Reconciliation

October 1995

EO TV

(MISSING VO)

Abd el-Karim: We require that they give in to Hamas’s demands. What is your name?

Nachsom Wachsman: I am Nachsom Wachsman. I am here because Hamas kidnapped me, and they want their prisoners to be set free. If not, they will kill me.

Abd el-Karim: May peace be upon the rebel forces. Muhammad ibn Abdullah…

Jehoeda Wachsman: If we can facilitate a change, so that your son does not become a terrorist, a murderer, and my son does not become a victim and now I’m talking about other people, for us it already happened. But we need to see, how much it is possible to avoid this thing. That’s what our first conversation was about. How do we avoid these things repeating themselves? It’s just pointless destruction. Destruction of his son, and destruction of my son. Because his son also didn’t get anything out of it, and as for my son – they took his life… when they forcefully kidnapped him.

Yassin Badr: Just as I am hurt, he is hurt. I expect that this will be a good step forward for the two sides. To many it’s a step that they’ve never seen before.

Interviewer: What are you thinking right now?

Jehoeda Wachsman: I am trying to work on myself, and to tell myself, that I have to… believe, that the father is different from the son. Everyone that loses a soul, it is as if he lost the entire world. His son lost the soul of my son. I work with myself all the time, and keep telling myself, without pause: the father is different from the son.

Jehoeda Wachsman: I heard you had something important to tell me.

Jehoeda Wachsman: We need to establish an educational centre. A big one. To teach understanding, patience and friendship. As fast as possible. So that we can get the education started already… about how to build friendships between simple folks, from this people… and not just have political leaders sign agreements.

Yassin Badr: So that there is an awareness amongst the current generation and amongst later generations. And this, God willing, will be a great deed, one that will wipe away the hatred and animosity. And this will be in the interests of all of the individuals on both sides so that they better understand the peace process and the cycle of violence, who is behind that cycle and the degree to which they will be affected, for they are the ones who will be affected by the stage we are now in.

Yassin Badr: The whole world is a garden. In this garden there are flowers. Some flowers have a pleasant scent, whilst others…

Yassin Badr: May peace be upon you.