusalem, just on the so-called Green Line that separated the two parts of the city until the June 1967 war.

Musrara has been known as center of Arab-Jewish debacles and fights ever since East Jerusalem fell under Israeli occupation in 1967. Over the years, Jews living in Musrara, mainly identified with the right wing parties in Israel, would attack Arab houses just across the main street. Those attacks, carried out by fanatic Jews in retaliation for attacks by Palestinian commandos on Israeli targets, have characterized the relations between the two neighborhoods and to a certain extent the phenomenal conflict between Arabs and Jews.

Many Arabs living in the neighborhood still remember how, in the seventies, they used to stockpile loads of stones and empty bottles on the roofs of their houses. That was the only ammunition they could store under a regime when no weapons were granted for the Arabs.

"It was almost 1:40 early in the morning of Monday when we heard a big boom outside our door," said Sonia Khouri, one of the three young women living in the third floor three room apartment. "I rushed to the door and saw a big flame coming from underneath. All three of us rushed to the balcony and started yelling for help. Luckily a police car passed by and the policemen broke into the flat and rescued us."

So far, no one could identify those who attacked the flat, but more than one explanation was offered. Many in the neighborhood believe the girls were attacked not only because of their Arab identity but simply because they are three young women living on their own. The neighborhood is full of ultra-orthodox Jews who have their own strict social rules. In this community, women are not supposed to live on their own. Besides, secular women are an enemy they love to hate.

Sonia and her sister Wafa', originally from Nazareth, and their third roommate Manal Dhiab of the town of Tamra in the Galilee, north of Israel, said a number of their Jewish neighbors had rushed to help them extinguish the fire and they strongly condemned the assailants, who left no marks other than Hebrew graffiti on the wall saying: "dirty girls."

Rafi, a religious neighbor who wears the traditional Jewish head cap, strongly believes it was the ultra orthodox who set fire to the house. "I feel very very bad. I hate it when people try to impose on others their own way of living. I am religious but I do not feel I belong to those ultra orthodox Jews whose life is totally different than mine. I want to live here in peace. I know today they found a pretext to attack the girls maybe because they are Arab or perhaps because they are young women living on their own. Tomorrow they might not hesitate to attack my house or my family claiming the radio was loud on a Saturday or that my son was singing loud down at the entrance to the building."

Sonia and the others love Arabic music. Just as you enter their flat, you see a case of shelves full of Arabic tapes. But they usually consider the fact that their neighbors might get annoyed sometimes. "We do not play music that loud. We try to keep it at normal volume. We respect other people's feelings and we expect them to respect ours too," said Wafa'. Next to the tapes, one would see a load of books. Some of them at least is fond of the famous Arab poet, Nizar Qabbani, currently hospitalized in London after having a heart attack some weeks ago. Ten volumes of all Qabbani's works were lying on one shelf. Other authors included Dr. Nawal Saadawi, a leading Egyptian feminist.

On the wall hung a big map of Mandatory Palestine in Arabic. Next to the map, there were five copies of original paintings of ancient cities in Palestine, including Jerusalem, Acre, Jaffa and Tiberias. Despite the flood of people who have been visiting their home since the incident five days ago, the girls had managed to keep the house clean and tidy. One of the neighbors, a 32 year old woman, said she once visited the three girls soon after they moved in. She later spoke to a number of people who gathered outside the house, some to express solidarity and others simply out of curiosity, that she did not know at first that the girls were Arab. "Everything was clean and neat. I could not believe my ears when I was told they were Arab," the woman said. Surprised at her failure to hide that part of racism deep in her sub-conscience, the woman later apologized saying she did not mean to be racist but that was the kind of stereotype impression she had of Arabs.

The group of people gathering outside the house included many human right activists from inside Israel. Mostly women, the crowd came to make a point. The fight is not only political or ethnic, said one woman. "We are here to express the need to protect women's right to live in peace anywhere in the country." The group had arrived upon calls for help that the three young women aired through the local media. Many started to collect donations to help the girls repair the main door to the flat, damaged by the fire. The landlord has reportedly refused to repair it and has asked the girls to leave within one month though they had just signed a one year contract.

A speaker from the group insisted that their role was not only to illustrate moral solidarity with the girls but also to provide legal consultation to the landlord in case he needs it. He should apply to the Israeli authorities, and mainly to the property tax authority for compensation and yet has not right whatsoever to compel the girls to pay for the damage," said the speaker who insisted the attack was part of acts of terror that the Israeli government is responsible for. When someone's car is sent on fire by Palestinians national activists, it is the government that compensates him for his looses and not anybody else, he said.

Sonia and the rest said they do not feel like staying in the flat anymore. The atmosphere has become really hectic for them. With each having her own schedule of life and studies, they seem to be unable to handle some extra work on the neighbors front. Wafa' has just started a course in journalism but decided to quit for the time being. She said it was not because of the attack but because she might have second thoughts. Her sister, Sonia has recently finished her studies in archaeology and Manal as graduated from the Hebrew University. Her major was Hebrew linguistics.

The attack on the three girls has once again brought to the surface the set of problems Arab students from various parts of the country face once they come to live and study in Jerusalem. Mansour Abbas, head of the Arab Students' Committee in the Hebrew University, said he has on his desk cases of some 150 to 200 Arab students who are still waiting for domicile facilities from the university. The students are entitled to flats within the university's campus but nothing has been done so far, he said. He noted that in all his meetings with the university authorities, his demands were met with total negligence. The students, he said, have either to fight for their own flats anywhere in the city or simply move back to their respective towns inside Israel and skip university studies.

Previous Stories:
  Battle over lands: blackmail, extortion and murder   (10/14/1997)
  New law would bar Palestinians from claiming compensation from Israel   (9/26/1997)

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