As Cornellians turned their attention to Israel’s military actions in Gaza, Noah Karr-Kaitin '13 was faced with a test between two competing values: his support for Israel and my liberal-democratic political ideals.

As Israelis and Gazans fire missiles at each other in the Middle East, hundreds of Cornellians took to Ho Plaza Monday for dueling demonstrations in support of each side of the conflict, bringing with them flags, chants and barbs of their own. 

Of the two Cornell undergraduate students studying abroad in Israel this semester, one was forced to seek shelter during an air raid last week and the other has been relocated to a city further from the Gaza Strip, a site that has been the target of Israeli missile strikes.

Some have recently expressed, in the pages of this newspaper, a feeling of marginalization. Specifically, I, and the group that I represent, the Cornell Israel Public Affairs Committee, have been accused of acting to marginalize a Palestinian point of view. However, I firmly believe that this is not the case; instead, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should be engaged — both in the microcosm of Cornell and on the world stage — by each party listening to the perspectives, needs and interests of each other.

[Editor’s Note: This column is the second installment of a two part series, the first half of which appeared in yesterday’s Sun.]

To the Editor:

Re: “After Gaza Protests, Groups Attempt Dialogue,” News, Sept. 29

“If only the Palestinians had better leadership.” I often hear this point from well-intentioned, but in this case at least misguided, pro-Israeli friends and colleagues. They continue to bemoan, “If only they had a Ghandi or an MLK.”

And one can surely make a logical case about previous and current Palestinian (and other Arab) leadership missing the mark. But there are a few more interesting points here. First of all, a Ghandi or an MLK prototype a priori requires the background of either an oppressive colonizing regime or a brutally racist one. Either scenario is not quite ideal, and is fascinating to me that folks, in trying to highlight flawed Palestinian resistance, inadvertently draw this moral parallel to today’s Israel.

Robert Malley, the program director for Middle East and North Africa at the International Crisis Group in Washington, D.C., addressed a modest crowd inside Goldwin Smith’s Hollis E. Cornell auditorium yesterday evening.

Malley, who is widely regarded as an expert on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, gave an insider’s perspective on the nature of the crisis and offered a uniquely anecdotal appraisal of the problems currently facing Israel, Palestine and the United States.

To the Editor:

Re: “This Is a Column about the Holocaust, Not Gaza,” Opinion, Feb. 26

This article highlights a campus-wide rift that has been exposed by numerous recent events: the division between politically correct complacency and progressive dialogue.

Two weeks ago, 1,300 black flags graced the Arts Quad to commemorate the recent deaths in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, standing alongside several dozen signs featuring statements about the recent deaths. This week, in response, the Cornell Israel Public Affairs Committee and Cornell Hillel sponsored a separate display featuring signs regarding Israel’s right to defend itself and Hamas’ affiliations with terrorism.