I was one of those people that, though I had (and have) an immense amount of respect and admiration for Jews, I was deeply unhappy with the situation in Palestine.
I have seen and have choked on images of the holocaust and wondered how men could do this to other men.
I read with shame the horrors of the pogroms and the industrial scale of the German attempts of purification.
I understood why the jews wanted a home.
Yet, I was also dismayed and hurt by the Palestinian plight. Where we should have been cousins living side by side, and the Arabs at the time did welcome them home. But the Nakba occurred and one set of people were displaced by another.
Wars started and were lost.
As a Muslim, I wanted and still wants Palestine and Jerusalem back in Muslim hands..
I want this to happen through peaceful negotiations, not war, terrorism or any other violence.
Thus if we really want to achieve something for the Palestinians and not to mouth tired clichés we must make peace with Israel and develop relationships with her trade, tourism, diplomacy, etc.
We need to be mature and understand that the policies of the past have failed and hence to continue down the same path for 60 years and keep failing is madness.
This will cause Israel to be less belligerent, less hostile, less right wing and open the space for saner and more amenable voices to be heard.
After all we are cousins.
