I have thought about this a lot. I have found that my people are in dire need of information; they want to know what is going on. In Hebrew there is a saying, "if you don't read, you won't be in the know." People must read and understand and then they will be able to decide for themselves. In the past, I thought that I should be the one to decide but I was wrong, now I believe that the decision belongs to the people.
I have a program on television where I translate what the Israelis say, giving people information so they can make up their minds. I tell them what [Shaul] Mofaz says, what MK Aryeh Eldad (who is right wing) says—that he calls for the transfer of Arabs from here—I tell them what MK Fuad [Binyamin] Ben Eliezer says, I also tell them that he is an Iraqi Jew. I tell people about the anarchists
and about the existence of soldiers and officers [in the Israeli army] that refuse to attack the Palestinians.
I talk about stories rather than figures. If we replace the numbers with stories, it has a humanizing effect. Instead of saying, "Three Israeli Zionist criminals were killed" etc., I say, "Yossi, a doctor age 28, was on his way from Hebron to Jerusalem and was killed by a Palestinian bullet. He was the father of three and supported peace." I say that Eyal, a soldier from Haifa, was killed in the Gaza Strip. His mother says, "Enough war. I don't want him to be a hero, I want him to return!"
I want the Palestinian people to think, because we aren't talking about numbers. The Palestinian people are suffering, and the Jewish people have suffered. These are victims. There is no revenge, this is a political conflict. We are stupid to think about revenge. I do not relate to revenge, revenge is akin to spreading poison in your own kitchen. Maybe one of your children will take it and put it in his mouth. Revenge and hatred are toxic, who would be stupid enough to put out poison in their kitchen and then go off to work? We have young children; I don't want them to learn about vengeance, hatred or incitement. If the Israelis want that, it's not my problem—I'm not responsible for Israeli society. As a journalist and as a father, I am responsible for my children and for my society. Instead of teaching them vengeance, I teach them mathematics. Instead of incitement, I teach them physics. Instead of teaching them how to kill, I am educating them in order to study at the university. I am giving them a cultured, more advanced society, this is fundamental.
On my program, I don't narrate in the same way that I am now in this interview. I don't explain things this way. Since the second intifada began, I translate the news that is broadcast on Israel Channel 2, Channel 10,
Army Radio, published in Yedioth Ahronoth, Ha'aretz and Ma'ariv
everyday from 8 to 9. They wait for it, the fighters from the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, even the president watches my program. I know that every mother, father, and child watches the program because they want to know who the Israelis are. We once said "they are the enemies." Now, if you ask anyone in Bethlehem or in other areas who the Israelis are, they'll tell you the difference between MK Ophir Pines and MK Arieh Eldad.