Panel discusses current Israeli-Palestinian crisis in Gaza

By Catherine Bratic     1/22/09 6:00pm

Despite their reputation for being politically apathetic, over 300 Rice students joined community members in Herring Hall auditorium last Thursday to learn more about the current Israeli-Palestinian crisis in the Gaza Strip, while another 150 were turned away due to fire codes. The conflict, which reached its peak over Rice's winter break, was the subject of a panel entitled "The Gaza Crisis," sponsored by the Rice Student Forum on Israeli-Arab Affairs, Hillel and the Muslim Student Association.

In his introduction to the Q&A session, RSFIAA president Yan Digilov, who is also the Thresher sports editor, described the planning of the event as a result of a chance encounter when all three groups found themselves in the Raymond and Susan Brochstein Pavilion planning individual events on the topic.

Despite the groups' differing backgrounds, Digilov said that they did not find collaboration challenging.

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"We found it remarkably simple to work together, to trust one another in the name of peace and collaboration," Digilov said. "Today we send a message to the university, to the community, and to anyone who will listen: Not only should these conversations take place, but they can and they will."

A six-month-long ceasefire between the ruling countries of Israel and Palestine expired on Dec. 19. Shortly thereafter, Palestine's ruling party, Hamas, began to launch rockets into the Israeli-controlled Gaza strip. In response to those attacks, Israel launched a series of air strikes against Hamas under the codename Operation Cast Lead. Ten Israeli soldiers and three Israeli civilians were killed in the operations, as well as 1,300 Palestinians. Both sides have been accused of war crimes by human rights organizations and the United Nations.

Four professors presented their differening perspectives on the situation at the panel which was moderated by Jill Carroll, director of the Boniuk Center for the Study and Advancement of Religious Tolerance.

History assistant professor Daniel Cohen discussed the situation from a human rights perspective in his opening remarks, describing Israel's airstrikes as an overreaction.

"This is a profoundly disproportionate reaction to what could have been legitimately framed as a violation of laws of war," Cohen said. "If I punch your nose, you're not expected to burn down my house," he said.

Timothy Fitzgerald, history lecturer, said he believes that much of the confusion is a result of bias instilled by the media.

"There's an initial phase where there's a flare-up and reporting of proximate events, a flurry of activity, and it's relatively quickly established that one party [Israel] is acting in self-defense," Fitzgerald said.

He also objected to the common assertion that the conflict was intractable.

"Some historians say in this part of the world, people have always been fighting -- This offends me as a historian," Fitzgerald said. "Anyone who takes even a cursory look at the region can see how this can be denied.

Ranan Kuperman, Alexander Visiting Scholar in Political Science, sympathized with the need Israel felt to defend itself.

"The Gaza Strip, since it was created in 1949, has always been a source of terror against Israel," Kuperman said. "The Israelis have tried many ways to deal with [the problem posed by Hamas], and every way that they tried has failed."

Kuperman said Israel was forced to resort to military actions to effectively solve its problems.

History professor Ussama Makdisi described Palestine's actions as an attempt to liberate themselves from the oppressive rule of Israel.

"[The Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip] have been occupied for decades," he said. "They are living in a ghetto. They have been deprived by any measure of anything resembling normal life." Given those situations, it was natural for them to react with force, Makdisi said.

"Palestinians naturally and understandably resist the idea of Israeli domination and demand freedom," he said.

Following opening remarks from each of the speakers, the audience posed questions to the panel speakers.

One person asked how the principles of modern warfare had affected the expectations of human rights in the conflict.

Cohen responded that the changing nature of warfare did not fundamentally alter what was at hand.

"What remains is a decision of belligerence," he said. "We can still accept the idea of an independent Jewish state, if anything because it exists, and not agree even for one second with what's going on today."

When asked to propose solutions for the region, the speakers had varying answers. Makdisi insisted that Israel must first accept all of its citizens, not just its Jewish members.

"The only long term solution is for Israel to become a state that guarantees the equality of all its citizens regardless of religious affiliation and gives them equal rights," he said.

Kuperman demanded a bilateral solution in order for ceasefires to be lasting.

"The only way that international organizations succeed is if all of the parties are willing to cooperate," he said.

"There are many Israeli Jews -- not a majority -- there are many Arabs, there are many Americans, many people around the world who do believe in a common vision of nonviolence and a nonexclusive future," Makdisi added. "Once that message gets across around the world, things will be changed."

After the event, some students and sponsors of Hillel lamented that the event had not been more impartial and better representative of the Israeli perspective.

"All of us at Rice really want to know what is happening in Gaza," said Lauren Henderson, Hillel Religion and Education Chair and Will Rice College senior. "It's difficult to get to the bottom of the situation when you're not hearing all sides of the story."

However, Hillel did participate in the selection of speakers, and Henderson said that overall, they were pleased with the way the event turned out and hope to work together again soon.

MSA president Shamoor Anis, meeting once again in the Brochstein Pavilion with Hillel's Henderson, said the event achieved its goal.

"The purpose of this event was to tell people about the crisis in Gaza, and to increase awareness about the current crisis," Anis said. "And I definitely think that people learned a lot about how it originated, how Israel and the Palestinians justify their actions, and a considerable amount about the consequences of this crisis.

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