Nada--Birzeit "[If there were no occupation...] nobody would be killed. Nobody would go to jail. We would be able to go to our homes. I would be able to go to Jerusalem in a short time. Right now, it takes a very long time to travel from one place to another. I can’t even go to some places because I don’t have the permission. [Without occupation] I would be safe. I would invite my friends from other countries to come here. [Right now] they are afraid and feel that they would be killed.”

Magda--Bethlehem "[If there were no occupation,] I would walk from city to city, from village to village, without checkpoints, without settlements. When you walk alone in [nature], you feel free. Just you and the birds, and the sound of trees and plants; I would walk along the beach, sit there by myself, just me and the sea. I can feel it!" Irum: "How does it feel to think about it?" Magda: “I feel free, like a bird flying in the sky. It is good to feel this --even for a while, it is good"--(crying) Irum: "Why did you cry?" Magda: "Just thinking about it made me feel like I was there. I felt free for a moment, I felt free. It felt good!"

Ahmed--Birzeit "I want to go to Jaffa."

Haifa--Jerusalem “It would be very nice to think that after I pass away, my home would be really safe from being overtaken by Israelis. I never know when they are coming. If there is any VIP coming, they [come over] and tell me that I am not allowed to look through my own windows. Last time [10 Israeli soldiers] stayed inside my house for four hours! Not out on the roof to keep watch, but inside my house. This is very frustrating. I am fed up. I don’t feel at ease."

Alaa--Birzeit “Without occupation, I see myself going to Jerusalem without any checkpoints and visiting my sister who lives there-- I see myself on the sea. I see myself traveling abroad without having to go to Jordan through Allenby Bridge. I see us having our own airport. I see no blood, no martyr, no prisoner—everyone is happy…this is what I see. I live next to a martyr’s house. He was killed by the Israeli army in front of my eyes. Many of my relatives are in Israeli prisons. If there were no occupation, I wouldn’t have bloody memories about these martyrs and prisoners.”

Mahmoud--Ramallah “Of course, for us it is a dream to see Palestine without occupation. Every Palestinian child dreams to live a peaceful life. Right now, every day, there is a martyr, there is killing, there is a massacre. We have a dream that one morning we wake up and there is peace! We have a dream that we can go to any region in Palestine without any checkpoints. Today, we do not know what nature is, what a river is, what the sea is…we cannot move from one place to the other without holding our IDs. In my life I saw the [Dead Sea] only once, and that was from far away. Here [in Palestine], we miss being in nature. It is very difficult for us to see the sea from a distance, and not be able to touch it. It is difficult for us.”

Sonia--Birzeit “I see a thriving country. I see a better Lebanon. Before 1948, Palestine was a place where many people came from other countries for business. There was an emerging Palestinian bourgeois, which was stopped by the Zionist project. If we didn’t have the occupation, I imagine that these bourgeois industrial enterprises would be much bigger. We are on the Mediterranean Sea and have tourist potentials with the Dead Sea, the Red Sea, Jerusalem, and all the holy places. It means that culturally and economically we could have had a flourishing country.”

Zaina--Ramallah “We have a lot of young and intelligent people. [If there were no occupation,] they could invent many things and our economy would be much better. We would have many resources such as olive oil and wood for handicrafts; we could sell them. The checkpoints would not be there, and anyone who wanted to go to Jerusalem could get there very easily. We would not need an ID to enter our own places. There would be no killing and destruction such as what happened in Gaza and Jenin.”

Jorry--Birzeit “I want to go to Haifa.”

Raed--Ramallah “I like studying and I like knowledge. Despite all the challenges that I went through, I never left that desire. Maybe God gave me this talent! I seek knowledge. I like that! If we had more freedom to move around, I would be able to study as I wish. I may spend more time in libraries, travel to seek more information, and meet with people who have already done research in areas of science and philosophy. [The purpose would be to] advance knowledge and humanity and to learn and share with other cultures.”

Nidal--Ramallah “[If there were no occupation] I would still have an uncle. I would still have one of my grandfathers. They actually killed my mom’s father at a very young age. A lot of my relatives would still be alive. There are people who lost their grandma or grandpa or uncles and aunts to the occupation. Since I am practically an American and was born there, people often ask me which place I like better, America or Palestine. I was 3.5 years when I moved here. I don’t remember much, but from the few things that I do remember, this place is much nicer. This place is home.”

Huda--Ramallah “Let me talk about the [occupation] and my concerns [as a mother] for my kids. What will their future be like? Will they live or die? Will they be imprisoned if they want to raise their voices? Will they be killed because they are by coincidence or with intention at one of these demonstrations? These are my biggest concerns. Even as I am saying this I am really very scared. Will I bury one of them? Really, sure! Will I live to see them grow up, graduate and have kids? I don’t know. I really don’t know. I am one mother in Palestine. I am no different [from other mothers]. Even if I try to be far away from all of the problems, I can’t and I won’t. How can I be happy and others not? How can I enjoy my days, years and future and privileges, and others not? I can’t. I am part of this life...I am part of this world.”

Sama--Ramallah “[Without occupation] I would have had an easier childhood. I was born in Saudi Arabia. After we moved here, my father did not have a job and I had to work and assist my mother. Life was difficult. I would blame that on the occupation. I would have joined music school or something that I liked, but I couldn’t because I had to work and we didn’t have a good income. I missed a lot of things that I wanted to do--like traveling and studying abroad--I could not leave my family.”

Ameer--Birzeit "I want to go to Jerusalem."

Jawed--Bethlehem “I want to go to the beach!" [Which one?] "Dead Sea!”

Abdel Rahman--Ramallah “I was born in America and I was there for 3.5 years as a kid. After I graduate, if I decided to leave this country, I would not be allowed to come back [on a permanent basis] since I am not a Palestinian citizen. This would not be the case if there were no occupation. I would be allowed to go in and out as I please because my parents are also Palestinians. But we are under occupation and so I am not allowed to come back here if I ever leave.”

Hatem--Bethlehem “As a person, I love antiquities and historical sites. If there were no occupation, I would spend a lot of my time visiting those places. I would go and visit the beach. I visited the Mediterranean once or twice; I only just passed by it. We see foreigners from other countries and they have more freedom to visit these places than we do. The same is the case with the beach; people from other nations can freely go to the beach, but we cannot. We need a permit and must go through a process of submitting papers to get the permit!”

Fidah--Ramallah “When I get stuck in traffic, I sit in the car and watch people. I study the faces around me and all I see is heaviness and sadness. If there were no occupation, we would hear laughter and there would be smiles on people’s faces. My husband works outside of the country because there is no work here. It would have been really easy for me to leave and go with my husband. However, it is very important for me to raise my children here so that they have a Palestinian connection.”

Rasha--Bethlehem “I see connected and uninterrupted landscape. People having more jobs, living with different dreams, passions, and opportunities--like you can imagine being a pilot, an astronaut and a scientist. I imagine having an airport, airlines, and more tourism. People would not be afraid to come here. I might be studying in a different field. Maybe I would be an artist and write music that has nothing to do with the occupation.”

Pat--Ramallah “I would love to see Jerusalem as it would have been without Israeli occupation. Maybe it would have some of the beauty of old Jerusalem, and would have developed into a big city. If you see pre-1948 buildings occupied by Israelis. you will find Arab designs with a particular dignity and beauty...”

Ibrahim--Bethlehem “If there were no occupation, we would feel like human beings. Palestinians are not considered human beings. Ok, we are living, breathing, eating, but we are still not human beings. {Here} You cannot move! Sometimes we cannot move within our own house. It happened! The day they came and demolished a house and killed a person. Alaa and I could not move from this room to the roof. We could not move! Alaa and I were on the roof and they were going to shoot us. Imagine, you are in your own house and you can’t move. This is occupation!”

Sharif--Ramallah "Once in a while I drive between Ramallah to Gallelli. Possibly, I would enjoy the countryside and look around more if these settlements were not there. They are like a cancer! As a young man, I used to spend a lot of time in Haifa and Tel Aviv. Now, it’s been 30 years and I haven’t visited Haifa, Tel Aviv, or Jaffa because I find them unpleasant. I can’t stand them. I can't tolerate them. Without occupation, I imagine instead of Tel Aviv and Jaffa, there would be big cities with arches and markets and products on the side of the streets with Arabic and Middle Eastern flavor like the old city in Jerusalem. To me the streets of Tel Aviv and Jaffa, are tasteless; I can’t appreciate them. I want a Middle Eastern kind of flavor and life altogether."

Abraham--Birzeit "I want to go to the ocean."

Saeed--Birzeit “I was forced into politics because of the occupation. As a teenager, I wanted to study engineering. After [spending] seven or eight years in prison, I could no longer pursue engineering, and was forced into social sciences instead. If there were no occupation, the whole thing could have been different--I wouldn’t have spent eight years in prison--I might even look younger!”

Mahmoud--Birzeit “Without occupation, I could go to the beach without a permit from the Israelis. I could go to pray in Al-Aqsa mosque. I could visit the church of the Holy Sepulcher, or Nazareth, or Galillee or the Dead Sea. My relations with my friends here in Jerusalem are very weak because I can’t visit them. Without occupation, my friendships would be stronger. I could go to Jerusalem and see [my friends] because there would be no checkpoints to stop me.”

Mohammed--Birzeit “Palestine has the largest number of Holy places in the world. So, [without occupation] tourism would be much better. Occupation converts the land into a prison. If there were no occupation, we could go to the beach. Movement from one place to another would be easier. There would be no checkpoints. The commercial situation would be much better. There would be no poverty. If our economy were able to develop, people would be more relaxed...”

Lour--Birzeit “I want to go to the ocean.”

Sima--Birzeit “There is no house in Palestine that has not been affected by the occupation. Many of our people were killed by Israelis. I have many relatives who have been arrested. Without occupation, our focus and concern would be different. Instead of having my attention going towards a person being killed today, or arrested, I could focus on my own matters; for example, improve my education, business, and the economy. This would make our state much better for sure.”