Sarah Dajani ’26
Opinion Editor
The Dialogue Project, Bridging the Gap Series and the Arab, Jewish, Muslim, and Palestinian Task Force on Campus Climate — three vague titles that aim to achieve some cherished Western ideal. I have written about my experience at Kids for Peace Jerusalem before: illusion of symmetry, avoidance of difficult conversations and complete ignorance coupled with very rare attempts to make Jewish Israelis aware of what Palestinians experience on a daily basis. Unfortunately, I do not think the situation is any different here on our campus. I do not say this to sound originally cynical or to pretend that I have a deeper grasp of the world, nor to trash efforts that seek “peace.” In fact, I believe that those subject to violence are most aware of its ineffectiveness and cyclical nature. This is why in 2018 Gaza organized a peaceful march of return in which Israel killed hundreds of Palestinians and injured over 8000 children. Gaza, a small strip of land south of the Mediterranean, has been under complete blockade since 2007 and has lived through 7 major bombardment campaigns since 2009. Some argue that Israel uses the siege of Gaza as a “laboratory” to test weapons before they export them internationally. Neve Gordon, an Israeli politics professor at Ben-Gurion University, says that “the laboratory of the occupied territories is where things can be fine-tuned, they can be tested, they can be retested.” Reports say that after a major Israeli attack on Gaza in May 2021, Israel sold $11.3 billion worth of arms, in addition to a $200 million deal between Israel Aerospace Industries and a non-disclosed Asian country. When Shlomo Brom, a retired brigadier general who now works at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, was asked about whether Israel advertises its arms using the fact that they have been tested on Palestinians, he replied, “Of course. Why not? Marketing [professionals] try to use any advantage and if they can use the advantage that this system was tested operationally and it worked, they will of course use it for marketing.” Still, Gazans chose to march for peace.
I never grasped my apprehensive attitude towards the word peace till I was met with what is now one of my most used quotes, Kwame Ture’s: “That’s the White man’s word: peace. Liberation is our word.” I do not think that a meeting between students with different identities is a reasonable step towards liberation when Gazan civilians are starved, deprived of their basic needs and bombed with the internationally banned white phosphorus. Our efforts should be directed at the Western superpower we live in that is equipping Israel with even more arms. Many activists are calling for an immediate ceasefire and an end to the blockade of Gaza that will stop the death toll on both sides. During this time, Trinity’s duty is to challenge white hegemony, the spread of dehumanizing lies and protect all of its student population. This will not be achieved through conversations that aim to protect students from discomfort when across the world we finance students’ death. The same way Kids for Peace is financed by the same sources who finance Israel’s genocide, our investments pour money into this “ heated conflict” and then encourage us to participate in dialogue.
Do these programs assign readings for participating students? Do participants read Al Jazeera, Haartz and see the joke the New York Times calls reporting? With such ambiguous language, objectives and approach to “peace,” Palestinians, like myself, struggle to participate in the conversation when words such as “occupation,” “apartheid,” or wishing for a free Palestine are received with so much hostility from zionist Israelis, backed up by the status quo. It is ridiculous to have years-long discussions about peace without addressing why we have to strive towards peace in the first place.
With the presented reasons, there is no surprise that our conversations about peace prove ineffectual towards improving life and minimizing suffering. Does the administration truly want to nurture a campus climate that respects disagreement? Show movies such as “Tantura,” “Stories from the Intifada,” “Checkpoint,” “Gaza” and “Slingshot Hip Hop.” Bring a Palestinian scholar to campus. Or, when you bring Aaron David Miller, who was part of the failed Oslo Peace Accords, let his opinions on the disrespect Benjamin Netanyahu shows for “U.S. interests and an American President” be communicated and allow the audience to point out that the U.S. has sent a weapons shipment to Israel without a full 24 hour pause between each shipment since October 7th. Encourage us to reflect on that.
This piece is not to say that Palestinians and Israelis cannot reach a political solution, or that organizations involving Israelis are not trusted in the Palestinian community. Examples of trusted Israeli organizations include Peace Now, B’tselem and Breaking the Silence. However, I think that building peace will remain a fantasy that serves its financiers’ agenda as long as “peace-building” programs do not address the root cause of the instability (why we strive towards peace), for what reasons do participants meet and how does meeting contribute to how the organization envisions peace. Trinity must listen to its students if our administration truly cares about improving campus climate.
Another article filled with buzz words that mentions October 7th but not what actually happened there. There will be peace when they love their children more than they hate us.
Well said.