A film screening and panel program were held on campus last week to raise awareness about the current situation in the Gaza Strip.The programs were held in conjunction with Lighting Gaza, an international movement symbolized by lighting candles that signify the absence of electricity and other basic humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip.

The Arab Culture Club and the Slifka Scholars, comprised of one Jewish Israeli student and one Palestinian Arab student who are offered a full scholarship to Brandeis each year and are involved in coexistence work between Israelis and Palestinians, screened the 2001 documentary Gaza Strip in order to promote awareness from the Palestinian point of view. The movie was held in the Shapiro Campus Center Atrium last Tuesday night with over 50 students in attendance.

Director and producer James Longley decided to make this documentary because, according to the film's Web site, he felt that the Palestinian point of view had not been sufficiently acknowledged in the U.S. media.

Gaza Strip portrays the life of the Palestinian refugees under Israeli occupation in Gaza City and two refugee camps, Khan Yunis and Rafah. It is presented through the eyes of a 13-year-old Palestinian boy, Mohammed Hajazi, who in the film admits, "I would rather die. It would be easier," and later adds, "I want to enter paradise. I want to leave this life."

Several scenes in the documentary depict children scrambling from gunfire and families fleeing from the smoke of a bulldozer about to barrel through their houses.

The Palestinian refugees speak with brutal honesty in the film. One Palestinian, in response to Israel's enforcement of a blockade on the occupied territories, remarks, "Let them close the door. We'll come through the window." Another Palestinian asked, "Are we the terrorists or are the terrorists the ones who blockade us?"

Since the film was largely outdated, the sponsors of the event passed out information detailing the events in the region from 2000 to the present before the film began. The packet concluded, "[Palestinians] are now essentially out of food; the water system is faltering (almost half the population now lacks access to safe water supplies); the sewage system has broken down and is discharging raw waste into streets and the sea; the power supply is intermittent at best; hospitals lack heat and spare parts for diagnostic machines, ventilators, incubators; dozens of lifesaving medicines are no longer available. Slowly but surely, Gaza is dying."

At the second campus event in honor of Lighting Gaza, held last Thursday night, both Prof. Gordon Fellman (SOC) and Sa'ed Adel Atshan, a Palestinian graduate student from Harvard University who studies public policy, spoke on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Fellman reflected on the sociological and psychological standpoints of both the Palestinian and Israeli peoples. He described Israel as being stuck in deep ambivalence, with both sides lacking the necessary political figures "to end this thing." He explained that the occupation is objected to by the majority of Israelis and Palestinians, and that, "The conflict really is between the 'accomodationists,' Israeli and Palestinian Jews who want to end it, versus 'rejectionists,' those who refuse to end it."

Atshan spoke about what he called the "policies" that Israel has used to enforce the occupation. He addressed the Israeli settlements that, he said, are built after Palestinian homes are demolished, the "utilities [being used] as weapons," including water and electricity, the nearly 100 checkpoints established throughout Israel, and the Israeli West Bank Wall that is three times as big as the Berlin Wall. He also said two-thirds of the Gaza Strip is inhabited by 1.5 million Palestinians, whereas the other third of the area is inhabited by 8,000 Israeli settlers.

The event concluded with a discussion, which, Fellman said, is exactly what needs to take place. "Conversation," he said, "is each side acknowledging what they've done, their fears, what's in their heart. Each side has to be open and honest with each other."

Noam Shuster '11, an Israeli Jewish Slifka scholar, said he believes that such conversation is essential on this campus. "At an academic institution like this, it is very important to hear as much as possible," she said. "The Palestinian's is the untold story on this campus, which is kind of a microcosm for what is going on in the world. If ignorance takes place on both sides, then we're not going anywhere."

Shuster also said that in meetings where the Slifka Scholars sit down to discuss and plan new activities, "we disagree and argue, but this is dialogue. We'll never agree on the solution, but the key is to communicate and put everything on the table. I want people to be more critical of the country they love so that Israel can be a safer place for everyone.