To live peacefully in the United States, where he studied and specialized in the financial sector, Issa Kassis (Jerusalem, 1967), mayor of Ramallah (West Bank), he gave up his residence in America, returned to his native West Bank and devoted himself to working for the unfortunate. Palestinian people. He speaks very slowly, thinks very carefully about what he says, and knows that he is now wading through more quagmires than ever before. Talking about it he says: Israeli occupation You need to think not about tanks and soldiers, but about the moment when all dreams are shattered and tomorrow is not on the horizon. He warns that anything is possible at this point.
He insists that the problem between Israel and Palestine did not start with the attack by Hamas on October 7. Were you surprised by the scale of the attack by the militias controlling Gaza?
Before October 7, there is a long history full of pain, loss of life, and loss of dreams. And the loss of identity for those who left Palestine. The siege of Gaza, attacks on the West Bank, attacks by settlers, all of these are paving the way for a rift to form. I think it can be expected. When people leave, when you get to the point of doing something like that, you wonder why. Yes it is shocking but you wonder why all this is happening. That’s why I don’t want this rupture to happen in the West Bank. It is not far from Gaza, and the suffering, problems, raids, murders and arrests that occur every day in the West Bank are incredible and unbearable, so we must not remain silent in the face of this brutal occupation. So, although Hamas’s attack is not justified, it is perhaps understandable.
Can you understand the Hamas attack?
I don’t see how this is the way to liberate Palestine. This is one of the ways, okay. But it is not like that, we are in the 21st century. But you cannot treat people this way, you need to go to Palestine and see the facts on the ground to understand that Palestine is a place where no one can live. Think of the people living there, the children living under siege, being attacked every day, what can you expect from such angry people who have lost everything?
In your opinion, what is the way to liberate Palestine?
There were talks that failed, but we achieved something with the Israeli Government in 1993 and I think we can benefit from that. I disagree that Israel does not respect what the Palestinian Authority is doing in the West Bank. The West Bank creates a country with systems, police and economic prosperity. The occupation cannot continue. As free peoples of the world, we have the opportunity and freedom to pursue our own destiny and our own independent State with Jerusalem as its capital. Israel cannot expect us to settle for less and continue to undermine all efforts being made in the West Bank. Look what happened in Gaza, we will not allow this to happen in the West Bank.
Is there a possibility that something similar to what happened in Gaza could happen in the West Bank?
Yes of course it is possible. We do not want our people to suffer the same fate, but this possibility exists. We cannot continue to accept what happened. For example, it is olive harvest season and the settlers are attacking people and shooting their legs. They can’t do this and they can’t get away with it. We control people so they don’t do crazy things, but for how long. It could be ‘October 7’ in the West Bank.
What do you think of the Israeli counter-attack after the Hamas attack?
I wonder what Israel wants. I don’t really know what they want, but what they’re doing is wrong. If they think this will eradicate Hamas, they won’t do it. Hamas is not a tree uprooted, Hamas is an ideology. It is an act of liberation and therefore an act of celebration, whether or not we agree with what they are doing, how they are doing it, and why they are doing it. This is a liberation movement. All you have to do is sit down and talk.
Is the situation in Gaza much worse than in the West Bank?
Yes, even worse. They’re bombing people in Gaza, they’re killing people, but they’re stealing land in the West Bank. Is this equivalent to killing people? Yes, of course, because if you saw your land being confiscated in front of you, you would have a heart attack and die.
How is life in the West Bank after October 7?
The situation is much worse than before because the attacks of the settlers are accelerating. They are more armed, they shoot easier, and you feel that they want revenge, they want to kill. They are killing people in front of the Israeli occupation forces who do nothing. In fact, they allow, defend and protect them. The situation is extremely serious.
Because?
Because we are on the verge of a breaking point in the West Bank, there may be another October 7. We don’t want that to happen, we don’t want any more lives to be lost, but you can’t continue to occupy three million people in a place as small as the West Bank and copy what you did in Gaza and think or imagine that way. The reaction will be different. We have hope, we want to live for Palestine, we do not want to die for Palestine.
Do you think the division among Palestinian leaders may deepen even further after this crisis?
What happened has weakened Palestinian leaders because, first of all, it is clear that they do not have control of Gaza. Second, it’s getting harder and harder to control the West Bank because people are watching TV, they’re taking to the streets, and we can’t stop them, we can’t stop them, we shouldn’t stop them. They need to express their anger and resentment. We don’t want any lives to be lost in the West Bank, but we are losing a lot of people. When you massacre people, you are not talking about deeper sections, we are in a war where our people are being massacred. That’s the most important thing, but the Hamas militias are part of the Palestinian mosaic. In Ramallah, we have built a modern, open, liberal, tolerant, democratic, happy and optimistic city; In Gaza, there is misery, loss of opportunity, loss of hope and murders. Let the world decide which model it wants; Ramallah, other West Bank cities, or a model of misery? The Palestinians in Gaza had to do what they did because they got to that point, so I don’t want my people in the West Bank to get to that point.
You argue that even in the midst of disaster, there can be an opportunity to sit down and talk.
Yes, I believe there is always room to talk, and in this strange situation the best thing is to sit down and talk, but I don’t think we can achieve anything with this right-wing Israeli Government. But I still think there are enough good people on the Israeli left who have the courage to speak out. Maybe in the next elections.