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Ahmed Al-Khalidi

@khalidi79397

I’m sick of hearing people say “both sides are led by extremists”, as if this conflict is some mirror image of two nations held hostage by radicals, while the silent “normal majority” on both sides supposedly just wants peace.This is not only wrong - it’s dangerously naive. Let’s start with us, Palestinians. Only a handful among us are willing to say out loud that the Right of Return - the idea that millions of us will one day “return” to live inside Israel, is a delusion. It’s not just unrealistic; it’s the fuel that keeps generations trapped in resentment instead of building a future where we are. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: this isn’t a fringe belief. It’s consensus. Ask anyone - educated or poor, secular or religious and they’ll tell you, “Of course we will return to our land.” That’s not extremism from the margins; that’s mainstream thought. Now look at Israel. Take the most far-right politicians: Ben Gvir, Smotrich, and others who might dream of a “Greater Israel” without Arabs. Their supporters represent maybe 10–18% of Israelis. It’s not consensus. It’s a political minority and not the soul of the country. That’s the asymmetry people refuse to see. On one side, a society where extreme goals like “returning to Haifa and Jaffa” are seen as sacred truth. On the other, a society where extreme goals like “expelling all Arabs” are rejected by the majority. Before you talk about “solutions,” understand this: you can’t solve what you refuse to see clearly. The problem isn’t “two extremists holding everyone hostage.” It’s that in our society, the extremism is the mainstream, and until we confront that, we will keep mistaking self-destruction for dignity.