On Thursday, Mar. 27, Nizar Farsakh came to the University to share his experiences as a Palestinian in the Middle East and his dedication to working with Israelis in hopes of peacefully resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Farsakh is currently the Program Director for Civil Society Partnerships at the D.C.-based nonprofit Project on Middle East Democracy. Additionally, he served for two years as the General Director of the General Delegation of the Palestinian Liberation Organization to the United States. He is affiliated with the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

The talk was hosted by the University’s chapter of J Street U, a pro-Israel and pro-peace organization which advocates a two-state solution to the conflict. The chapter aims to encourage dialogue between students through presentations like Farsakh’s.

“We also often communicate with other J Street U chapters about bringing speakers to campus or hosting other types of events,” wrote Emily Greenspan ’16, an organizer of the event, in an email to The Argus. “We generally try to bring speakers who can provide perspectives that students might not have heard before and give us additional abilities to think critically about the conflict.”

Greenspan explained why J Street U decided to invite Farsakh.

“For this talk in particular, we wanted to push the idea that not all Palestinians are for anti-normalization; in other words, people like Nizar believe that it is essential to work with Israelis in order to end the occupation and achieve a two-state solution rather than refuse to align with those who support the idea of Israel in any borders,” Greenspan wrote.

Farsakh’s talk highlighted the importance of communication and understanding through several anecdotes of his experiences in the West Bank and abroad. He also spoke of many of the challenges he had to overcome as part of the Palestinian diaspora.

“Because we [Palestinians] are stateless, we get pushed around,” Farsakh said in an account of his experience at an Israeli checkpoint.

He explained that his ability to obtain a visa was often up to the whims of one person.

Despite some negative experiences, Farsakh maintains a positive outlook.

“[I am a] Palestinian who has been victimized and continues to be victimized,” Farsakh said. “[It is] up to me what I do with that.”

Farsakh believes that reaching an agreement is possible.

“We need to believe in the plausibility of the possible,” he said. “Believing that the world could be better and continuing to believe it could be better is when change happens. There are no facts. There are perceptions. We’re not going to get anywhere until we see how the picture looks from their side.”

Students had an opportunity to ask questions about his views and experiences after the lecture.

“The way he used a personal narrative to explain the difficulties in reaching an agreement was interesting,” said Jordan Alexander ’17. “But as with most other talks about the conflict, I still feel lost as to what I can do to get both sides closer to an agreement.”

Farsakh stated that there are ways to achieve Israel’s goal of security other than retaining a specific territory. He expressed respect for those on both sides of the conflict who have stood up for their beliefs, stating that the people who shared his values are his community.

“I think it’s an issue where dialogue is absolutely necessary, since there will only be peace if both sides can compromise,” Alexander said. “It’s also a very dense issue with a lot of history, and having a healthy dialogue is the best way for people to learn more about the issue.”

In addition to talks such as these, the University chapter of J Street U is currently circulating a petition around the school supporting negotiations led by Secretary of State John Kerry to help achieve a two-state solution. Members plan to host coffee talks and other presentations in the future to allow students to become more involved in the issue and hear the perspectives of those on all sides of the conflict.

“At the end of the day, both Nizar and J Street believe that this conflict does not have to be a zero-sum game,” Greenspan wrote. “If Israelis and Palestinians are to make peace, each side must come to realize the humanity in the other in order to achieve a compromise that results in a viable, prosperous Palestine state living alongside a secure Israel.”

Becca Caspar-Johnson ’15 wrote an email to The Argus about responses she has received from students about the forum.

“We had nothing but positive reactions from people who attended this event,” Caspar-Johnson wrote. “Nizar’s support of diplomatic solutions is especially important as of right now, when we’re reading in the news that the Israeli-Palestinian talks are hitting a rough spot and that neither government is making the concessions that they need to be making to keep negotiations going.”