i think too many people do bad things in the name of gods and gods and you know either the koran or something the bible provides them the power to do really bad things and said this is the name of  today remains a divided city there is a jewish sect or an arab sector and a christian sector that people of different faiths often tolerate each other but many remain suspicious of one another and they fear their neighbors israeli soldiers with guns are everywhere here in the heart of the holy land but there is a man who walks these dangerous streets without any weapons just he leads a group which does not represent any government or political party and street this man and this group have only one goal they would like for arabs and jews to live in peace with the man is jerry levin who grew up as a jew and the group he belongs to now is called the christian peacemaker team i understood and i think still understand correctly notwithstanding some very very conservative christians interpretations that the sermon on the mountain is unequivocal and nonviolent statement out of love cannot exist or be compatible with violence of any any kind jerry levin is not alone in seeking peace is a young muslim who was urging palestinians to renounce violence and to become peace builders i believe in peace and i believe that we have to reassure people to let them have the ho lost it for any reason this small private peace maker team hopes to succeed where soldiers and governments have failed they know the road ahead is filled with obstacles and suspicion and mistrust as a result of decades and centuries of hostility when asked why the arabs and israelis have not been able to resolve the conflict one seventeen year old girl said the answer is one we're playing both sides claim difference has been divided since one thousand nine hundred forty eight when the modern state of israel was created early jewish settlers who were fleeing anti semitism and persecution and later the nazi holocaust had much support from the western world for establishing their new homeland here in what used to be called palestine israel's war of independence which is celebrated every year by israelis as a triumph of survival and democracy is called for the catastrophe by palestinians nearly eight hundred thousand palestinians became instant refugees they were driven out of their homes and their lands and villages hundreds of arab villages were confiscated or destroyed and their residents have not been allowed to return the area of conflict that stretches from the sea of galilee and the border with lebanon in the north to the judea and hills and valleys that reach to the dead sea to the south is the sinai desert and border with egypt more than six and a half million jews and one and one third million arabs live inside the current borders of the state of israel another three million arabs live in the west bank and gaza or what they call the occupied palestinian territory altogether the area in turmoil is about the size of the state of new jersey balasingham religious leaders told a peace conference in jerusalem  lasting peace will be difficult if palestinians are not allowed to return to their homes i guess that  jews since the last palestinian uprising that began in the year two thousand more than three thousand palestinians have been killed and about one thousand israelis have lost their lives in viol the economy of israel and the palestinians is suffering and both sides are hurt from the lack of tourists who used to flock to the streets of old jerusalem mistrust and suspicion is deep among many arab shopkeepers who need no problem just going there and you know but now it's a bit different this is hebron a city that is more than seven thousand years old a city that is now in the middle of palestinian land but which is regularly patrolled by israeli troops who keep a close eye on it mostly arab population of about one hundred fifty thousand the israeli soldiers are here to protect about four hundred armed israeli settlers who've taken over an old part of the city they claim it belongs to their ancestors and was given to them by god through abraham as part of the promised land thousands of years ago a lot of arguing about land is about what god gave us and what is ours jerry levin and his wife often walked through the rubble strewn streets of hebron and other villages risking their own lives to help ease the hostility between arabs and j eleven's or grandparents they could have retired to a comfortable life in their hometown of birmingham alabama but they are now spending much of their time trying to become peacemakers one of the most volatile regions on earth  i don't think in turning the situation around here immediately or even in the short term but where i think we're part of a movement that's trying to that is that is succeeding one person time or two people at a time succeeding in demonstrating that there is a non violent way to deal with with with conflict he could have easily been  you know retired by now and living in a you know luxury home somewhere in the in the us wherever he chooses to be but he has chosen the very very difficult and very dangerous of being with with the palestinians facing the israeli occupation every day facing the israeli military continuously putting his life in danger for the sake of palestinians as he escorts men women and children across checkpoints and so on and be a voice for the injustice that happens here if gerry levin's name sounds familiar it is because he spent a number of years as a television news director in birmingham and in houston before becoming a middle east correspondent for c n n in one thousand nine hundred eighty four levin was taken hostage by kidnappers in lebanon he was held captive and tied to a radiator by the hezbollah or party of god for almost a year after his wife travel throughout the middle east pleading for his release he was allowed to escape now i had a great deal of agreement with them with a lot of what they wanted to achieve was no reason for me coming out to hate the entire arab world or the entire islamic islamic culture any more than i hate the entire israeli culture i don't more than twenty years after his captivity gerry levin and his wife sis are back in the area of turmoil trying to shed light on what they believe are obstacles to a lasting peace eleven struck a group of americans on a tour of israel's occupied territories first they show how difficult it is for palestinians to travel from one part of the west bank to another every road in and out either has a checkpoint or a barricade after they cross this checkpoint near bethlehem eleven's have to flag down a van with special license plates this allows them to travel on roads which most palestinians are not allowed to use this road was not here ten years ago this is the bypass these roads connect settlements this is a reversal of the historic highway system which for thousands of hears land rights to one through something to go in there to keep the peace when the israelis put up barricades scoop and supposedly has to climb down from the roof of her home and travel through back alleys in order to get around these really the school that's illegal runs is named after abraham that they break up patriarch who is reviewed by both arabs and jews as a founder of their nation sis and jerry love and have made friends with the children of the  live together but achieving peace between palestinians and israelis is not easy right after the elevons left the league a school soldiers were searching the school bags of children returning home and own family is often a tainted question by israeli authorities this time because mother said that her son was taken into custody and then one of the police commanders said if she doesn't keep quiet and go the most dangerous hotspots in israel and the palestinian territories trying to promote peace jerry levin's office is in a rundown building near rubble and barbed wire in the arab section of hebron from here he sends messages to the outside world about the latest problems dividing arabs and jews and he often brings visitors to see the situation firsthand on this day jerry levin escorts an american delegation from every church a peace church  leads in through the arab and jewish sectors of this heavily guarded city many streets here in hebron are now deserted shops that flourished with activity are now closed in one area of the old market place there is heavy wire mesh above the shops to keep debris and chunks of concrete from falling from the homes of jewish settlers to the streets below anyone who ventures in the old part of the city in the area between jewish settlers and arabs is he screamed at me and said get out of here our god will kill your guy some of those visiting the streets of old hebron for the first time find it hard to understand how the people here survive under these conditions  don't see how they can live here anybody desolate abandoned no lie people sitting nothing needed to do to spend time in man just sitting to help promote an atmosphere that may make reconciliation possible sisler of an is encouraging israeli and arab school children to become future peace builders this private school in bethlehem where some children have lost their parents or other family members the young students visitors with songs  at a nearby catholic school teachers say they often see fear in the eyes of children who have been exposed to a daily dose of violence some of these children have seen injuries to friends and family and have watched the destruction of homes they from the shooting for these children the reality of peace will be much harder to achieve than singing about it but their teachers remain hopeful and the h after school some of the children have to return to crowded and rundown refugee camps where they have lived since birth these camps have been open since one nine hundred forty eight when israel was founded and hundreds of palestinians fled their home the outside walls of ahmed home still bear the scars of the israeli attack he says a young man in his twenty's was killed by israeli soldiers who later demolished his family home another victim of violence was a fourteen year old girl who lived in a small house down the street her mother says her daughter did nothing to deserve to die she was hit by a stray bullet the israelis say they only strike back when their people are injured or killed by palestinians this continuing cycle of violence has not only resulted in the loss of life and property but also in the loss of progress towards a lasting peace yeah i feel very s give something the palestinians they lost they declared war they lost unfortunately they got to give gerry levin and his wife are always trying to find new ways to bring the two sides together young people are invited to their home in bethlehem to talk about the struggle that they and their people are facing from your friends from school and it's not letting us to go anywhere i don't want to see people suffering because this makes me cry always when i look at my the place where i live and i think in my mind how this war will beat this youth group is called remember the innocen is a very hard thing to get but if both sides come to understand each other more and try harder than this situation they would have peace in  second i mean they would find a solution to this problem the new separation wall being built by israel has now surrounded the town of bethlehem on palm sunday some arab christians tried to ride donkeys from bethlehem to jerusalem in commemoration of christ's peaceful entry into jerusalem but they were stopped by israeli soldiers at the outskirts of bethlehem and forced to turn back because the soldier said the were a security risk and had no permit some israeli residents say they have to take tough measures to protect themselves and it will take time before years of violence and mistrust can be overcome to disappear so we have to live together philip sodhi a construction contractor who is not jewish has lived in israel since one thousand nine hundred seventy five he has come to understand why israelis are constantly on their guard but both israelis and palestinians see encouraging signs now that there has been a reduction in violence and the removal of some checkpoints and the turning over of more palestinian land to the palestinian authorities yeah i think  work it's not going to work in the short term we have to wait that's maybe in our lifetime but it's going to take years essentially your problems would be over if you return the west bank and gaza to the palace to the palestinians all israeli settlements were removed from the gaza strip and its population of over one million arabs is now under palestinian control after thirty eight years of israeli occupation however more than two hundred fifty thousand israelis remain on the west bank in over eighty settlements in what palestinians claim is their land and the israelis continue to be protected by and they are terrorizing both it's happening now there are many they're certainly not in the majority but there are thousands and thousands of palestinians and jews in one way or another  not treating each other violently or treating each other with respect my daughter is twelve years twelve years old i hope when she will be eighteen and go to their army will be lifted i think  trip to the sea of galilee gerry levin and his visitor stop near the site where they believe jesus christ preach the sermon on the mount two thousand years ago they focused on his call bless peacemakers  those who are struggling for peace say they know there's a long way to go before arabs and jews will live in peaceful coexistence but as a leader of the peacemaker team put it if we can't get it right here  the holy land we can't get it right anywhere else in the world this is steve a true recording from jerusalem