It’s time to reject violent extremism and embrace Israeli security as complementary to the pursuit of freedom, dignity and independence in Gaza and the West Bank.
We Palestinians have grown far more comfortable analysing the role of Israeli decision-making in worsening our conditions than we are reflecting on our own mistakes. Getty
Not long ago, I spoke at a university in New Jersey. I told students about the 33 members of my family killed in the Israeli bombardment of Gaza. I described the horrors afflicting my homeland, made a plea for Palestinian independence, and decried the extremism of the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
I also said that Hamas’ kidnapping of Israeli women, elderly people and children as hostages, and the killing of innocent civilians, were atrocities that did not represent Palestinian values and could easily be condemned without minimising Palestinian rights or legitimate grievances.
