'I left because I understood that I was dwelling in a land that belonged to others. ...Gilad Atzmon, Bernie Sanders, George Galloway, Richard Falk, or Roger Waters: the humanists of our time. They call us anti-Semites. ...To win, the Palestinians have to survive.’ Gilad Atzmon.
By Teresa Aranguren: Gilad Atzmon speaks in a torrent of words during our conversation on a sunny terrace in Madrid. He expresses himself passionately, neatly, but never runs over; he seeks to hit the nail and throws phrases like darts that aim to cross, penetrate and reach the other side, rather than hitting a target. I think he asks to be understood, and he makes an effort for it. It is likely because he feels or knows he is 'misunderstood'.
Gilad Atzmon was born in Israel into a secular but actively Zionist family. He left the country in the early nineties, when he was thirty years old. He says it was the invasion of Lebanon in 1982 that opened his eyes to what Israel is, although it took him a while to leave the country where he was born and raised.