A panel of three Jerusalem women spoke on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict during a discussion entitled "Jerusalem Women Speak: Three Women - Three Faiths - One Shared City," on Friday as part of a ten-city US tour.
The three women - two representing the Palestinian viewpoint and one from the Israeli - stood for opposing cultural standpoints, though all promoted peace in Israel. But because of the panel's makeup, many audience members felt that the speakers offered biased accounts of the conflict.
"I applaud the women engaging in a very difficult dialogue, but I thought that the nature of the program was very biased," Rabbi Jeffrey Summit said. "To talk about the difficulties of the occupation without speaking of the suicidal bombers and the increase of terrorism is not giving a deeper understanding of the situation."
Approximately 40 students attended the event, which was organized and sponsored by Partners for Peace, a UN-registered non-governmental organization dedicated to promoting a peace agreement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The speakers' visit to campus was the last destination on a 17-day trip through the US.
Partners for Peace chose the three speakers so that they were not acquainted beforehand. The Israeli viewpoint was represented by 48-year-old Michal Shohat, while 22-year-old Muslim Rawan Damen and 61-year-old Quaker Jean Zaru presented the Palestinian viewpoint. All drew from their life experiences to define their opinions on the peace process.
"Everyone speaks from their own reality," Zaru said.
Damen focused on daily life in Ramala, a village located about ten miles north of Jerusalem. She talked about the bombing of Ramala and said that she was "angry for all of us, especially for the children."
Damen questioned the act after the news reported that the bombing was intended to subdue Palestinian terrorism. "What can we call the bombing of Palestinian civilians by Israeli military forces?" she asked.
Representing the Israeli side, Shohat, a former member of the Municipal Council in Jerusalem and a current Secretary General of the Israeli political party the Meretz, emphasized the need to restart negotiations.
"It's not a religious problem as much as it's a land problem," said Shohat, who thinks that having one, bi-national state is not realistic right now.
Shohat also expressed the emotional detriments of the conflict. She said she was "tired of the necessity to fight for our lives" after experiencing five wars in Israel and having "been through war as a child, as an adult, as a mother, and as a soldier."
Shohat said she regretted breaking a promise to her children that the process would be peaceful and that they would not be forced to serve in the military.
"My duty is for my state to survive, the only way this is possible is a peace agreement," Shohat said. "My duty is to get peace."
Damen also spoke on the effect of Israeli occupation on children, pointing out that one-third of the 150 children killed in the last 11 months were killed at home or on the way to school. She said that her 13-year-old brother refused to watch the news, because it was "filled with horrible scenes," or sleep all by himself.
Zaru likened the Palestinians' current situation to "one giant prison" and urged the need to "join hands with all who are committed... to work for peace."
Zaru drew a parallel between the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Middle East conflict, saying that Americans were recently put in a similar position as the Israelis and Palestinians. "One thing we can learn... is that violence leads to violence," she said and hoped that those involved "are working for peace rather than vengeance."
Although attendees said that the discussion was revealing, some criticized the homogeneity of the panel.
Junior Rebecca McCormick said that while the event was informative, it "could have had a broader spectrum" because the speakers were not balanced in terms of social background, profession, or age.
"[The organizers] could have gotten two Palestinians and two Israelis to balance the panel," junior Natica Smith said.
