Raja Shahadeh

And so I understood his happiness because of the bravery and the fact that it was possible to break through the barrier.

But later on, when I realized what was happening and what had happened and some of the crimes that were committed, it was a different feeling that I had, of course.

I think the fact that Hamas was making attempts at fighting back the Israelis is a legitimate thing, because the international law allows the occupied people to fight and struggle against the occupation.

And they were struggling against a power that is much, much stronger than they are.

And yet Hamas, of course, also

is not very responsive to human rights at times, and that I think is something to be condemned.

So the attempt at taking a stand against Israel is legitimate, but the excesses that go on with that are not acceptable to me.

And so, for example, in October 7, I thought that they were right to try and break through the barrier, and they were not right to commit atrocities against the civilians.

Yeah.

I've always felt that I'm not representative of the Palestinians and I'm too individualistic and too single-minded to be able to represent the Palestinians.

And I always refuse to speak as a representative of the Palestinians.

I speak my mind and speak my feelings and opinions.

And even if they are unpopular, I'd rather not change them.

And so, if I'm asked to condemn one side or the other, I refuse because I think condemning is such a useless thing.

I mean, who am I to condemn and what is the effect of my condemnation?

And so, very often, the expectation is with the Palestinian, you have to start by making sure that the Palestinian condemns certain things before we can go any further.

And I think that is a very unfortunate attitude.

Well, yes, in a sense it is, but it's an attempt to explain the Israeli conduct and not stop at condemning the Israeli conduct, but explain it and explain it with a view of getting it changed and getting us out of this dilemma and this conflict that we are in.

Well, at this point, there are many Palestinians who are thinking in terms of one state, for example.

And I think that I'd like one state, but I'm not sure that we are ready for one state.