Israeli journalist and Palestinian rights supporter Amira Hass spoke at Grainger Hall Thursday night to talk about Israel's \policy of closure"" against the Palestinians.
Hass, who has lived in Palestinian territory for more than 10 years, began as a journalist for the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz to cover the Oslo Peace Process in Gaza. Since then, Hass has been a critic of Israeli policy toward the Palestinians, which has made her enemies in the Israeli right wing.
Hass spoke in the Morgridge Auditorium about the last 12 years of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the events that led to the current breakout of violence in the Middle East. She said she believes Israel has broken down Palestinian infrastructure while reasserting its control over contested territories.
Hass said between 1991 and 2003, Israel progressively restricted Palestinians in the West Bank while encroaching past the 1947 boundaries to build further settlements.
""This is not a reactionary policy,"" Hass said. ""Palestinians were being limited in their movements and topography well before suicide bombings and attacks became common in Israel and the West Bank.""
Specifically, the journalist stressed the problems the Israeli pass system and border enforcement had on the Palestinian lifestyle. Hass argued the passes Palestinians were forced to procure to travel to other cities limited movement between villages and towns and disturbed daily life.
""As the policy of needing a pass became necessary, the whole community could not physically plan for daily life events,"" Hass said. ""There was no spontaneity in daily life, and tensions began to rise.""
According to Hass, the physical barriers Israel set up around the Palestinian settlements had a similar detrimental effect upon daily life.
""People were unable to use the roads since tanks and jeeps often blocked their paths. Often, Palestinians trying to return to their villages were fired upon by Israeli tanks,"" she said.
Hass stressed that other physical blockades such as barbed wire fences and the newly made security wall running from the West Bank to the south of Israel have only caused further tensions.
As a result, Hass concluded Israel had controlled and weakened all semblance of ""space, time and economy within Palestinian society,"" which she said is a major reason for the current outbreak in violence in the Middle East.
After her speech, Hass took questions from the audience.
One audience member complimented her for challenging historical perspectives. Another thanked her for looking at the Palestinian point of view, while remaining an Israeli.
