BISF hosts panel on long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict

By Belinda Zhu     11/1/23 12:29am

The Baker Institute Student Forum hosted a panel titled “​​Addressing the Israel-Gaza Crisis: Humanitarian Efforts and Political Economy of Gulf States” on Oct. 25 to discuss the current war and long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict and its relation to other Arab states.

Kristian Ulrichsen and Kelsey Norman, both fellows for the Middle East at the Baker Institute, were speakers at the event. The panel was moderated by BISF co-president Siddhi Narayan.

BISF general board co-director Rithika Iyengar said the event allowed experts to share their knowledge on the conflict, making foreign policy accessible to students. 

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“Sometimes [students] don’t know where to look,” Iyengar, a McMurtry College sophomore, said. “Sometimes the Western media has a certain bias, and it’s hard for students to get a full-fledged perspective on the issue. Interacting with fellows who are experts on the issue allows for a more holistic understanding.”

The event started with an introduction to the origins of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. According to Norman, many students don’t have a lot of background on the conflict and wanted to learn more. 

Norman said the conflict can be traced back to the Palestine Mandate when the area was under British rule. She said that it led to the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, resulting in generations of Palestinians being displaced across the region. 

According to Ulrichsen, there are many different starting points of the conflict depending on how far back one goes.

“2007 could be a starting point when Hamas took over the Gaza strip,” Ulrichsen said. “[In] 1967, [there was a] six-day war between Israel and its Arab neighbors which ended in decisive military victory by Israel. [It resulted in] Israel seizing and occupying the Arab territory in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. [Hence], 1967 can also be seen as the beginning of Israel occupying Arab territory.”

Rahul Santhanam, a Wiess College freshman, said prior to this discussion, he had little knowledge on the geopolitical situation of the Middle East. 

“I learned much about the historical context of Gaza and responses across the Middle Eastern countries towards the conflict,” Santhanam said.

Ulrichsen said the Oct. 7 Hamas attack brought back old memories for the Jewish communities.

“It drew on the worst memories of Israeli and Jewish people when Jewish communities were killed for simply being Jewish and memories of Holocaust and World War II,” Ulrichsen told the Thresher in an interview. “The fact that it took place in Israel, which was established after World War II to prevent anything like that from happening … had a huge psychological and social impact on Israel and will continue to do so for a long time.”

Students also asked about U.S. involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict currently and in the past. 

Norman said she views the immediate future from a humanitarian point of view and sees a ceasefire as allowing a pause in the violence before a solution is discussed. However, according to Norman, the U.S. is not in favor of a full ceasefire. 

“[The U.S.] said they would support a humanitarian pause, which would be a much smaller form of a ceasefire,” Norman said. 

Norman further said it is important for students to be politically informed due to prevalent media polarization and misinformation, and to learn more regardless of which side students stand on. 

“Only with more understanding are we going to be able to find ways to come to a solution,” Norman said. 

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