Israel-Palestine: Beyond bullets, bombs and bloodshed

For several weeks, tensions and street violence between Israelis and Palestinians in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories have taken such a serious turn that many wonder where it will all end.

More than 100 people have been killed and thousands have been wounded – the overwhelming majority Palestinians. The question many are now asking is whether there’s any room left for the two communities to peacefully negotiate their differences.

Is Israeli society becoming more right wing and less in favour of peace? And will there ever be a time when the two people will live together in peace?

In this edition of Talk to Al Jazeera in the Field, Al Jazeera’s Imtiaz Tyab meets people on both sides of the conflict.

I believe, and I know that in his heart and in his mind, he is against the Palestinian state.

by Hagai Ben-Artzi, Israeli settler leader and Benjamin Netanyahu's brother-in-law

With the fundamental argument being about land – in the West Bank, illegal settlements have expanded under the current government – we head to one settlement called Beit El. There we meet Hagai Ben-Artzi, a key settler leader who has a clear opinion about the current conflict and strong views about Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – who is married to Ben-Artzi’s sister.

Ben-Artzi says “This is an ongoing conflict in the last 100 years. I don’t believe a politcal solution is possible”. He tells us that he thinks Netanyahu does not believe in a two-state solution.

“Unfortunately, the Israeli government, including my brother-in-law, Benjamin Netanyahu, they, unfortunately – I’m sad to say that – agreed to the two state solution… in his famous book, A Place Among the Nations, he writes very clearly against the establishment of a Palestinian state.

“[What] I feel is that he made a manoeuvre, some kind of tactic: ‘I will say that I agree, but I will act against it.’ … I know that in his heart and in his mind, he is against the Palestinian state.”

As determined as the settlers are to maintain their position, just as determined are the young Palestinians demonstrating almost every day. We speak to a young Palestinian man and woman who are protesting, keeping their faces covered to protect their identities.

Young Palestinians involved in the violence are sometimes referred to as the “children of Oslo.”

“These children are proving that Oslo did not come to bring peace,” explains Hala Marshould, a Palestinian who has grown up in Israel under the auspices of the Oslo agreement, signed by Israel and the Palestinian authorities in 1993, which was supposed to lead to a Palestinian state.

“I think they came as a reaction to Oslo, which they see as also a product of occupation. And they say that it’s a product of this system, and it’s a continuation to oppression…. Occupation is a violent act in itself, so any kind of violence that we see is a product.”

The Hamarakiya restaurant in Jerusalem is run by Israeli Noam Francforter and Palestinian Mohammad Nabulsi. They work together as colleagues and friends and are refusing to give up hope for a peaceful future. We sit down with them to talk about the possibility of coexistence, religious tolerance – and the fluctuating hope for a solution.

“The solution is education … instead of teaching religion, [we should be] teaching religions… We need to learn about religions, not a religion, and then we will learn tolerance. We have to invest in our kids. For us and this generation it’s really too late to try and fix someone who is 40 or 50 years old with all the hatred he passed through, and the war and and the blood etc… It’s like a barometer of hope in this country… hope is coming and going, it’s really part of our life. ”

You can talk to Al Jazeera, too. Join our Twitter conversation as we talk to world leaders and alternative voices shaping our times. You can also share your views and keep up-to-date with our latest interviews on Facebook.