RAMALLAH, March 9 (JMCC) - Actor Woody Harrelson called Israeli settlements a land grab and spoke candidly about his opposition to Israeli policies in an interview with the satellite channel al-Jazeera International.

That's a tough one, he told the interviewer. People don't really want to talk about that because if you say anything against Israel or Israeli policy, you really become a pariah.

Harrelson said he recently visited Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. What he heard from his friends in the Israeli military is that Israelis are opposed to settlements. Its a land grab, the actor said.

I haven't really talked about it at all.

I think that what is happening on both sides is terrible. Suicide bombers go into Israel and blow themselves up. Its a terrible thing. But to me, there is a difference between a suicide bomber going into Israel and blowing himself up and killing 20 people and, you know, an F-17 dropping bombs from the sky. Its really a level of, you know, how many people are dying.

When the interviewer comments that Harrelson seems nervous, he says, I'm already going to be in big trouble for this.

Harrelson was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in The Messenger, a movie about the Iraq war. He is known for his activist involvement on the environment and his opposition to the US occupation of Iraq.