Gentle speaking Dr Gabor Mate is a Jewish/Israeli/Canadian psychiatrist, psychologist, expert on trauma and a child survivor of the Holocaust.
He maintains that the State of Israel came into being at the expense of the Palestinians. It was founded on attempted extirpation, continuous expulsions from homes and the periodic massacres of Jews/Israelis but much more by our side of the Palestinians, since 1945, in particular.
The historical context is one of continuous expulsion from homes, land occupation, oppression in the West Bank, a very one-sided record of killings and an absence of peaceful co-existence. He feels this cannot be viewed as historically controversial.
The governing party in Israel is Likud. Their Charter is to exclude Palestinians west of the R Jordan - from the river to the sea.
"In Canada we have seen suppression and erasure of the indigenous Indian population and an utter denial of their narrative. A few decades ago, if a native child spoke her tribal language they would stick a pin in her tongue. This practice was seen in residential schools."
"Let's inform ourselves of the actual experience of both sides. In the absence of a two-way conversation there is no moving forward. Both sides must explain to the other."
"In 1956, when I was 13, we saw the Hungarian revolution against Soviet occupation. Did Russia have the right to defend itself against the Hungarian revolutionaries? Israel has a right to defence but Palestinians have the right to defend themselves against occupation. Of taking their olive groves, their lands, of destroying their homes and jailing their children and torturing them. That's the history. Unless you know the history, it looks like some poor little country trying to defend itself but, against whom? Against a people they have been displacing and occupying for 80 years.
"I loved the dream of a Jewish state until I found out at what price, at what nightmare that imposed on Palestinians.
"Minimum condition is the ending of the occupation and the inhuman seizure of Gaza. And international law must be respected by Israel and she must live within its borders that are internationally recognised.
"Let's look at both Charters and lets start with the basis of recognition and peace and the ending of the ending of the unspeakable occupation."
"Food, water, fuel was turned off" said Piers Morgan.
GABOR: "Israel and its big brothers, the US and the UK must stop supporting the illegal, brutal, inhumane and rapacious occupation. There must be pressure. Get the historical experience.
"In 2005, before Hamas gained power, the world's most traumatised children were in Gaza, according to the Journal of World Psychiatry. They were living under war conditions. Of course they are full of rage. What do we expect from this population that has been suppressed and tormented and crucified for decades?"
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