A terrific downpour in late March trapped me for a couple of hours in an Arabic restaurant in the Israeli port of Haifa, where Chrisian Arab Israeli teenagers were having a dinner to celebrate their last year in high school, near Nazareth.

So I talked to them a while.

The girls wore a modest touch of makeup, the boys had white shirts with ties askew. They all wore school blazers. They had mobile phones and little digital cameras, and, apart from the language, it might have been a school outing in Europe.

They were obviously excited about the future.

(Photo: Hadil Hussein Ibrahim, standing outside her school in Abu Ghosh, Israel . June 30, 2009. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside)

It brought to mind the very different atmosphere I encountered in late January when visiting the return to school of Palestinian teenagers after a ceasefire ended the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Those girls, all in headscarves, were excited too, but the talk was all about how they survived the three weeks of bombing and invasion, about who lost relatives, about the girl who was absent that day from the first English class of the year–killed in some war incident.

The contrast got me wondering how the rising Palestinian generation looks at its prospects in a very uncertain part of the world, and if there were major differences depending on where the students live. So this week, along with Reuters correspondents in various cities, we tried to gain some insight into how they think. Some of the comments below are plainly heartfelt, and some may have been made out of peer pressure. There are plenty of contradictions and no clear lines.

Below are segments of our original feature story. To read the whole story, with student reactions from Hebron, Ramallah, and Jerusalem click here.

ABU GHOSH, Israel — by Joseph Nasr

Arab Israeli students at the Abu Ghosh High School near
Jerusalem, in one of the most integrated towns in Israel, were
divided on the viability of Israeli-Palestinian peace.

Neama Ibrahim, 18, said: “I am hopeful there will be peace
because people have a basic right to live in peace. Inshallah
(God willing). I am optimistic for a Palestinian state…

“I have a conflict about who I am, where I am and who is my
people … I don’t feel my situation is stable as an Arab living
in Israel. The way Israel defines itself (as a Jewish state) is
perhaps racist. But I don’t want Jews to leave and I don’t want
Palestinians to leave. I want them to have their own states.”

(Naema Ibrahim, right, at her school in Abu Gosh. June 30,2009. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside.)

Yousef Jamal, 18, said: “The two sides have conflicting
demands that makes any solution almost impossible. But in the
end there will be peace.”

All feared war in the region. Almost all planned to stay
except Zed Abou Kuraish, 17.

“Peace between Jews and Arabs is hard to achieve because
there is a struggle between two nations. There will not be a
Palestinian state,” he said. “And there are difficult problems
in Palestine itself, in the West Bank and Gaza.”

….

Hadil Hussein Ibrahim, 18, said: “I introduce myself as a
Palestinian citizen living in the state of Israel … And I can
tell you that in Israel we have good living standards.

“I don’t think success has anything to do with the country
you’re living in. It’s to do with people. Because people who
succeed in this country succeed because of their hard work —
be it Arabs or Jews…”

GAZA STRIP, under Hamas control — by Saleh Salem

Somay Abu Eyta, female student at Basheer Al-Rayes school,
saw no peace with Israel in the next 10 years.

“We are Muslims and the Islamic religion calls on us to
liberate our holy places and mosques. There will be no peace if
the Israelis do not give us our sacred rights …the right of
return for every refugee and Al-Aqsa mosque (Jerusalem).”

Mousa Hasan, a male student at Jolis School, differed.

“Yes there will be peace with Israel. Every day there is
bloodshed and the killing of innocent people and at the end both
sides, we the Palestinians and the Israelis, will believe in
peace as the best solution,” he said.

“I do not expect more wars or hostilities. The international
community will not allow Israel to launch another war against
us. The last war was (Dec 27-Jan 18 2009) very catastrophic and
people need several years in order restore their normal life.”

(PHOTO: Mousa Hasan, at home in Gaza City. June 29, 2009. REUTERS/Suheib Salem)

Sayed Ashkokany, male student at Sohda Al-Shati school, also
foresaw peace “in the future under international pressure”.

“Hamas will be forced to recognize Israel and that will
create a positive atmosphere for a comprehensive peace. On the
other hand, Israel will seek to sign a peace treaty with the
entire Arabic world because it has a big enemy, which is the
Islamic Republic, Iran,” he said.

Mousa said he was thinking of leaving Gaza. “I would like to
stay here but we cannot in these bad circumstances. If I leave,
I will return when life improves here. No one likes to leave his
home but we are forced to. I need to build my future.”

Yosra Al-Aklok, female, at Basheer Al-Rayes school, saw no
peace. “Our Jihad against the Jews will last for … centuries,
so we should be anticipate fighting at any time,” she said.

….