So in a way, for me, I was taking the life of my children into my own hands. I was like, OK, that’s just not good enough. We have to reimagine a two-state solution that can work or a new vision that will actually be able to be pragmatic and practical to work, but also organize and excite Palestinians and Israelis.
And I’ll just say one more thing about that kind of transformation: For me, coming from a human rights background, I wanted to be a human rights lawyer to end the occupation. And I understand that sounds a little naïve today. I still think that Israelis who are doing that work are saints, and this is the most important work to be done.
But at the same time, we haven’t seen Palestinians as equal politically. We can maybe save them, we can control them — there’s a dynamic, that power dynamic, always underneath. And for me, the positionality of realizing, in my skin, that until Rula and the Palestinian people are safe and free, we will never be free and liberated and safe, either. Our security is dependent on each other.
Rula, I know that you previously were a supporter of a one-state solution. Tell me about how you came to this idea and how your thinking evolved.
Hardal: I came to this idea because I started realizing two things: First of all, we already have a one-state reality, or one-state construction on the ground, between Jordan and the sea, but under one regime and one power, which is the Israeli one. And the Palestinians live under daily domination and occupation and military control and apartheid, and, needless to say, in the last two and a half years, ethnic cleansing and genocide and annexation of their tiny, small part of the land. I mean the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
