The lights were dimmed. The doors were closed. And an attentive group of students, faculty and community members tuned their ears for more than two and a half hours to a call for peace.
The Atrocities Uncovered: Israel and Palestine reception, slide show and speakers on Thursday night in Lawrence Hall tried to even-handedly show the horrors of the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.
The forum was organized by the Muslim Student Association with help from the ASUO Women’s Center and the Eugene Middle East Peace Group. Their goal was to do more than just inform the crowd, although they accomplished that as well.
Their goal was to save innocent lives.
“We’re a group of students who found what’s happening. We are from different religious and cultural backgrounds,” organizer Mona Zubair said. She said they want to see and discuss events in the Middle East so students can work together to make a change.
“We feel this has to stop and want to share so students can get more connected and advocate for peace,” she said. “If both sides can start talking to each other and enlarging the area of those who want peace, we can achieve it.”
The crowd indulged in Middle Eastern refreshments like hummus, desserts and fresh fruit supplied by the MSA. As they ate, guests shared their backgrounds and views on the friction across the ocean. There were also press releases on hand about the most current developments and pictures on the wall depicting everyday life in the territories of Jenin and the Gaza Strip.
The event was not intended to be pro-Israeli or pro-Palestinian, and organizers hoped to pull people of all ethnic backgrounds who were just looking for some answers.
“It’s about peace and talking about the fact that war is wrong,” graduate student Kathy Brazell said.
“Human rights violations are happening,” she said. “We have to learn from this and reflect on what’s happening to these citizens.”
As the crowd watched in silence, the room was illuminated by slides showing the tears, the triumphs and the tragedies between the Israelis and the Palestinians. As the attackers and the victims lit up the screen, the only sound in the crowd was gunfire noises accompanying slide after slide.
Each of the four speakers — Karen Kennedy, Thomas Nelson, Diane Baxter and Shaul Cohen — shared how they think peace can be reached. They reflected on the suicide bombings, refugee camps, struggling economies and administration of the lands, and what can be done to improve the situations.
Although they all proposed different methods, they shared one common ground: Both sides must cooperate.
“If they can come to the vision they need to work and live together,” Cohen said, “the next peace — I’m not sure when it will come — will have a chance.”