Interview with Mohammed

Mohammed is the vizier of the Faisal Hostel. He's not to be messed with. He is Palestinian and grew up in Ramallah. At 14, he quit high school and moved to East Jerusalem to work at the Faisal where now at 17, he speaks English like a Dell technician (an outsourced one), dominates the chessboard like a Russian, and drinks like a Mormon (which is to say he doesn't drink at all...not because he's Mormon though...I give up).

Again, while I may make snide commentary, Mohammed has a story and a perspective born of this situation, one that feels singular to me, but not uncommon considering the realities of life here. Over a game of chess we talked about politics, music, and the biggest imposers of hardship...women.

Adam (A): Why did you decide to leave your family and move to East Jerusalem?
Mohammed (M): I had to quit high school for socio-economic reason (that being the Palestinian Intifada which crippled the Palestinian economy). East Jerusalem is where I had a good chance for work.

A: And now that you've been here for a few years, what do you hope to do?
M: I will work and I will go to school soon. When I am twenty, I will hopefully finish and go to university. (I'm relieved to discover that I am not the only person to start college at 20).

A: What do you think you'd like to study?
M: Mathematics and physics. I guess anything is okay, but politics.

A: I'm not a terribly big fan of politics myself (muah-ha-ha). I get the sense that everything here naturally tends to be political so it's hard to avoid. You wouldn't want to be in politics here?
M: This is very true (I know). But the politicians are all liars, the Palestinians think the best answers will come from their people.

A: What do you think of what Hezbollah did over this past month?
M: They did the right thing. They protect the Lebanese people and the land for the Lebanese people. They are part of the Lebanon government, so I think they do their jobs.
(Weren't politicians just all liars a minute ago?)

A: You don't believe this will hurt any chances for peace?
M: I believe that the peace will come through resistance.

A: So you don't believe Israel is a partner for peace?
M: What have they done? (Pulled out of Gaza and Lebanon for starters, signed peace treaties with Jordan and Egypt...) They occupy East Jerusalem, build the settlements, build up the wall. Everything the U.N. and E.U. say to do, we agree to (keeping bombing Israel?), the Israelis have not done it. They don't want peace. (So it WAS a rhetorical question after all...that's a low blow Mo.)

A: The first time I was ever in Jerusalem was in 1998. Israel was celebrating its 50th anniversary. There was peace and both peoples were doing well economically and security forces were working well with each other.
M: I remember 1998 very well. That was the year of the third Green Day album (Nimrod).

A: That was a good one, although I'm willing to be that people here are fond of their newest album, American Idiot (gosh, I am clever). So, there was peace and Green Day and the situation seemed to be heading for a long-term agreement. What happened?
M: Sharon went to the (Temple) Mount with troops. He tried to break into the mosque (not unless it was Free Hambuger Tuesday), the people resist and get angry. They hate Sharon, he is a nasty man who committed many crimes. He wanted an excuse to start the Intifada so he could take the West Bank.

Note: Clearly I am biased but I will say this now just because I feel that I should, I think Nelly Furtado's new image is totally lame and her new music is devoid of any inspiration or integrity whatsoever.

I also don't think Ariel Sharon would personally wish to start a war that ended the lives of thousands of people, destroyed two economies, and fanned anti-Israel sentiment across the world just because he wanted to grab land that he eventually planned to concede...but then again, Nelly Furtado is climbing up the charts, so I suppose the validity of mass opinion here is just a red herring when dealing with the realities on the ground (I always wanted to say that...not that it means anything).

At this point, our chess game intensifies as we casually venture into the wasteland of rhetorical exchange. I don't have the energy to regurgitate these arguments, it's not why I came here. I ask him why Arafat walked away from Camp David and he tells me that Arafat didn't believe that it was anything more than just talk. I ask him what's wrong with talk, why Arafat didn't even negotiate with the generous offer (that the Saudi ambassador told him would be a crime not to accept) and he explains that Arafat knew it wasn't his decision, that it was his people's decision, that they would have killed him.

Aren't leaders supposed to make decisions? I ask him point blank if there is a better chance for peace with Hamas than Arafat; he doesn't want to say yes, he probably can't, so he says, who knows what will happen? Blaaaaaaaah.

The conversation was not nearly as intense as I am conveying it in summary, I apologize for that and the fact that no one said blaaaaaah, that would have been a great interviewing tactic. A cute girl walks by and says hello to Mo in a very flirtatious manner.

A: Do you have a girlfriend?
M: (Smiling) I'm not sure.

A: Mohammed, you pimp. You've got a harem at work here.
M: (laughing at my brilliance) Not exactly. I met this European girl (but she drew an inflammatory cartoon of you?) and she stayed here for two weeks and goes back home. We are friends you know, but she's coming back to stay here in a month. So who knows? They never know what they want.
A: This is one thing all religions can agree upon.

Shortly after, Mohammed scores the checkmate against the infidel. Game over.