Shalom Salaam Peace. A new reality on Campus.

                                                   

 Darren Wayne Cohen,  Co-Founder of Shalom Salaam Peace at King's College London, writes for the LSESU Israel Society blog on both the progress and future ambitions of the fledgling Israeli Palestinian Forum at KCL.

                                                                  

Shalom Salaam Peace, now part of the national Israeli Palestinian Forum is the vision of a group of students at King’s College London who want to see a different political reality on campus.  Our vision is of a reality where the polarisation as well as the misinformation and ignorance that cause it have no place in the academic arena. We want to transform debate of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from futile point scoring to an equal platform for dialogue. We are non-partisan; our only agenda is for mutual respect and dialogue. We are neither pro-Israel nor pro-Palestine nor do we support a specific solution we exist simply to open up the conversation.We feel that any person on campus, regardless of their religion, race or nationality should not feel intimidated or ashamed to project their political identity and affiliations. 

 "no Jewish or Israeli student should have to hide the fact he or she is a Zionist and no Palestinian or Muslim student should feel intimated by the irrational charge of anti-Semitism every time they try and support their cause for justice for the Palestinian people". 

The actualization of this project, for now, has two main facets: Education and Dialogue. Education takes place in the form of either academic analysis of the conflict or through balanced panels that present the spectrum of opinion. This exposes students to both narratives. It is imperative that all students affected or interested in the conflict have a full understanding of the narratives of both the Palestinian and Jewish peoples. 

"This education is a paramount basis for respect, understanding and informed dialogue." 

Dialogue takes place in the form of either post-event discussion or on our Facebook forum where members from around the world can post articles and their feelings about them for a conversation to take place that respects all the people in it. This is particularly useful at times of high tension such as Itamar, the recent Jerusalem bombing, or bombardment in Gaza, which sadly killed innocent civilians.

We have so far had three events with varying degrees of success. Our first event was controversially entitled, “Does Israel have the Right to Exist?”  given by philosopher Rai Gaita from King’s. Our objective was to begin by providing a historical yet critical account of the Zionist narrative and Israel’s existential legitimacy. This will be balanced with an account of the Palestinian narrative. 

Our second event brought together an Israeli and a Palestinian to the same platform who both vociferously declared that despite the suffering both peoples have encountered their shared quest for peace and two self-determining and dignified peoples and states is eternal. 

Most recently, we had a topical panel debate entitled “The Unilateral Declaration of a Palestinian State: Consequences for Regional Peace.” The stage was shared by former PLO negotiator and King’s Professor Yezid Sayigh alongside Israeli Embassy Counsellor Ran Gidor, Human Rights Activist and founder of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign Peter Tatchell and KCL conflict expert Simon Waldman. The objective was to expose attendees to the notion of Palestinian unilateral statehood and the future for the region. There were over eighty attendees.

Our vision for the future is even greater dialogue and to delve more profoundly into the key issues of the conflict, eradicating ignorance on both sides. We would like to work with both Palestine societies who are playing a crucial role for the Palestinian people as well as Jewish and Israel societies who advocate for Israel. Nationally, the Israeli Palestinian Forum has ambitious visions for collaboration and a true revolution in the politics of UK campuses which has the potential to spread to the rest of the country and Europe.

We welcome all people from around the world to join the conversation and do our part for a just solution to a conflict which affects so many.