We debated what would end first, violence or the occupation. We compared it to the well-known chicken-egg quandary. We agreed on many issues, but not on this one. Their position was as long as there was violence committed against Israelis, the occupation should continue. I tried to convince them that the occupation was the direct reason for that violence, but they continued to disagree. This was a main point of disagreement.
Raed Hadar
11
Violence
Supporting Palestinians and aiming to shorten the occupation is an obvious Palestinian interest. What interests do Israelis have to be a member of the group?
Israelis constantly wave the flag of security for the State of Israel. As Palestinians we want the Israelis to live in peace and security, but we also want the same for the Palestinian people. We are primarily opposed to violence, on both sides. As Palestinians we try to establish a non-violent culture within our society, one that opposes violence against Israelis. We realize that the end of the occupation is directly connected to violence on the ground. When I met the Israeli family during the Sulha meeting we discussed this issue at length. We debated what would end first, violence or the occupation. We compared it to the well-known chicken-egg quandary. We agreed on many issues, but not on this one. Their position was as long as there was violence committed against Israelis, the occupation should continue. I tried to convince them that the occupation was the direct reason for that violence, but they continued to disagree. This was a main point of disagreement. Our position is that we are opposed to any form violence, occupation and the killing and harming of anybody, regardless of the side he belongs to. It is an Israeli interest to live in security, therefore it is within their interest to talk with Palestinians who actively took part in violence against them. In the future we may even involve members of Palestinian opposition groups such as Hamas. I believe it would be a great achievement if we could bring Hamas members to agree to the principles of the group and become a basic part of it. Palestinian resistance to violence is in the greatest Israeli interest.