Yael Litmanovitz is taking part in the Olive Tree Trust scheme that brings together Israeli and Palestinians students to study in London. This is her response to Hamas's election victory.
The election in the Palestinian territories was not what anyone involved had bargained for. It was a clean election, but that doesn't mean western countries - Israel included - will embrace the results.
Unfortunately, for the majority of Israelis, the Hamas win will simply be the excuse they needed to justify the long-standing "no partner" position on peace talks
Can we blame them? There is nothing that strikes so deep at the core of Jewish-Israeli paranoia as a terrorist organisation that openly announces destroying the Zionist entity as a goal. Especially when that organisation is already responsible for the death of many Israeli civilians.
But letting the Israeli public act on its fears is exactly what we need for another decade of violence.
The real drama of the results will be unveiled when Israelis go to election in March. Only two months ago it seemed that the newly-elected Labour leader, Amir Peretz, might have the power to move the debate to civilian issues of social rights and social change.
But the Hamas election win will force "security", as everyone likes to call it, to the top of the election agenda. Like every Greek tragedy, they will vote for whoever makes them feel safest.
I will be honest and say that it took several months of living with Palestinians who grew up in Gaza to see that my views were distorted by prejudice. But it was only when I was rebuffed by Israeli friends for arguing Hamas were legitimate representatives of the Palestinian nation that I understood the constant inability to accept Palestinian identity will always lead us down a path of violence.
The situation, as always, is more complex than Israelis are willing to recognise. The Palestinians have chosen Hamas, and not just because it was supplying social and welfare services as corruption reigned. Not accepting violent occupation is not the best breeding ground for liberal ideas is an easy choice Israelis are making again and again.
The eternal words of my grandmother - "I know the Arabs" - are the Achilles heel of the peace process. We have faith in hate, and not in much else.
There could be progress from this politicising of Palestinian militants, but Israel is not likely to give it a chance.
Israeli leaders, not that they ever needed real excuses, have all already announced they will not talk with a Hamas administration. It looks like another sad day for dialogue.
