Response: "Israel, Palestine conflict"

A wonderful opportunity to discuss international issues on our multicultural and diverse campus was presented in the Oct. 3 article "Can Israel, Palestine Conflict Be Resolved: Israeli and Palestinian Students Debate Two-State Solution."

Although purporting to reflect both sides of the conflict, the article expresses clear anti-Israel bias. The questions themselves—rather than portraying journalistic objectivity —seem offensive. The Palestinian view must be understood, but delegitimizing Israel will not bring peace.

The title suggests that the article will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the two-state proposal, yet that solution is not even mentioned. Instead the article provokes incensed debate, especially as it contains many factual and historical inaccuracies.

The Torah describes that God liberated the Israelites from slavery in Egypt to settle in Israel, their ancestral land. Israel is so central to Judaism that there are 699 mentions of Jerusalem in the Hebrew Bible. Jews were not "Island Hoppers," as the article claims, who happened upon Israel. The term "island hopping" refers to ocean travel via short island stops, associated with the U.S. Military's tactic in the Pacific during WWII. It never referred to the biblical Exodus from Egypt when the Jews traveled through the desert.

There has been a constant Jewish presence in Israel for the past 2,500 years. Beginning in the 1800s Zionists bought land from the ruling Ottoman Empire and British Mandate. The British Balfour Declaration of 1917 declared the modern countries of Israel and Jordan as the Jewish homeland. Five years later Britain gave two-thirds of the land to the Hashemite Dynasty who established Jordan—not Palestine.

The 1947 United Nations Partition Resolution created two states—Jewish and Arab. The Jews accepted the partition and founded the State of Israel, granting all Arab Israelis equal rights and citizenship. The Arabs did not accept. Instead six Arab countries declared war against Israel to destroy the newborn country.

The Israeli Declaration of Independence states: "we call upon the Arab inhabitants…to preserve the ways of peace…we extend our hand in peace…to all the neighboring states." Israel always sought peace with its Arab neighbors and citizens despite the fact that Arab countries waged numerous wars against it, including the 1967 war when Israel gained the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Israel repeatedly gave lands to Arabs for peace, but only received war and terrorism in return. Since the 1993 Oslo Accords and Camp David Agreement in 2000, Israeli and Palestinian representatives have discussed a two-state solution.

Unfortunately, there is not yet a two-state solution. Many obstacles to peace and needless death and suffering on both sides prevented this. Let us at CSU emulate Israel and strive for peace. Since the college campus is a microcosm of the international arena, let us create an environment to discuss the conflict and its possible solutions to assure a thriving and secure Jewish State bordering a thriving and secure Palestinian State. If international negotiations can mirror our peaceful discussions, we will see peace in the Middle East.

Students for Peace in the Middle East is comprised of: Hillel at CSU, Mike Agnich, Bethany Busa, Andrew Check, Terence Check, Joseph Feigenbaum, Sarah Feigenbaum, Eric Feldman, Sarai Leah Glas, Jelena Jandric, Tyler Kadow, Steven Keller, Mansoor Ali Khan, Shamai Kirsch, Ma'ayan Marcus, Adena Muskin, Mary Grace Ribaric, Scott Ruebensaal, Mohammad Saab, Adonees Sarrouh, Jeremy Simonovic, Marie Stokowski, Alex Wax, Ryan Wood.