As part of Israel Week, J Street U Brandeis and the Brandeis Israel Public Affairs Committee led a discussion last Wednesday about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and logistical aspects of a two-state solution in an event titled "Is Peace Possible?"

The program was sponsored by Hillel and took place in the Mandel Center for the Humanities.

Event hosts screened the first two videos in The Atlantic's "Is Peace Possible?" special report series about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The first outlined the logistics of a two-state solution and of a land-swap agreement between Israel and Palestine, and the second discussed Israeli security measures and concerns following the proposed agreement. The other two videos in the series, which were not screened during the event, deal with the needs of Palestinian refugees and the future of Jerusalem.

Following each 14-minute video, audience members broke into four small groups, each led by a BIPAC or J Street U member, to discuss the concepts proposed by the clips.

According to its website, BIPAC is a bipartisan, pro-Israel lobby that "looks to create a pro-Israel environment on the regional and national level by lobbying our Congressmen and thanking them for their continual support for the Jewish State." J Street U, as stated on the Brandeis chapter's website, is pro-Israel and pro-peace, has a focus on the two-state solution and "believe[s] that because of our love and concern for Israel it is our responsibility to be critical of her actions in order to ensure her well-being and security."

According to an email from Jake Altholz '15, the Israel programs coordinator for Hillel, the two groups are "largely considered on different sides of the Israeli political spectrum."

BIPAC Co-President Daniel Koas '16 said in an interview with the Justice that one of BIPAC's goals for the event was to reach out to and continue its working relationship with J Street U.

"I think that [the event was] a success; [the] fact that these two groups that don't always see eye-to-eye could come together for an event to discuss the challenges that Israel faces, that's fantastic, and that's monumental," Koas said.

"We have ... so much more in common than we really realize," he added.

J Street U President Catie Stewart '16 said in an interview with the Justice that both diversity of opinion and a move away from a "homogenous" group discussion in which participants are "all kind of thinking the same thing and having the same thoughts" were additional goals of the program.

"There are many students on campus who are passionate about Israel, and there is no better way to celebrate Israel's independence than for the different pro-Israel groups to come together to learn about the current situation in Israel and to share their views and opinions," wrote Koas in an email to the Justice. "Israel can become such a contentious issue that at times it is important just to come together to talk."

Altholz, who played a role in planning Israel Week, wrote in an email that, "As we celebrate Israel we must also realize the time and position we are in. Our generation is the next group of leaders in the peace discussion. We must make peace a reality."

The goal of Israel Week as a whole was "to celebrate Israel, its culture and its accomplishments," according to its Facebook event page. Other programming of the week included slam poetry with Jewish spoken word artist Andrew Lustig, an Israel-themed Shabbat dinner and a barbecue to commemorate Israel's 65th Independence Day. The week was sponsored by Hillel, the Brandeis Zionist Alliance, BIPAC, J Street U, B'yachad and Brandeis Taglit.