Greensboro, N.C.
Visitors speak on Palestine, Israel conflicts
Guests from Israel and
Palestine participa
on-campus collo
6-8, during whic
shared stories of their call
ings to "live in
despite the conf
Holy Land betwe
peoples.
Karim Ali, Genevieve Holmes and
Holly Butcher
Staff Writers
On April 6-8 Guilford College hosted
various discussions featuring distin
guished Israelis and Palestinians who
"describe(d]) what it's like to have too much
history and too little geography," said pro
fessor of philosophy Jonathan Malino.
The Lilly Grant sponsors the Guilford
Initiative on Faith and Practice, which fund
ed the Colloquium. "The Lilly Grant
Foundation gives grant money to organiza
tions to promote religious discussions in
higher education settings," said senior and
co-organizer Kat Spangler.
The Colloquium included Israeli philoso
phy professors Avishai Margalit, Yehuda
Gellman, and Edna Ullmann-Margalit, as
well as Palestinian producer and translator
Raja Zeedani, and philosophy professors
Sari Nusseibeh, Said Zeedani.
Malino organized the colloquium,
which consisted of four public presen
tations, two small group discussions,
and six focused sessions,. It strove to
stimulate discussion of the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
"Since 1997, my wife Jane and I
have led work study-trips to the
Middle East and over the years have
developed a pattern of working at the
Ramallah Quaker School studying the
making connections with
Israelis and Palestinians involved in
the search for peace," said Campus
Ministry Coordinator Max Carter.
"Over there, it's ve.y difficult for
r"* THE
something like this (to happen)
because Israelis are forbidden by
law to go into the West Bank."
The conflict between Palestinian
Arabs and Jews began around the
turn of the twentieth century.
Although these two groups have dif
ferent religions, religious differences
are not the cause of the conflict. It
is a struggle over land.
Until 1948, the area that both
groups claimed was known interna
tionally as Palestine. But following
the war of 1948-49, this land was
divided into three parts: the state of
Israel, the West Bank (of the
Jordan River) and the Gaza Strip.
Jewish claims to this land are
based on the biblical promise to
Abraham and his descendants and on Jews
need for a haven from European anti-
Semitism.
Palestinian Arabs' claims to the land are
based on continuous residence in the coun
try for hundreds of years and the fact that
they represented the demographic majority.
They do not believe that they should forfeit
their land to compensate Jews for Europe's
crimes against them.
Israel constructed a wall of separation in
July 2003, the most drastic change to
Jerusalem since 1967. Thousands of
Palestinians had to flee the suburbs and
towns for fear of losing access to work,
schools and hospitals. Israel claims the
obstruction is essential to prevent attacks.
But from the Palestinian perspective, it
COURTESY OF EDNA ULLMANN-MARGALIT AND JONATHAN MALINO
L to R: Jonathan Malino, Said Zeedani. Yehuda Geliman, Sari Nusseibah, and Avishai Margalit
in Bryan Jr. auditorium
Volume 91, Issue 25
www.guilfordian.com
i I .
- -
COURTESY OF EDNA ULLMANN
MARGALIT AND JONATHAN MALINO
Jerusalem resident
Yehuda Gellman speaks
during the colloquium
Palestinian living under Israeli sovereignty.
Mrs. Zeedani grew up in the West Bank
and moved to Jerusalem in 1987. There,
she worked at the Hyatt Regency Hotel
alongside Jewish Mexicans. At the hotel she
learned that it was possible to live together
with Jews, an experience she was not famil
iar with.
"The moment you start working with peo
ple, you share," she said, referring to the
difficulties of working alongside Israelis.
Jerusalem resident Yehuda Gellman came
to Guilford to "speak of peace and attempt
not to trade horror stories with horror sto
ries." Gellman, the only Jew at the event
wearing a yarmulke, embraced his faith
openly and spoke of peace.
Continued on Page 4
could potentially exile
90,000 Palestinians with
Jerusalem identity cards.
There is also fear that
this might cause the
Palestinians to be
pushed out of Jerusalem
forever.
APRIL 6
At 8:15 p.m. the
Colloquium commenced
with the speakers intro
ducing themselves.
Raja Zeedani began by
saying, "My head is an
Israeli one. My heart is a
Palestinian one." She
' described life as a
April 15, 2005
| SjOM'SSHEU
I f Cis/ of
Serve Credit
ARM 9
|]f' LEG 9
First 9
i Born
Gas
prices
soaring
Page 7
Student
commencement
speaker Terrell
Elizabeth
Balof-Bird
Page 14
Public transit
woes
Page 16
Gordon
wins in
Martinsville
Page 20