This Issue:

Table of Contents

Cover Story

Cover Story - Spanish Version

Mini-Lesson

Comprehension Quiz

Teacher's Guide and Worksheets

Kids'-Eye Views from the Middle East

• Read 9-year-old Mariana's story
• Read 12-year-old Roni's story

MARIANA FAYEZ ZEIDAN, 9, is from Beit Jala, a Palestinian town next to Bethlehem and across a valley from Jerusalem. Mariana has two younger sisters, Narmin, 7, and Mishlin, 5. Mariana is in the fourth grade at the Good Shepherd School.

How has the conflict in the Middle East changed Mariana's world? In her own words, she explains below.

I was born on August 19, 1992. I'm in the fourth grade at the Good Shepherd School in Beit Jala. Everybody says I'm a very cheerful girl, smiling all the time.

Many Reasons to Smile
My daily schedule is like this: I wake up, wash myself, have my breakfast, and then go to school in my mother's car. There are 34 girls in my class, [both] Muslims and Christians. I'm a Christian, but my best two friends Amal and Muna are Muslims. I don't have Israeli friends, but when I used to go to the shopping mall in Jerusalem I used to play with Israeli girls. I believe all people are the sons of God.

In my spare time, I go swimming. I like painting. And I like doing my homework. When I finish school, I want to be a secretary. I don't want to be a doctor or anything like that. Secretaries can put things in order. I like to put things in order.

The Zeidan family sits together at home. From left to right: Mariana, 9; mother Jaqueline; Mishlin, 5, father Fayed and Narmin, 7.

War Hits Home
If I said that I don't get scared by Israeli tanks, I would be lying. I am scared of the tanks and the planes and bombing. My home in Beit Jala was shelled last May and destroyed. We ran away from the house and we saw it burning behind us. I will never forget that! Now we live in a rented apartment in Bethlehem, near Dheishe Refugee Camp, while our house in Beit Jala is being repaired.

I don't believe this situation will continue. I believe that there will be peace. And there will be a Palestinian and an Israeli state. Each will run its own affairs. I wish to live in a country that is independent and has justice for everyone.

A Palestinian Mother Speaks Out
Jaqueline, Mariana's mother, describes her concerns about her daughter amidst the conflict in their region.

Mariana is a very helpful girl. She is aware of what's going on around here, in all this violence. Sometimes she is so courageous that she makes me afraid. When she starts looking through the windows at the tanks or tries to find the source of shooting, I get scared.

Interviewed by Jamil Hamad/Bethlehem

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RONI ADAR, 12, lives with her parents, two sisters and brother in Maccabim, a small Israeli suburb midway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Built on the Israeli side of the border with the West Bank, it is home to about 4,000 people. Roni's family members see themselves as "typical Israelis" and are not at all religious. Her father Doron, 48, is a photographer and her mother Zila, 49, is a businesswoman who once served in the Israeli army.

How has the conflict in the Middle East changed Roni's world? In her own words, she explains below.

From the garden of my house I can see a wooden post in a field about 200 meters away that marks the beginning of the West Bank. Just beyond it, there's a Palestinian village called Beit Sira. When I look across at Beit Sira, I don't see enemies, I see neighbors. We used to go there often to buy things, but we have stopped. I miss going there. It would be more human to have good relations. It doesn't make sense not to talk to each other when we live so close.

A Kid's-Eye View
We don't really talk about politics in school. Some of the boys have firm political ideas, but none of the girls do. At school recently we were discussing what we would put in a time capsule and we decided it would be an Israeli flag, a map of the country and the Old Testament - but as a history book, not something religious. I think those things represent me as well - plus a pair of ballet shoes!

My greatest love is ballet. I travel to Tel Aviv twice every week for a two-hour session with my teacher. When I grow up I want to be a ballerina, and if that doesn't work out, I'd like to teach ballet. My favorite lessons at school are Art and Arabic. My favorite TV programs are Beverly Hills 90210, Survivor and ER.

Too Many Scary Situations
I think of myself as more Israeli than Jewish. I recently celebrated my Bat-mitzvah but it wasn't at all religious. We had a large meal for all my relatives and then I went on a special trip to America, which was great. Now terrible things are happening all the time, and it feels like something could also happen to me or my family. The situation has reached the point where it's scary. I didn't really feel affected by terrorism until 9/11. We were in New York just the week before. That really hit me. Then a couple of weeks ago a Palestinian woman blew herself up a couple of miles from here. I had thought that nothing like that could ever happen around here.

A Plan for Peace
I think peace is definitely possible, and it has to happen. People on both sides simply have to sit down, talk to each other and be willing to compromise. I don't think there's any real danger to the existence of Israel. It may take a long time to reach peace, but I don't think it will get so bad I'll have to leave my home.

An Israeli Father Speaks Out
Doron, Roni's father, says in recent weeks he has begun to worry in a way he never did before. In his own words, he describes how daily life has taken a frightening turn in his region.

I'm not worried that the children won't have a future, but for the first time I'm worried what the future will look like. Before, we were like any normal family, mainly bothered about social problems. Now it's gone crazy. I don't see a solution coming [and] can no longer see what form it will take.

Both sides are suffering. There is a shooting attack taking place right now exactly where my son Oren was camping two weeks ago. I would ban my kids from going to discos or shopping malls, but they don't go anyway, so it's not important. [But] the danger is now reaching places it should never have gotten to.

Interviewed by Matthew Kalman/Maccabim

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