Raja Shahadeh

And there was interaction on many levels.

And now none of this is possible because of the wall, apartheid wall, and because of the checkpoints.

And so many Palestinians have never been to Jerusalem from Ramallah, which is 15 kilometers away, and never met an Israeli, normal Israeli civilian.

And so they have a distorted picture of what Israelis are, and likewise the Israelis.

I think that delusion was very dangerous because it led to the genocide in Gaza.

So that the Israelis became convinced that all, because their leader said, all the Palestinians are responsible for the murders that took place in October 7.

And so they went about killing civilians without thinking about it.

Likewise, in the West Bank, the settlers are now...

I used to be able to speak to the settlers or to the army in the West Bank and have a conversation with them and ask them, why are they doing this and so on.

And now it's impossible.

Now they would shoot.

And so it's very dangerous, this illusion.

But then, of course, it's the leaders who indoctrinate their people or leaders.

advise their people that this is the case.

And that's where the problem comes.

So how might we break the illusion?

They can start teaching about the other, and teaching the literature of the other, and teaching that there were times in Palestine when the Jews and the Arabs lived together makeably and peacefully, and they were important times.

They could concentrate on these issues rather than concentrate on the massacres that took place, which were not so frequent, but they did take place, but rather than concentrate on these, concentrate on the brighter spots,

But that means that the state would have to be pursuing peaceful resolution.

That's not the case now.