News

'Fighting over a piece of land'

In print | April 24, 2003

After living in Israel, traveling extensively in the Palestinian territories and talking to refugees and Israeli settlers, Jonathan Schanzer came to understand the Israel-Palestine conflict as fundamentally a territorial dispute.

“It’s two sides fighting over a piece of land,” he said, as he addressed a crowd of about 30 on Monday evening in the Scheuer Room.Schanzer, who was asked to speak by Im Tirtzu – Zionists for a Two State Solution, offered a brief history of the Middle East and the background Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Starting in 1256 B.C., with the settlement of Jews in Palestine, he summarized thousands of years of history in a 40-minute talk.

Im Tirtzu member Aviva Aron-Dine ’05 said the organization had brought Schanzer to help students understand the historical context of the conflict. “We felt there was a lot of interest on campus about understanding the basic history of the Middle East,” she said. The group also felt it was important to bring a politically neutral speaker. “Some people on campus have strong opinions, but we wanted to give students without strong opinions a chance to learn and reflect on the issues themselves,” she said.

Schanzer described the Old City of Jerusalem as a microcosm of the land dispute in Israel. Within the Dome of the Rock mosque, where Muslims believe Mohammed rose to heaven, lies the rock on which, according to Jewish scripture, Abraham attempted to sacrifice his son Isaac to God. As a result, the rock is considered the holiest site for Jews and the third holiest site for Muslims.

Both the Israelis and Palestinians believe the land of Israel and Palestine is rightfully theirs, Schanzer said. For Jewish Israelis, it is the homeland that God promised to Abraham, the land from which the Romans forced the Jews in A.D. 70. For Muslims, the land of Palestine is “waqf,” which means “endowed by God to the faithful.”

Schanzer proceeded to cover the rule of the Ottoman empire, the British occupation, the Arab-Israeli War of 1948 and the Six-Day War of 1967. He then addressed more recent events and opened the discussion up to questions.

In response to student questions about how to achieve peace, Schanzer said he believed that accountability on both sides is crucial. Israel must be accountable for settlements within Palestinian territories, he said, while Palestine must be accountable for its anti-Israel media and relinquish all affiliation with terrorist organizations.

Although Schanzer insisted that the conflict was fundamentally a land debate, not all in attendance agreed. Professor of philosophy Richard Schuldenfrei said the conflict could be viewed as a rejection of modernization or a conflict rooted in religious differences or class inequalities.

Michelle Crouch ‘06 said she found the talk "really interesting and informative. It’s not a subject I have a lot of background in, but I wanted to learn about it because of its international significance," she said.

Im Tirtzu is Hebrew for “if you will it.” This quote is a reference to the work of Theodore Herzl, the visionary behind the Zionist movement. The group believes strongly in Israel’s right to exist securely as a nation but is also committed to peace, which it envisions as a two-state solution. Diana Aronzon ’05, Xan Fishman ’05, Ryan Budish ’04 and Aron-Dine created the group last year. With a current roster of six to eight active members, Im Tirtzu has brought speakers, former political leaders and Israeli students to campus and hopes to organize an Israeli movie and cultural day later this semester.

Schanzer, who is fluent in Hebrew and Arabic, is currently at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He holds a master’s degree in Middle East studies from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and has studied at the Arabic Language Institute of the American University in Cairo.