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Hello and welcome to Behind the News, my name is Doug Henwood.

As mandated by international law, two guests today.

The Palestinian-American scholar and journalist Rami Kuri will talk about the war.

An Evelyn McDonald will talk about her new book on Joan Didian.

My first guest is Rami Kuri, a distinguished public policy fellow at the American University of Beirut.

He's a Palestinian-American journalist and scholar who has covered the Middle East for about 50 years.

He's here to offer a perspective missing in the Western media and what he has to say might scandalize some listeners.

But I think it should be heard.

His views of Hamas and the Iranian government are sunnier than mine.

I'll have more to say about Hamas after the interview.

But he quite explicitly says Israel should continue to exist, living peacefully side by side with a Palestinian state.

Rami Kuri.

What were Hamas' political goals in the October 7 attack? What were their motives?

Their motives have been pretty consistent throughout their existence is to force the Israelis and behind them the Americans and others into a serious attempt to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian, Israeli Arab conflict, which has gone on since the late 40s.

And to end the occupation of the West Bank in Gaza and East Jerusalem and Palestinian occupied territories from 67.

And negotiate a resolution of the refugee problem.

And that would allow them a situation where Israel could exist in peace and recognition as a Jewish majority state, which it is now.

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