Palestinian U.N. bid fosters discussion

There’s one thing that Israelis, Palestinians and the supporters of both sides can all agree… There’s one thing that Israelis, Palestinians and the supporters of both sides can all agree on: They want peace.

The Hillel Jewish University Center of Pittsburgh hosted “Talk Israel” Thursday on the William Pitt Union lawn in the wake of the Palestinian bid for statehood at the United Nations. The event aimed to foster discussion on the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, David Katz said. Katz is the director of J’Burgh, a Hillel initiative that serves the needs of Jewish graduate students and young professionals in Pittsburgh.

“There are a lot of questions that students have,” Katz said, referring to the issue between Israel and the Palestinians at the U.N. “This is really a way for students to talk in an open environment.”

The Palestinian Authority is expected to submit its bid to get the U.N.’s statehood recognition at the Security Council meeting today. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to address the U.N. General Assembly and formally submit his letter of application for statehood recognition to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who will hand it over to Lebanonese officials, which presides over the Security Council this month.

Leehee Kanne, an Israel Fellow at Pittsburgh’s Hillel, said that the tent welcomed not just Jewish students, but Muslims and Christians as well.

“It’s a start for dialogue, which is what we wanted to start with this tent,” Kanne said. “It’s not an ‘I love Israel’ tent.”

The event, which had about 15 students at a given time gathered around the tent throughout the day, included movie showings with Israeli or Arab themes as well as discussions, in which students sat in a circle and spoke. Lisa Santer, with the National Coalition Building Institute, facilitated the discussion. The National Coalition Building Institute is a non-profit, international organization that focuses on eliminating racism, prejudice and discrimination around the world.

The theme of the discussion at 3 p.m. was how to achieve peace in a broad sense, that could be applied to the conflict between Israel and Palestinians.

“What does peace mean to you?” asked Santer to start the discussion.

Junior Alexander Reichwald, who joined the discussion upon passing by the tent, said that he feels peace is as much as an action as war is. He said that he feels nations make more of an effort to implement military force.

“Peace is not having people be scared on either side,” Leehee said.

The group discussed how to achieve peace, because most felt that countries often first turn to money and military force to try and establish harmony.

The group agreed that the best way to achieve peace would be through educating people about other countries to try and combat misconceptions.

One person asked whether the group thought that the Palestinian Authority was a viable partner for peace.

“That’s a tough question,” said senior Micah Toll, business manager for Panthers for Israel.

Hillel President Mia Jacobs said that one of the problems is that Israel doesn’t have a partner for peace in the Middle East.

President Barack Obama addressed the U.N. General Assembly Wednesday in New York, reiterating his stance against the bid for statehood through the Security Council.

“Peace will not come through statements and resolutions at the U.N.,” Obama said at the General Assembly. “If it were that easy, it would have been accomplished by now.”

The U.S. has been the middle man, trying to organize peace negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians. The four main issues in the debate include the status of Palestinian refugees, the borders for Israel and the Palestinians, security for Israel and, finally, the matter of Jerusalem, which both sides claim as their capital.

Although Obama made no mention of vetoing the application during his speech, he did vow prior to the U.N. congregation that the U.S. would block the application. Should the U.S. utilize its veto power, the Palestinians could approach the General Assembly for a vote. An approval could upgrade Palestinians to a “nonmember observer state.” With that status, Palestinians could participate in U.N. sessions and work with the General Assembly.

Students for Justice in Palestine president Ryan Branagan stopped by the tent to join the discussion.

“I want to commend Hillel for having an open discussion,” he said.

Leehee said that the event went very well.

“People just really want to talk,” she said. “The great thing about it is that it’s not the usual crowd from Hillel, but all types of students.”