Published: 1 June 2021
Last updated: 4 March 2024
Palestinian philosopher and politician Sari Nusseibeh tells Ben Lynfield the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a clash not of civilisations but rather of ‘collective egos’
MANY OF THE NEWSPAPER ARTICLES in Israel last week reported simmering tensions in Jerusalem and the fallout of the Israel-Hamas war.
Haaretz told of a 16-year-old Palestinian girl shot by police outside her home in East Jerusalem and 67 children killed in Gaza during the war. It also reported on Hamas leader Yihya Sinwar threatening Israel that there would be 10,000 suicide bombers if it harms al-Aksa mosque.
But in an interview with The Jewish Independent, veteran Palestinian philosopher, activist, educator and politician Sari Nusseibeh insisted rationality can still prevail and peace be achieved.
"The war doesn't make me feel hopeless, it makes me feel depressed," he says. "I'm not hopeless because I realise it's just a manifestation that we haven't been able on both sides to come to terms with realities and exercise our reason on both sides and that we have to go through pain again when in fact it's clear to reasonable people this pain is unnecessary. My hope is that we can still find a way forward."
The softly spoken, Oxford-educated Nusseibeh, who as the PLO representative for Jerusalem affairs in 2002 sparked controversy by suggesting Palestinians drop the right of return for refugees in exchange for a state in the West Bank and Gaza, represents the moderate pole in Palestinian politics.
He has served as president of al-Quds University and is a candidate for the Palestinian Legislative Council in postponed Palestinian elections. He was also co-author of a peace initiative with former Shin Bet chief Ami Ayalon.
"The message [of the war] is that we still must find a solution, there needs to be a lot of work done," he says.
