'The Whole World Must Force Israel And Palestine To Make Peace'

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Rami Daqqa was born in the West Bank and moved to Switzerland at the age of 20. He completed a Master's degree and worked in Switzerland before returning to his home country for a job at the end of 2016. He has lived in Ramallah with his wife and two children since 2017, where he works at a diplomatic mission of a European state.

SWI swissinfo: How are you doing right now?

Rami Daqqa: I'm fine. The Palestinians here often say that they are doing well, even if they are not really doing well. But they are used to comparing bad with worse. If you ask someone in Ramallah today whether things are going well, they say yes. Because we are much better off here than the people in the Gaza Strip. We can't compare our life here with a 'normal' life.

SWI: What is the situation like in Ramallah at the moment?

R.D.: Throughout the West Bank and here in the city of Ramallah, the situation has deteriorated a lot since the outbreak of war on October 7. It wasn't easy here before. Normally Ramallah is a vibrant city, but now it's as empty as Bern on a Sunday. People can no longer move around freely. Travelling to another Palestinian city is a risky undertaking. Also, many schools are closed or have switched to online teaching to prevent young people from having to move around.

SWI: What has changed for you generally since the outbreak of the war?

R.D.: Israeli military operations in Palestinian cities have increased, as has settler violence. It has become dangerous for Palestinians on the streets of the West Bank. As a Palestinian, you are at the mercy of the Israeli military and of settler violence. If you were to defend yourself or stand up for your rights, you would be arrested. I've experienced that myself. The only thing left for us is to flee and accept that we can't change anything.

I live with my family in a safe neighbourhood. My office is also in what is actually a safe neighbourhood, where most of the diplomatic missions are located. Normally, there are no military operations there. But last week I couldn't get to the office because the street was closed. There were casualties. This is not unusual right now. We see that every day, but the media and political focus is not on the West Bank.

SWI: Have you thought about returning to Switzerland?

R.D.: Honestly, yes. We are currently seeing how the situation develops. You can't make plans in the West Bank. You make them anyway, but you know that they can change from one day to the next. For example, I promised my son that we would go to Switzerland for Christmas this year. Now I don't know if that will be possible.

My children are five and a half and one and a half years old. The older one is slowly realising that he is Swiss and Palestinian. We are often in Switzerland. And he has already started to compare life here in Ramallah and in Switzerland. I don't want my children to grow up in hatred between the Palestinians and the Israelis.

SWI: Does having a Swiss passport help in the current situation?

R.D.: No. It doesn't matter if you have two passports as a Palestinian. For the Israeli occupation, you are a Palestinian. Even as a dual citizen, you can only use one border crossing towards Jordan. You can't travel via the Israeli airport. I am an exception. But only because I work for a diplomatic mission.

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