A new campus club called Brandeis Students for Justice and Peace in Palestine was chartered by the Student Union Senate last Sunday with a vote of 11 in favor, three against and one abstention.The club tries to shine a new perspective on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, said club founder Lisa Hanania '11.

The Senate earlier voted with a two-thirds majority to consider the charter over the objection of Ways and Means Committee Chairman Asher Tanenbaum '08.

Hanania, a Palestinian with Israeli citizenship, said that the club tries to offer "another narrative perspective" on the conflict.

She argued that existing clubs mainly look at the conflict from the Israeli perspective. "I believe there should be a group that advocates for the opinions, for the story of the Palestinians," she said.

Hanania said there should be two narratives on campus to create a basis for dialogue. Other universities have similar clubs, she said.

However, she said the Brandeis club is not modeled after any clubs on other campuses.

Senator-at-Large and Brandeis Israel Public Affairs Curriculum coordinator Andrew Brooks '09 said he was disappointed that the club's charter went forward because he said he feels that discussion of the club's request was cut off and students' concerns about the club could not be addressed.

Hanania said that she encountered difficulties while tabling for her club on the kosher side of Sherman Dining Hall.

"People would look at me in disgust and say 'no, no way,'" she said.

Hanania, from the Israeli city of Jaffa, came to Brandeis on the Slifka scholarship, which seeks to promote coexistence by bringing an Israeli Arab and an Israeli Jewish citizen to campus each year.

Hanania said that her involvement in in Arab-Jewish youth movements was caused by discrimination she faced at home, while attending a predominantly Jewish school. She said she also started a free newspaper by youths, one of few in Arabic and Hebrew in her home town. The city of Jaffa has both Arabs and Jews.

Noam Shouster '11, a Jewish Israeli from a mixed Jewish-Arab town, is co-founder of the club. She said it's possible to be both pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli.

Brandeis Students for Justice and Peace in Palestine unofficially sponsored events during the recently held Gaza Awareness week that included a film screening and panel discussions. Hanania said this was a precursor of events to come.

The club's goal, she emphasized, is to give equal weight to both sides.

As an example of the one-sided nature of campus discussion, she pointed to a campuswide e-mail that was sent out announcing a memorial held for the victims of the March 6 shooting in the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

While emphasizing that she thought the shooting was wrong and unnecessary, she said such an e-mail had a one sided perspective.

Tanenbaum, also the BIPAC president, said he had misgivings because similar groups on other campuses were often "very leftwing" and opposed to a two-state solution for the conflict.

He added that some groups on other campuses held protests that included chants such as "death to Israel" or "death to America."

Brooks said he supports the idea of having a group on campus that represents the Palestinian point of view and said he thinks that constructive dialogue will be beneficial to the campus.

Brooks also said that groups with similar names on other campuses distributed false information.

He suggested that the group should not affiliate itself by name to groups he said held radical points of view and should seek affiliation with another umbrella organization.

Brooks said he objects to the use of the term Palestine in the club's name.

"Most people who use that word use it as a reference to a nation that exists, and that's just historically false, there isn't a nation that exists," he said.

He suggested using the term "Palestinian people" instead.