“History will judge leaders not by the enemies they killed, but by the people they saved.”

Two and a half years ago he told me that Palestinians always have hope. Do you still believe that?

Yes, because you always see the light at the end of the tunnel and without hope you cannot survive. But also look at the region. There was a major war in 1973 and it led to a peace agreement between the largest Arab country, Egypt, and Israel. The Palestinian Intifada of 1987 also caught the world’s attention and people thought it was time to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and that was what Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat decided to talk about, what Rabin decided to talk to. the most hated enemy, Arafat, the leader of the PLO, and signed the Oslo Peace Accords. Unfortunately, Rabin was murdered by a far-right settler who refused the peace process. If this war does not awaken the conscience of all people, when will it? We know that there is no military solution. The only solution is to sign peace and live as neighbors. The time will come when Israelis and Palestinians look each other in the eye and say, “What took us so long if we knew from the beginning that we had to live together?” We cannot eliminate Israel, nor can Israel eliminate Palestine. We need strong leadership to lead us in a new direction, the direction of peace. Anyone can create war and everyone is a hero at the end of the war, but only great leaders seize the opportunity and create peace. Some leaders think they can become popular by killing enemies. History will not judge leaders by the number of enemies they have killed, but by the number of people they have saved from among their population.

Do you agree that this is called the war between Israel and Hamas?

Officially we see that it started with Hamas against the Israelis. However, I think it is moving people around the world to demand an end to the destruction. I am very optimistic that in the near future I will see Palestinian and Israeli children together, without carrying weapons, and all they throw are balls when they play together. One hundred years of conflict, enough!

Netanyahu promised to eliminate Hamas. Writer Rashid Khalidi said that “destroying Hamas as a political institution is impossible.” Do you agree?

The only way to end Hamas is to end the occupation. The Palestinians are actually fighting the occupation. Hamas does this from a more religious perspective, but when the conflict ends, Hamas no longer has a reason to exist. The hopes of the people of which Hamas is a part cannot be destroyed. Netanyahu also said he wants to end Palestinians’ hopes for their own state. That is impossible, it will meet resistance in all forms, and one of them is Hamas. Until Netanyahu gives the Palestinians freedom and deprives them of their land, with new settlements, there will be no peace. Peace cannot be built on injustice and oppression. He can win a battle, he can win a war, but he will not destroy the Palestinians’ spirit of being free. Why is it that every Jew in the world can live in Palestine and Palestinian refugees cannot return? We have agreed on a place we call home, the site for the State of Palestine, covering only 22% of the territory of historic Palestine. Have you seen what we want to offer you? We can not
change history, but we can build a better future for our children.

It does not condemn Hamas in general terms. But it condemns the terrorist actions of 7 October?I condemn all murders. We cannot regard the death of some as important and not others. I am not a good person if I condemn the deaths of Palestinians and not those of Israelis. But we must understand that we have a conflict in which we are all involved. We must look at the best way to live in better conditions. Sometimes I think that it is difficult to live under occupation, but it is even more difficult to be an occupier, because conscience does not accept it. This is why many Israelis do not support the occupation and oppose this war, as do many Jews outside Israel.

Given the cancellation of the Jordan summit, was Joe Biden’s visit to the Middle East a missed opportunity?

Biden didn’t have a good approach. In Israel he encouraged the escalation of the war under the pretext that Israel has the right to defend itself. He did not say he wanted to end the conflict or make any demands. He said he understood that the Israelis would go to Gaza, but without occupying it, without staying there. These statements, coming from a superpower, do not appeal to the oppressed; he mentioned Hamas, but did not speak to the majority of Palestinians. The visit will be seen as a failure, and this is reflected in the reactions in the US. Arabs, Muslims and those who support peace are outraged by their government’s policies. Hundreds of Capitol employees signed a petition asking for a truce: they don’t want this war. I think [Biden] It wasn’t good. He traveled only with a mission of solidarity with the occupation and not with a message for peace.

If the summit had happened, would it be a different story?

But Joe Biden had nothing to offer. In reality, this cancellation saved the face of the Arab representatives. This is evident from what he said when he was in Israel. What would you have said? Promise aid to Gaza? Defend the two-state solution, but say this is not the time to talk about it? In Israel he did not talk about a ceasefire, but rather about more weapons for the Israelis to invade Gaza.

Jordan and Egypt are refusing to accept any more refugees from the Gaza Strip, claiming this could jeopardize the establishment of the Palestinian state. Do you agree?

Yes, some people flee in a war situation, but you can’t remove everyone. This is a war crime. If they leave, they won’t come back. That is the Israeli plan, to clear the region of people to go to other areas and make Gaza, the entire 350 kilometers, a buffer zone for Israel, to be occupied by Israel. This is ethnic cleansing.

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