Palestinians displaced from their homes in 1948 after the creation of the state of Israel (Bettmann/Getty)

On November 21, during the first phase of the mass killings in Israel and Gaza, I joined New Delhi’s Centre for India West Asia Dialogue to discuss the historical, geopolitical, and local contexts.

My starting point for the 45-minute conversation is that since the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, Palestine’s status has always been hostage to the maneuvers of other powers — including the US, Soviet Union/Russia, European powers, and Arab states — as well as the Israelis.

I work through the perspectives of those powers, both in the past and in the present — to assess whether there is any hope for both Palestinian and Israeli civilians to live securely in their states in the future.