Its Complicated

Hartman Institute

Over the last days we have been immersing ourselves in the complexities of peace process and the West Bank and Jerusalem.  Brilliant lectures by Tal Becker, who has participated in many of the negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, and Dan Kurtzer, former US Ambassador to Israel and Egypt raised challenging and difficult issues.  A day-long bus trip among the neighborhoods weave in and out of the pre-1967 borders brought the challenges to life.

The boundaries that had defined pre-1967 Jerusalem seem to create an intricate mosaic or jigsaw puzzle.  Creating any rational separation as part of any long-term agreement seems no less than a Herculean task.  Years of negotiations have struggled with the question of how to carve out space for a contiguous Palestinian state, while acknowledging Israel’s need for safety and security and recognizing that there are blocks of land that house very significant populations of Israelis. 

It is a Gorgon knot.

             

How does that impact our efforts on campus? For me, on a most basic level, the phrase “it’s complicated” needs become our underlying awareness and perhaps the framing in which we engage students around these issues.  Students for Justice in Palestine call for full Israel disengagement from the West Bank.  But it’s complicated.  Negotiations have taken place of this issue for decades and solutions are elusive – not because the parties lack good will or because they are not motivated to find a solution – but because it is complicated. 

The issue of economic injustice of Palestinians living in the West Bank is raised.  It is easy to point a finger at Israel.  But, its complicated. Yesterday, on Mount Scopus, facing east, we saw a completed, but unused road.  The road would provide a convenient linkage between Bethlehem and Ramallah, cutting travel time dramatically and would enhance the day-to-day lives of Palestinians who live in those cities.  However, it is not the Israeli government that is preventing the opening of the road but, rather, the Palestinian Authority. Why; the status quo must not too comfortable for the Palestinian residents of the West Bank lest they become complacent and comfortable in this political reality.  There are legitimate issues of economic disparities to be raised – but it is complicated. 

There is a desire, perhaps a need to define our world in simple, bi-polar terms.  There is the Force and the Dark Side and the difference between the victim and the villain is clear for all to see.  And that is the narrative that many on campus would seek to create about Israel.  But its complicated.  Somehow, we need to elevate the quality of the dialogue and move away from finger pointing.  But black and white is easy.  Nuance is complicated.  Thus the work to be done.