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Expert Explores Israeli-Palestinian Affairs

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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.

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Swiss Residents Argue Events in Gaza, Israel

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(GENEVA) — Like Cornell, Switzerland is populated with students from all sorts of backgrounds, ethnicities and religions; students who collaborate with one another on a daily basis and foster constructive dialogue on many subjects. With strong ties to the international community, however, Cornell is not immune to conflict, as is evident in the ongoing controversy and recent debates related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Though Switzerland is renowned for being a bastion for open discussion and tolerance, it has recently witnessed numerous demonstrations concerning global economic equality, lack of aid to war-torn countries and Israel’s response to the rockets that were launched by Hamas into Israel.

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Spanish Students Fault Israel for Recent Violence

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(SEVILLE) — The recent events in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict launched from Gaza have not only provoked emotional responses among Cornell students, but have also gained the attentions of students of the University of Seville. The students, however, are overwhelmingly polarized in favor of the Palestinians.
When Ángel Coca Brejano, student at the University of Seville, was asked the question of who is to blame for the current conflict in Gaza, Brejano responded, “It’s all the Jews’ fault.”
While Coca admitted that he was not entirely serious about his accusation against all Jews, he voiced the views of the majority of students, who believe that the State of Israel deserves the blame for the current situation in Gaza.

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Panelists Examine Motivations Behind Middle East Conflicts

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Kaufman Auditorium was packed last night for a panel discussion focusing on the recent conflict in the Gaza Strip, featuring Prof. David Patel, government, Prof. Matthew Evangelista government, and Prof. Sanford Gutman, near eastern studies.
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The discussion began with opening remarks from both the Islamic Alliance for Justice. and Cornell Hillel. Both groups expressed optimism about the discussion and their hopes for a more constructive exchange of opinions. However, the IAJ also voiced concern over their recent representation in campus media.

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Gaza Panel Criticized

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According to the Campus Code of Conduct, those who dislike what an invited speaker has to say have the right, among other things, to ask pointed questions and express displeasure with evasive answers. The audience in a packed Lewis Auditorium was reminded of this yesterday before the Gaza in Crisis Discussion Panel, where members of the Cornell community discussed their position on the Gaza conflict.
The panel, which expressed largely pro-Palestinian viewpoints, came after recent events on campus highlighted the impact of the Gaza conflict on the Cornell community. Wasif Syed grad organized the event hoping to encourage discourse.

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Flags Uprooted: Gaza Exhibition Disturbed Again

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“Go do your homework!” onlookers shouted, as a dozen students gathered on the Arts Quad yesterday morning to revive what remained of a display of black flags protesting the war in Gaza. Hours before, passersby were startled to find that a number of the black flags that originally lined the Arts Quad Monday morning had been rearranged to form a Star of David — the symbol of Jewish identity.

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Israel Supporters React to Display on the Arts Quad

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Three days after signs protesting the war in Gaza were vandalized and stolen from the Arts Quad, Cornell has seen a backlash of pro-Israel sentiment on campus. Flyers stating, “Would you want Hamas in your backyard?” were attached to the black flags in the Gaza display early Tuesday morning, but were removed by 5 a.m. Tuesday.
The original signs — which included facts from Amnesty International and the United Nations about the crisis in Gaza — have been replaced with new signs with the same statements. Police still have not apprehended any individuals involved with tearing down the original signs.

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Protest Gone Wrong: Gaza Display Ruined

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Less than half a day after members of Cornell community peppered the Arts Quad with flags and signs protesting the war in Gaza, those same signs lay in a heap inside the Green Dragon Café. Around 2 p.m., as the 1,300 black flags — signifying each Palestinian and Israeli who died in the attacks — blew in the February breeze, the accompanying signs were destroyed, stolen and discarded.

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Violence in Gaza Ignites Worldwide Debate

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Weeks before the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip was announced, thousands in Hong Kong joined protesters around the world to march against the bloodshed that has resulted from the war between Israel and Hamas. Gaza is also a hot topic of debate in Internet blogs in China.

According to an online survey by the Chinese newspaper Huan Qiu, 66 percent of China’s bloggers believe Israel should be held responsible for the conflict while 34 think the fault lies with Hamas. In addition, an online petition calling for an Israeli ceasefire was signed by almost 1,400 Chinese.