Boston University Students for Israel leaders this week said they have collected more than 1,000 student and faculty signatures on a pro-Israel petition as the conflict in the Middle East between Israelis and Palestinians continues into its 29th month.

The group started the petition after similar petitions began circulating at area colleges, including Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and tens of others throughout the country, group officials said.

The petition began circulating last semester.

The document lays out five reasons for support of Israel. It says signatories support Israel as a country with a ‘fundamental obligation’ to self-defense that is locked in a ‘determined struggle to defeat terror.’ Israel has an ‘unwavering desire to live in peace with her Arab neighbors,’ according to the document. It also proclaims that Israel is the most democratic country in the region with a strong relationship with America.

Pro-Palestinian students started a campaign to encourage BU to sell investments in companies related to the Israeli military and those based in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The divestment petition, put together by three BU students, had collected 287 signatures as of yesterday.

Jackie Belkin, president of the BU Students for Israel, said the purpose of the petition was two-fold: to show Israel its support and to create a greater awareness on campus of the problems Israel is facing.

‘We felt the need to show solidarity with a country that is under a lot of stress right now,’ Belkin said. ‘The petition allows us to get a lot of one-on-one contact with the students, so that they can understand our cause and we can continue to circulate the petition and reach out to the Israeli people.’

Both students and faculty are represented on the petition, though Belkin said it is mostly students.

Belkin said part of the reason the petition was able to get more than 1,000 signatures is because the group chose the language of the petition very carefully, to avoid offending pro-Palestinian and Middle Eastern student groups.

Though Belkin said the petition was not trying to blame either side in the conflict, she said both the United States and Israel share similar ideologies. She said people who blame Israel for the crisis were dramatically simplifying things.

‘Israel is a great ally to America,’ she said. ‘We share many of the same ideals, but what many people don’t realize is the safety of both countries is important. The situation is very complex it is not a black and white issue.’

Michael Figa, a pro-Palestinian campus activist who helped draft the pro-Palestinian divestment petition, said Israel has exaggerated many of the similarities between their conflict against the Palestinians and the United States’ war on terrorism, because Israel is occupying the territory illegally.

‘Israel has propagandized many of the issues,’ Figa said.

Figa said his petition was not motivated to blame Israel for the conflict. More simply, Figa said, the petition is supposed to encourage Israel to acknowledge that their territory is considered holy land by three major religions.

‘The ultimate goal of our petition is to help change policy in the Middle East,’ he said. ‘There are many pro-Israel Palestinians who just have a problem with the explicit state of Israel.’

Belkin said people who solely blame Israel for the conflict have not ‘opened their eyes to the complexity of the situation.’

Pro-Israel petitions are currently being circulated at about 60 other colleges and universities in the United States, according to BUSI vice president Manny Benhamou. Ultimately, Benhamou said the group would like to send a copy of the petition to members of Congress to ensure that the relationship between Israel and the United States remains strong.

‘Under the current Bush administration, the support for Israel has been one of the strongest in American history,’ Benhamou said.

But despite the dangers both countries face, and the seemingly never-ending conflict between Israel and Palestine, Benhamou said he still believes peace is not just a hope it is an unavoidable conclusion.

‘Peace is inevitable, [Israel and Palestine] are destined to live as two countries side by side,’ Benhamou said. ‘The right leadership just has to emerge, and right now people don’t trust Arafat.’