While Palestinians and Israelis face a constant struggle with each other in the Middle East, a Boston University group is setting an example to show how cooperation on a smaller scale among students representing both factions could encourage international peace talks.
The Palestinian-Israeli Peace Alliance at BU says its goal is to make peace by finding a common ground between Palestinians and Israelis.
“People should get informed and, if they are passionate about it, learn the other side,” said former PIPA executive board member Sidney Efromovich. “Individuals can make a difference, even if from far away.
“The vast majority of people are moderate,” Efromovich added. “Extremists will never be pleased, but they are not the majority and should not [make] policy for the selected few.”
PIPA, founded in March 2005, is devoted to educating students about the complex situation surrounding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and remaining optimistic for progress toward peace, said PIPA Secretary Laurie Lomask.
The Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which has been drawn out over centuries, pits the sides against each other as they fight to control the holy city of Jerusalem. The conflict includes a failed attempt to build a wall between the two regions of the area and Palestinians’ desire to form an independent state.
The decades-old, violent struggle has injured thousands of civilians, and militant groups such as Hezbollah have recently terrorized towns with rockets.
Peace talks and diplomacy thrust the conflict into the international arena for debate, but PIPA does not take a side in the conflict. The group instead concentrates on the cultural aspects of Palestinians and Israelis and how they can coexist on a campus level and beyond to prevent violence.
PIPA sponsors cross-cultural events for Jews and Palestinians to get to know each other, Lomask said in an email.
“Sacrifices would have to be made on both sides, and both sides would have to be open to new ideas,” Lomask said. “Conversation is key as well as a definite commitment to make another peace summit or other continued action.”
PIPA members said there is talk of another opportunity to promote Middle East peace in the upcoming U.S.-backed proposed summit this month. Although few details are available about the summit scheduled for November, the Bush administration proposed the Middle East peace conference to attempt to ease tensions, according to an Aug. 1 Reuters article.
Efromovich, a CAS junior, said it is more important to see what the country’s leaders say in the conference.
“There is only one way to guarantee failure, and that is if you don’t try,” he said.