GAZA
"My name is Abu Mohamed; I'm 45 years old. I am a member of the Nasser Salah al-Din Brigades. My enemy is the state of Israel and anyone who supports them. I joined the resistance when I was 16 years old. The Israelis stole our land; they took our country; they killed our children, wives, and families. The reason I am fighting is because Islam orders us to do so. I've seen a lot of my enemies; we continuously face them. I am not afraid; I feel honored and proud because I am Muslim and a Palestinian mujahid. I'm recovering part of my dignity, so all is good for me. We have very basic and simple weapons, yet we are facing one of the strongest armies in the world. Just being on your feet facing this army is already a victory, and we will never give up. In 20 years we will have absolute freedom for the Palestinians. Freedom is something very, very important for me; it is a dream in my life to see my country, a land free of our enemies and ruled by Islam."
Karim Ben Khelifa
GAZA
"My name is Adi; I'm 22 years old, and I'm an officer in the Israeli army. Anyone who tries to cross the border illegally to do bad things is an enemy. The reason that I am doing what I am doing is to protect my country, first and foremost against terrorism and secondly there is also a lot of drugs and other illegal things that have been smuggled across the border, just things that corrupt society. I have never met face to face with an enemy in my entire three years in the army. I think mostly my fears [are] that something happened to one of my soldiers. Freedom should be global, and I think once there is no more wars between people and no more violence, that is when people will be truly free. Terrorism is one of the worst things invented by humanity. It is just an insult to everything that separates us from animals; it is an insult to democracy and an insult to everything we try to be. I want to educate people; I want to be a big part of a change. I hope that being a teacher will be able to make people think differently, be more honest, be nicer to each other, and to be more respectful."
Karim Ben Khelifa
GAZA
"My name is Abu Yasser; I'm 32 years old and I'm a commander in the Al Aqsa Brigade, Jihad al-Amarin branch. My enemy is Israel. I started to fight when I was 15 years old. It was during the first Intifada. It wasn't like today, with weapons; back then, it was about throwing stones. Later I was sentenced to seven years in an Israeli prison. After three and a half years, I was released. Then I started working for the Palestinian Authorities, and then I joined the resistance. I met my enemy many times, not just once. There were regular clashes between us and them. Today, all the Palestinians in Gaza, in the West Bank, inside Israel, and abroad are looking at us because our cause was a lost one. What happened in Gaza shook them up. Who would hate to kill an enemy? An enemy who has killed our kids, our sons. I was born in this country; where would I go? It is forbidden to go here or there. Like now, the Egyptians forbid us to cross the border because we are part of the resistance. And Israel? How would I go to there? I'm wanted by them. Palestine will have many other battles, long ones; Israel will keep fighting back, and they will keep trying to destroy us. Until when we will live, we do not know; this is in Allah's hands, not in anyone else's. We are fighting with poor tools, and why do we fight? For our freedom. This is what we are asking, nothing else."
Karim Ben Khelifa
GAZA
"My name is Tomer Brok; I'm 19 years old. I'm a sergeant in the Israeli army. My enemy is anybody that threatens the country, the safety of its civilians, and the free life we lead. I never encountered my enemy face to face, and therefore I never killed one of them. My biggest fear is that people here will stop thinking it's important to get to the army and that will slowly lead to our destruction and the disappearance of our freedom. Freedom to me is each individual being able to live his life with dignity as he wishes and without fear. Terrorism for me is wanting to take away the freedom of others. At the end it's taking away the right to choose and the liberty that everyone should have just for being a person. My goal in life is first of all to do in the army all I can to protect my country and in the future to go ahead and build a family and to stay in Israel to never leave it; this is where my roots are. And to continue to give to the country as a civilian."
Karim Ben Khelifa
GAZA
"My name is Abu Obaidah; I'm 28 years old. I'm responsible for the central part of the Gaza Strip for the al-Qods Brigade. My enemies are the people who took our land. Six or seven years ago, I joined the fight. I think of dying for God and to reach God's heaven. For security reason, I can't tell if I killed an enemy, but I am not taking anyone's life; I am taking my right back. There is no other 20 years for me because the whole matter will be finish[ed] soon, meaning God is coming very soon, inshallah. Terrorism for me is to take something that is not yours or that you do not deserve. I wish that God accept what I'm doing right now."
Karim Ben Khelifa
GAZA
"My name is Amram Shpigel. I'm 23 years old, and I'm a staff sergeant in the Israeli army. It doesn't matter if my enemy is here in the state or this enemy is outside the state in Iran or in remote countries. Anyone who wants bad for the state of Israel is my enemy. My reasons to engage with my enemy are to ensure that people in this country will be able to survive and maintain normal way of life, without fear, without worry; people will be able to walk down the street knowing and being sure that by the end of the day they will come home to their wives and children when nothing [bad] happen[s] to them on their way by an enemy of any kind. In the last Gaza war, Operation Cast Lead, we met the enemy several times. A fighter going to war against an enemy must not think about what will happen; he must concentrate and accomplish his mission, the one he was sent for by his nation. It is very natural that a fighter has worries. I also get married a week before the operation, so I had a wife waiting for me at home, so of course that makes it hard to fight in the sense that you know there is a woman you just wed, and she cares and wait for you.
I didn't kill an enemy. As long as we, as a nation, are unite[d] and strong, I don't fear anything, because I know we will overcome any enemy. When I saw the draft of the reservists, when the guys came back from overseas to fight, there was a feeling of unity, that everyone [was] participating in defending the country. Freedom for me is that a family could grow in this country like any normal family in the world is raising children. In this country there still isn't freedom. As long as the enemy has power, the residents of the state of Israel cannot live peaceful life. I don't distinguish terror against civilians from terror against soldiers. Any strike against a resident of the state of Israel, no matter if they are soldiers or civilians, any strike that doesn't follow an offensive action, but is a strike of a terror organization, is terrorism. The member[s] of my family are teaching me and brought me up to love this country even when things are not good."
Karim Ben Khelifa
KASHMIR
"My name is Tazim Ahmed Wani; I am 29 years old. I am a constable. My enemy is the one who sees my country as the enemy. I joined the police forces nine years ago because I saw Kashmir burning and this was hurting my heart. I have seen the eyes of my enemies. I am not afraid while I am on an operation. I have killed many enemies. I know it is not right to take a life, but the one who see[s] my country as an enemy, I have to kill him and I am feeling proud of doing that. The result of every war is peace. In the coming 20 years, I will help to put my country within the developed nations of the world. Freedom is everything for us. I wish the same thing as every human is wishing, love, peace, and happiness."
Karim Ben Khelifa
KASHMIR
"My name is Moussa; I am 13 years old. My enemy is India. I started stone-pelting four years ago because I want to free my land from oppression. I met face to face with my enemies, but I haven't killed any of them. The outcome of our struggle will be freedom. I wish from life to live in an independent Kashmir. I think, in the next 20 years, we will be free. Everything will be fine here once we get the freedom we are asking for."
Karim Ben Khelifa
KASHMIR
"My name is Kashmir Singh; I am 40 years old. I am a policeman. I have joined the police forces 23 years ago to serve my country. My enemy is the one who breaks the law of my country. I have met my enemies face to face, and they do not scare me. We have been attacked by our enemies several times, and I killed many of them. If someone endangers us and the laws, we might have to kill him in order to protect us. Terrorism is harmful for everyone, and we will fight it until the end. In the next 20 years, India will grow to become the first country in the world. I wish peace and harmony for my life."
Karim Ben Khelifa
KASHMIR
"My name is Bilal Ahmed. I am 32 years old. I have been throwing stones since 1993 because India is constantly harassing us. My enemy is India. I am not afraid of anything except God. I haven't killed anyone because I am a Muslim and Islam forbids us to harm innocent people. God has created every human being, and I have no right to go against God's will. I fear only one thing -- that is that we are not safe under the rule of India. Recently two sisters in Shopian were raped and martyred by Indian soldiers. Freedom from India would be a blessing for us. We are not terrorists; we are Muslims, and I wish from life to die for Islam."
Karim Ben Khelifa
KASHMIR
"My name is Sandeep Singh; I am 32 years old. I am a head constable. My enemy is the one who spreads hatred in my country. I joined the police in 1997 because I have a spirit of patriotism in my heart; this lead me to kill the enemies of my country. I have seen my enemy in front of me many times. I am not afraid of anything, and I am proud of one thing and that is that I faced my enemies. I fought many encounters, and a lot of people have died during those fights. I am not comfortable with taking a human life away, but if someone disturbs the peace of Kashmir, it is the right thing to eliminate him."
Karim Ben Khelifa
KASHMIR
"My name is Junaid U Islam; I am 22 years old. My enemy is India. I am a senior stone-pelter. The reason for throwing stones is only to get freedom. I have not killed anyone, but I am fighting for freedom. I am not afraid of anything. No one should interfere with our freedom. Those days and nights, when we are out, we get harassed by the Indian forces. We are oppressed; India is after the dignity of our mothers and sisters. Terrorism is counterproductive to our cause. Kashmiris have paid a hefty price and the ones who fell won't come back to enjoy the freedom we will have in the future. I see myself fighting for the next 20 years."
Karim Ben Khelifa
SOUTH SUDAN
"My name is Bureth Achotliny; I'm 34 years old. The members of the Lou Nuer tribe are my enemies because they have attacked me at home recently. They killed scores of young and old people; they took all our food; they took the cows, burned houses in and around the city of Pibor. We could have fought back, but the attack happened after the United Nations and the government had disarmed us. Now we can only survive because the World Food Program is helping us. I didn't kill any of my enemies for the simple reason that we have given up our guns and when they attack all I can do is flee. Violence to me is when another tribe attacks me, like the Lou Nuer. The cause of this violence is the livestock. When my opponents are coming, of course it is for the cattle; this is food for them as it is for us. They have to do it. Freedom is the way we are inside. When I am home, nobody can interfere with my freedom. I can do whatever suits me, whatever I deem right. But the chiefs are there, and if we need to mobilize, we have to do it. Now, since we have been attacked, we are under the authority of the government and the Kowajjah, the white people; they came and told us to stop fighting and ordered us to stay in town where they could distribute food. This is where we are at now and this is not freedom. This is a major change from the past for us."
Karim Ben Khelifa
SOUTH SUDAN
"My name is Paulino Kueth; I'm 28 years old. I'm a member of the Lou Nuer. My enemies are the Murle. They designated themselves as our enemies. The problem is the cattle; the Murle come to steal it. The fighting is historical: They kill and we kill them in return. We can't deny that we have also killed; people fought for so long now. People have suffered: Your cattle has been taken; your children are abducted; you are not allowed to work your land; you feel hunger and you go without food for a long period of time. All those things are the result of the conflict. Nobody has been solving the problem and addressing it until recently. People were not blaming the government, maybe because of the scarcity of the resources. Freedom is a situation that allows you to interact with people. If we can interact, you and I, it is because of freedom. Freedom is something that can help to find solution to solve a lot of problems like addressing hunger, the problem of fighting. Previously people were under the rule of north Sudan. We had no freedom because people were not interacting. We had no future plan, or to think of what might happen, but this time around we feel we have freedom. We are under our own rules. You can even think peace as a result of freedom. Violence is a situation where there is a lot of poverty, a lack of knowledge, no valuing of the importance of other human beings. That is why you have killings, but if you know that there is another human in front of you, you can't simply kill another person. Therefore if people get together, sharing knowledge, they will value other human beings."
Karim Ben Khelifa
SOUTH SUDAN
"My name is Bureth Akuer. I'm 33 years old. My tribe is the Murle. My enemy is the one who attacks me. The Lou Nuer have attacked me. The cause of the tribal war is food. As a Murle when I feel hungry, I go to the Lou Nuer land and take their food, but they won't allow me to take it so they will attack me. This is why we fight. They did the same to us, and we had to defend ourselves. I did not kill any of my enemies because I had no weapons, but they killed three of my relatives. When they left, I followed them, but I didn't have a gun to fight them. My heart was set on revenge, but I couldn't take it. For me, freedom is to be able to grow food on your own land, have your own livestock. That is what I enjoy, and this is freedom for me. Violence is something I don't really understand. Why is it happening? We are praying and asking God to let us live in peace together. Of course, it's all about food, but we should find other ways to find food so that the violence stops. In 20 years to come, we should see improvements. We shouldn't continue to take things by force. If we can't do that, then the future will be dark and we will get stuck in this tribal war."
Karim Ben Khelifa
SOUTH SUDAN
"My name is Peter Khan. I'm 28 years old. I'm from the Jonglei state, and I'm a member of the Lou Nuer tribe. My enemies are the Murle. We have suffered a lot from the tribal wars, the people from areas in conflicts like the city of Pibor. Cattle raids are the cause of the conflict; when Murles come they take all of our cattle and abduct our children. They have even killed a lot of people. We need those communities to live peacefully alongside one another. We don't want to see any more cattle raids. I have lived through a very bad situation where I saw my relatives being killed. This has affected my life. I have not killed any of my enemies. I think of the future -- we won't fight anymore. I believe in 20 years from now will see enough developments and educational programs in Jonglei state that people don't need to abide by the old tribal rules anymore."
Karim Ben Khelifa
SOUTH SUDAN
"My name is John Akuer Aborcup; I'm 18 years old. My enemy is the one who comes to attack me. Members of the Lou Nuer tribe have attacked us, but we also had to fight with members of the Dinka Bor tribe. Those tribes are our enemies because sometimes we go and take their cattle and they come back to attack us; they have killed our people. The Lou Nuer recently came to Pibor and killed my three uncles. They looted all our cattle; they burned all our houses. They cannot be my friends anymore; they have destroyed us. Those are my enemies, and I will have to take revenge. My first reaction has to take revenge and to go to the Lou Nuer land to fight the people who have attacked us. But that means that I could die and I would not be able to help my people. Freedom for me is to be able to mobilize my community, to defend my people. And violence is for me to go and attack my enemies, to get stuck in a tribal war. I think 20 years from now, all tribes will live in peace because towns are growing and reaching smaller villages, bringing development, schools, roads, and business, so the next generation can be educated. We started the tribal wars a thousand years ago with; now we use Kalashnikovs. Tomorrow I hope we will use pencils."
Karim Ben Khelifa
SOUTH SUDAN
"My name is Koang Kher Makuei; I'm 23 years old. I'm a member of the Lou Nuer tribe, and our enemies are the Murle. They come and they take our cows and our children; this is the problem. I fought my enemies to protect my belongings. If they come and try to kill you, even you in that position, you would kill somebody. We have suffered a lot from the tribal war; there is too much abuse. Our freedom will come from the government when they decide they will disarm the Murle. To learn is freedom, to do things that are good for you. Violence is when a group of people comes to my village; they take everything. In the future, we will be free and there will be peace between the Murle and the Lou Nuer; this will be freedom."
Karim Ben Khelifa
