Despite disputes and violence in the Middle East, a majority of Israelis and Palestinians support a peaceful two-state solution, panelists said Tuesday.
Three panelists from OneVoice, a grassroots organization with the goal of ending the conflict between Israel and Palestinians, talked about their work and experience in the region to an audience of about 12 people.
The panel discussion was held at the Howard Thurman Center and was sponsored by Boston University’s Arab-Israeli Peace Alliance.
International Education Program Director China Sajadian led the discussion, and Daniella Shlomo, an Israeli graduate student studying at Tel Aviv University, and William Salameh, a Palestinian attorney, spoke about the prospect of peace from the Israeli and Palestinian perspective, respectively.
OneVoice was founded in 2002 as a moderate, non-partisan organization to promote peace and counter extremism from both sides, Sajadian said.
The group has trained youth leaders and engaged with prominent statesmen such as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, she said.
Salemeh, who was raised as a Christian, recounted the experience of an Israeli raid into his university during his early years.
“We heard soldiers telling us to leave the building, without time to change clothes,” he said. “The entire dormitory was bulldozed. I could not even find the cross my grandma gave to me.”
A friend introduced Salemeh to OneVoice by convincing him to attend a town hall meeting, he said.
Following Salemeh’s account, Shlomo told her story about her life in Israel.
“The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a part of life, whether you feel it or not,” she said.
In college, she got involved with OneVoice in Tel Aviv, and it was very successful on her campus, she said.
“We had an amazing turnout of 200 people for each event,” she said. “We continue to affirm that though Israelis and Palestinians don’t agree on everything, there is a significant consensus.”
Shlomo said most people from both nations agree about the two-state solution, mutual recognition and greater U.S. involvement, but greatest obstacles to peace include settlements, issues with Jerusalem and refugees. OneVoice not only talks to people already supporting a peaceful solution, but reaches out to communities hit hardest by the conflict, Shlomo said.
“It is amazing to see the reactions of the people on the border. They can actually see the two-state solution happening,” she said.
Selameh said he has done similar work with Palestinians.
“We spread a message to the people, the message of the two-state solution,” he said. “We have joint town hall meetings with Israelis, there were 17 town halls in 2009.”
Sajadian said the issue of Israeli-Palestinian conflict polarized the American campus.
“There is a pronounced polarization of students on campus,” she said. “It has been imbued with identity politics.”
She cited the example of a recent visit by an Israeli ambassador to the University of California, Irvine, where students protested his presence and were arrested.
In a question and answer session following the presentation, the panelists were asked about challenges they face in their work, extremist sentiments and whether disagreements in town halls may result in a “stalemate”.
“When you go to refugee camps to talk about right to return, we find it hard to convince [them] that it will happen,” Salemeh said.
Shlomo said she was surprised a rabbi at an Israeli settlement was very open to the two-state solution.
Sajadian said a major disagreement between the two peoples is the status of Jerusalem, citing statistics that show a majority of both Israelites and Palestinians support assigning the entire city to their own country.
President Barack Obama is laudable for making Israeli-Palestinian peace process a priority, she said.
The panelists said the discussion was an overall success.
“I liked intimate events, there’s more time to talk to people,” Shlomo said. “I am glad we came, if not just to leverage for the Arab-Israeli Peace Alliance,” Sajadian said, “Israeli-Palestinian peace can be reached, and students have a role in it.”
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