This final post from the West Bank underlines the essence of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, and points the way to the radio series beginning later this week. Here we see a major Israeli settlement on the West Bank known as Ariel. Israelis have been building this town in the Palestinian territories since the 1970’s, long enough that there are second-generation residents - among them Shlomy Mizrahi, 30, a real estate broker who now sells homes in this still-growing settlement atop a ridgeline. He showed us around, and in the top photo he’s walking between producer Emily Ochsenschlager and me. Mizrahi believes Jews have a right to this land, even though the United Nations long ago declared the settlements to be illegal. Ariel is a pleasant community with a college; but it all looks very different when gazing up at Ariel from Marda, a Palestinian village at the bottom of the ridge. There we met with Murad al-Khuffash, an advocate for sustainable agriculture. He contends the Israelis took land to which they have no right, and adds that Palestinians are partly ringed in by security fences. The unresolved conflict is becoming a fact of life for another generation of children.
- Steve Inskeep and Emily Ochsenschlager
Photos (except for the third) by Tanya Habjouba












