As I see it, they go hand in hand. If I understand you correctly, the kind of "knowing" you mention I see as mere "intellectual familiarity" or simply being familiar with the map. And map is not the territory as they say. I mean, there is definitely freedom (and not only) from internal suffering. That much I can confirm. But I can also confirm the pretty obvious fact that hearing, reading, or thinking about something is not the same as knowing firsthand. And with that knowledge, even if suffering was more than an arbitrary self-inflicted torture, I have not even ground for suffering (and I seriously doubt there is such a human who would). Conversely, if one is truly free from suffering, I'm almost certain that they know our oneness (and not just know some description of it).