The first event of its kind, Dartmouth's Israel and Palestine Week, sponsored by the Dartmouth Avi Schaefer Delegation, seeks to promote dialogue and understanding between both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by showcasing the human element of the issue through films, comedy, poetry and cultural events, according to delegation members. Israel and Palestine Week began on Monday and will conclude on Friday.
Ala' Alrababa'h '14, Maryam Zafer '12, Asher Mayerson '15 and Ittai Eres '14, who comprise the Avi Schaefer Delegation, began planning this week's programming after attending a Student Leadership Colloquium at Brown University in late February. The colloquium, "Rethinking Approaches to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict on North American College Campuses," was sponsored by the Avi Schaefer Fund and brought together student representatives from Ivy League institutions to consider the ways in which student groups address the conflict, according to Zafer.
A Brown student and former Israeli soldier who was killed by a drunk driver and whose parents started the fund to continue his legacy, Avi Schaefer was doing "groundbreaking" work with a Palestinian friend at the university by fostering conversation about the conflict, Eres said.
The first three days of Israel and Palestine Week feature film screenings, with one from an Israeli perspective, one from a Palestinian perspective and one from a joint point of view. A comedy performance will take place on Thursday, and Friday's events will feature a poetry reading, as both comedy and poetry have a "rich historical tradition in the region," according to Zafer.
"People are pretty apathetic on this campus toward a lot of things, but specifically the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, so we wanted to bring awareness to it and reveal the different narratives," Mayerson said.
By showing films, the members of the delegation hope that attendees will better understand the human and narrative aspect of the conflict, which "really does boil down to personal stories," Mayerson said.
Rather than choosing politically charged films and topics, the event coordinators designed events that reveal different aspects of culture. Comedy, poetry and music encourage people to "have to grasp it on an individual, personal level and then also understand the culture as a whole," Mayerson said.
The delegation hopes to "build momentum" as the week progresses, following a Monday event that was attended by 17 people, according to Mayerson.
While the Dartmouth Avi Schaefer Delegation is not a standing or sustained group on campus, its four members attended the colloquium and represent a range of campus interests. Alrababa'h and Zafer are co-presidents of Students for Justice in Palestine, Mayerson is the vice president of religious affairs and education of Hillel and Eres is the Hillel Israel affairs coordinator. At Brown's colloquium, the members discussed issues including the refugee situation and East Jerusalem, putting aside contrasting ideas of what Israelis call Independence Day but Palestinians refer to as "the catastrophe" in order to focus on commemorating lives lost and understanding the different perspectives, Mayerson said.
"If we did that at eight Ivy League schools at the same time on the same day, that's really powerful institutionally in America," he said.
While there are direct conflicts between Israeli and Palestinian narratives and certain "key words" can be used to anger either side, it is possible to set aside these differences to promote understanding, Eres said. Eres said he did not know Zafer or Mayerson before the initial colloquium and worried that they would have beliefs that diverged from his own, but ultimately they found a basis for agreement.
The two sides of the conflict may never fully agree due to their cultural heritage and identity, but an open dialogue allows both sides to be heard and understood, Eres said.
Events such as Israel and Palestine Week that strive to promote dialogue rather than focus on promoting a specific group's ideas or cause have not previously taken place at the College, according to Zafer.
The four members of the delegation planned the week's events without the initial participation of other campus groups because of difficulty securing co-sponsorship, Mayerson said.
Groups like Dartmouth Students for Israel and Students for Justice in Palestine may feel uncomfortable legitimizing one another's mission statements by co-sponsoring events, he said.
Hillel International also has many rules for co-sponsorship, even though on an individual level members are open to dialogue, Mayerson said.
The week's events expand upon other efforts undertaken at Ivy League institutions, including an Israeli-Palestinian film festival at Brown, according to Mayerson. The delegation is also sponsoring a "Why I Care" poster campaign this week, which explores the reasons individuals care about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and intends to generate interest among others, Mayerson said. Israel and Palestine Week's message is targeted at the entire community, rather than simply those who might have a personal stake in the conflict, as the conflict relates to a wide variety of social and political issues, he said.
Shoshona Silverstein '15, a member of J Street U, said Israel and Palestine Week has the potential to create positive effects, particularly given that films can offer a "personal story rather than statistics."
"Over the past two nights, I've come to realize that this is an issue that should be a priority," she said.
Adam Schneider '15, vice president of Dartmouth Students for Israel, said he supports the week's events and the need to "promote cultural understanding," even though the organization could not agree to co-sponsorship due to "internal concerns."
While it is important for students on campus to understand the conflict and become engaged, however, it is also vital to remember that the final decision for peace lies with the Israelis and the Palestinians themselves, Schneider said.
