Journalist Bryan Rich met Zaloum on his recent trip to Israel and the West Bank. Rich is a specialist on media and ethnic conflict. Mr. Rich won a Nieman fellowship for journalism for his work supporting independent media in ethnic conflict in regions ranging from Russia to Angola.

				What spurred you to go to the West Bank at this time? I went to interview Yasser Arafat which ultimately happened. I was really driven by the sense that the cause of the Palestinians was being discredited by the violence. The whole notion of a suicide bomb is alienating. So, the suicide bombing while killing civilians also kills the prospect for acceptance among the international community.

				How did you find out about Marwan Zaloum? I met Zaloum through a very talented local Palestinian producer who arranged the meeting. It was not that difficult except that the closures and road blocks made it logistically difficult. It would be good if more people went out to meet the people who do the killing.

				Several months ago Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government declared Arafat "irrelevant to the peace process." What is your perspective on this? The consequence of Sharon's attempt to force a military solution, the intensified occupation of Palestinian homes and land, has backfired making Arafat more relevant than he was before. It has ended up creating a more complex, decentralized Palestinian opposition. In fact the net winners of the recent violence are Islamic extremists, not Arafat, not Sharon and certainly not the innocent civilians on both sides who are now dead.

				What do you think of the chances for peace? I can't comment on the prospect for peace but I was struck by one thing. A fifteen year old Palestinian girl attacked a heavily armed Israeli position with a kitchen knife. No one sent her, she decided of her own free will to kill herself. This girl represents no one but her own sense of hopelessness and anger and despair. You can't win against that.