At an event in the W.P. Carey School of Business, an Israeli advocate for Palestinian efforts in the Middle East spoke and quarreled with both Palestinians and Israelis advocates.
Jeff Halper, formerly a professor at Ben Gurion and Haifa University in Israel and a current advocate with the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, talked about his predictions on the current state of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, and the possibilities of peace.
Unsurprisingly, the Palestinian majority of the audience clamored around Halper, who was the Israeli behind enemy lines. Smatterings of Israeli and Jewish students were also in attendance.
The discussion detailed the dire situation of the negotiations, no doubt a contradiction within itself.
Even amongst the chatter that circulated the lecture hall at ASU, the needless tooth and nail fighting persisted.
The mantra “we’re trapped in a peace process” was an overriding theme during discussion. Needless to say, the saying is illogical.
Halper shed light on the contradictions that lie within our perception of the peace process and that statement itself, something commonly overlooked.
There are contradictions aplenty that are shared with the media by politicians, leaders and citizens.
For example, the phrase “Palestinian leadership” alludes to the belief that Palestine has an organized leadership constructed from an organized government.
The makeshift groups that have arisen in response to the Israeli occupation are in no way a leadership that puts both parties on an even playing field during negotiations.
The term “Israeli political majority” consists of a narrow group due to Israel’s several political parties. These parties divide the country into countless factions. To speak on behalf of the country in the negotiations would be speaking for an insubstantial number.
There are, without reason, people working against the attempts that are being made both in the Middle East and abroad. Of course, the peace process is intricate and problematic.
Yet those who seek to clear the inexactitudes are being scrutinized on both sides. Blood is being needlessly shed when the clout could be easily cleared with the proper tools.
The Palestinians need to functionally govern on a level comparable to the Israelis. The media and propaganda that surrounds the peace process in the Middle East needs to cease. Individual thought needs to be valued more.
By stereotyping we overzealously opinionate an objective situation, permanently staining it.
A solution will be met with an open-minded, well-educated and innocent audience that see each other as equals. Discussion salted with squabbles are going to sour any chances for peace.
Reach the columnist at brittany.morris@asu.edu
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