Raja Shahadeh

And so I prefer that first the ending of occupation, and then we work out how we want to live together with the other side.

And it has to be a slow process, and that's not very popular amongst many Palestinians now.

I think that if they continue, as they are now, fighting wars on so many fronts and thinking that only by fighting wars and by strength can they survive, they will end up in a very bad state and it will be the end of Zionism and perhaps Israel will become a pariah state and totally undemocratic.

And their future will be in peril because you cannot keep on fighting wars and think that through fighting wars you will survive.

Also, the assumption that the United States will continuously support them to the extent that they are now is beginning to be questionable.

And without the support of the United States, their possibilities for fighting wars and winning wars is much less.

And so I think that Israel is going in a very difficult and bad direction.

I can't answer about Hamas.

I don't know.

But I think that Hamas is, of course, trying to stay dominant.

But how it will stay dominant and under what conditions is a vital question.

Well, my father in 1967 proposed the Palestinian state in the occupied territories and never changed his mind.

And for many years, it looked like there is no support for such a position.

And now there is support all over for the position of the Palestinian state and the recognition of the Palestinian state by 170 countries, I think.

that is giving me a lot of hope for change.

And the hope does not come from governments.

The hope comes from people.

And people are beginning to be attentive to the suffering of the Palestinians and to the Palestinian cause.

And they will eventually make a change in their governments

But it's a long-term thing.