“Enough with war! We want peace!” a young boy shouted a few seconds before President Shimon Peres starts his speech for the 15th commemoration of Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination.

Around 25,000 Israelis of all ages – among them thousands of students – gathered at Rabin’s Square on October 30 in order to pay honour to the visionary of peace. “We can’t live in a status of continuous fear. We’ ve got to co-exist with our Palestinian neighbours,” Shiran, a 17 year-old schoolgirl from Herzliya told me.

It was really hopeful watching young Israelis advocating for peace thus honouring the legacy of Rabin.

However, the truth is that the once-strong “camp of peace” has been significantly weakened, since the fear of terrorism dominated the country. The second Indifanda of 2000, along with random terrorist attacks against civilians in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, made Israelis far more mistrustful of the peace
process.

The fanatics on both sides have done a terribly good job in establishing a status-quo of fear against the “other”. In Israel, the traditional existential concern about the viability of the Jewish nation has been many times manipulated by the ultra-orthodox far right. For those who see a potential terrorist in the face of every Arab, no space for a Palestinian state exists.

But, actually, such perceptions are also fed by the intrasigence and hate coming from the fundamentalists in Gaza and Lebanon.

During the last years, with their hateful, usually racist, threats against Israel’s existence, Hamas and Hezbollah have contributed to two things: the weakening of the Israeli “camp of peace” and the alienation of the Palestinians.

“Even if Netaniyahu agrees with Abu Mazen (President Mahmoud Abbas) about a peace process plan, Hamas will have different plans,” says Noel, a supporter of the liberal Kadima party from northern Tel Aviv.
Indeed, since the death of Yasser Arafat in 2004 the Palestinian side seems to have a leadership gap. His successor, Mahmoud Abbas, despite the international support on his person, has failed to impose his authority over Hamas.

On the Israeli side, after the assassination of Rabin in 1995 and the collapse of the Oslo Process, the doctrine seems to be synopsized in two words: circumvallation and preservance (of the status-quo). This situation may create a virtual environment of safety and stability, but those in the know understand that a spark is needed to bring the Holy Land again a step before war.

The hope for peace between Jews and Arabs, Israelis and Palestinians is not in the hands of their leaders. It is the younger generation which holds the key for a peaceful co-existence between the two peoples. That was my thought while I was observing two schoolboys, no more than 14 years-old, playing soccer in an open field, in Abu Tor neighborhood of Jerusalem. They were a Jewish and a Muslim, Aaaron and Basim respectively. “He is my best friend!

“We play here every day after school,” Basim said before going to kick the ball.

The scene brought to my mind the lyrics of a famous poem by Yannis Ritsos: This soil is theirs and ours. Nobody can take it away from us.
Nicolas Mottas is a graduate of Political Science and Diplomacy, a freelance writer and a postgraduate student of International Conflict Resolution and Mediation program at Tel Aviv University.