BRATTLEBORO — When I was an adolescent in the 1980s, one of the great contemporary prophets was Bono, the front singer in the Irish rock band U2, which would later be considered the greatest rock band in the world.
I felt that Bono represented me. He cared about people and was upset with the powers that be. In my understanding, he wanted change without violence.
One of my favorite songs was "I Threw a Brick Through a Window." I particularly liked the bridge, where Bono sings, "No one, no one is blinder/than he who will not see."
I remember once, in a conversation, quoting those lines by the great Bono. My friend smiled and said that Bono must have read his Bible.
There, I learned that even Bono stand on the shoulders of the greats of the past.
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It hurts me deeply, it aches my heart, to read about the brutal, violent actions of Hamas militants towards innocent, civilian Israelis.
To me, it is inexcusable to target and kill civilians, especially children and mothers. When so many people here in the U.S. express heartfelt sympathy for the Israeli victims of these horrendous acts of violence by Palestinian militants, I completely agree.
Where I don't agree, though, is when the conversation ends there, with only half the story told - the part where Israelis are victims of murderous, barbarian violence from Palestinian terrorists.
That's when I think of Bono's words that no one is blinder, than he who will not see.
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Back in the 1980s, when I had my man crush on Bono, I read news stories about Black South Africans fighting to end apartheid. Sometimes, this struggle for justice would lead some to do horrific acts of violence toward white South Africans. One such action took place in Durban in 1986, when a paramilitary wing of the African National Congress bombed a beachfront bar, killing three and injuring 69.
I am convinced that most of us today will agree that it makes no sense to talk about these brutal acts of violence by Black South Africans without at the same time talking about the fact that they lived under a racist, oppressive dictatorship, where the white minority with brutal force held down the Black majority.
In the same way, we cannot intelligently talk about how some Danish resistance fighters during World War II, in cold blood, executed fellow Danes for collaborating with Nazi Germany without taking into account that the majority of Danes for years had suffered under a Germany occupation that crushed their pride and self-determination.
If we do, in fact, agree on the need to consider the complex realities behind the above-mentioned historical examples, how come we are not able to apply the same standard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
Why do we accept the lopsided public conversation in the U.S., so stubbornly focused on violence committed by Palestinians, without looking at the context?
Without bringing into account the 750,000 Palestinians, who were expelled from their homes by Jewish militias 75 years ago?
Without considering that Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza for nearly 60 years have lived under a brutal, military occupation?
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When we condemn the violence of Hamas, we must also condemn that Palestinians routinely are arrested and imprisoned (sometimes for years) without knowing why, without the right to a lawyer, without ever seeing a judge.
We must also condemn that the Israeli military routinely puts Palestinian towns and villages under curfew for days, even weeks, without any forewarning.
Here, I feel a need to explain that this type of curfew means that any Palestinian is ordered to stay put, precisely where they were when the curfew was called, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, until it is lifted.
It means that Israeli soldiers are patrolling the empty streets of Palestinian towns with a license to shoot at anyone who moves.
We must condemn that Palestinians, both individually and collectively, have no meaningful form of self-determination.
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When we talk about the vicious violence committed by Palestinian militants on innocent Israeli civilians, we must also talk about how the Israeli military puts up checkpoints or road closures inside the West Bank, wherever and whenever they want, for as long as they want, thereby preventing people from getting to work or school.
We must talk about the Palestinian land confiscated by the state of Israel to build separation walls or Israeli settlements, deep inside the West Bank.
We must talk about how innocent, civilian Palestinians, most often teenage boys, are killed by Israeli snipers on the grounds that they have participated in peaceful demonstrations against the occupation, inside their own town and villages, on Palestinian land, deep inside the West Bank.
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This might be a good time to mention that 20 years ago, I lived in the West Bank for 18 months.
First, I worked as a peace activist (or, as we call ourselves in my native Denmark, Guardians of the Peace). Later on, I taught English at a community center in the West Bank town of Jenin and eventually at the Arab American University.
During those months, I participated in nonviolent Palestinian demonstrations and actions against the Israeli occupation.
I was once arrested for demonstrating against the construction of the separation wall on Palestinian land. I spent 24 hours in an Israeli prison before I was released by an Israeli judge, who reprimanded the military police for having arrested me without any justifiable cause whatsoever.
I have often thought how differently a Palestinian would have been treated in that same situation, in the same courtroom.
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Once, having just left Israel and Palestine to go home for a visit, I was in a taxi with a chatty driver. When he realized I was currently living in the West Bank, he started sharing with me his analysis of the conflict.
I quickly realized that his opinions was based solely on information from the media. That was just one of the many times I have been talked to about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by someone with no knowledge about the situation other than what they had acquired from - the often biased and one-sided - reporting in the media (such as Fox News and MSNBC).
Sometimes, I would be talked to about a conflict between two equal sides. Sometimes, about Palestinian terrorists fueled by hatred and innocent Israelis just trying to defend themselves.
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In the beginning, I was surprised by these experiences. Why were so many people more eager to serve me their media-based truths than they were in asking me, who had lived in the West Bank and spent more than a month in Israel, about my experiences?
After some time, I came up with this way to respond to their biased narratives: "Truth is just a plane ticket away."
The thing is, of those I have met who have spent significant time in the West Bank or Gaza and gotten to know regular Palestinians, every single person believes that the root cause of the violence between Israelis and Palestinians is the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the siege on Gaza.
This is no matter their political or religious orientation, and this group includes Jewish friends and relatives of mine.
Today, I would like to pass forward my challenge: Truth is just a plane ticket away. In my view, if you want to support the Israeli military occupation of the West Bank and the siege on Gaza, the least you can do is to make an effort to understand the cost it has for regular, civilian Palestinians. While they might pay with their lives, you just have to pay the price of a plane ticket.
Or you can trust those who have already been there.
Who have witnessed the Palestinian reality firsthand.
Who say in unison that the pain, anger, fear and violence primarily stems from the Israeli occupation.
Lasse Schmidt lived in the West Bank for 18 months in the early 2000s. Originally from Denmark, where he worked as a reporter, he moved to the U.S. 20 years ago and, in 2005, graduated from the School for International Training with a master's degree in conflict transformation.
This Voices Viewpoint was submitted to The Commons.