Rodef Shalom to host panel on Palestinian perspectives

 Advancing the cause of peace by understanding daily life in the Palestinian territories.

That is the theme of Palestinian Perspectives on the Path to Two States: A Conversation with the American Jewish Community, a panel put together by J Street DC Metro. The event is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Sunday at Temple Rodef Shalom in Falls Church.

This is the second panel discussion of this sort sponsored by J Street, according to Stephen Stern, chair of the J Street Educational and Program Committee, who helped coordinate the event. The first one was hosted by Temple Sinai and attracted 450 people.

"We hope we can match last year's meeting," said Stern. "The people we had on the panel last year mostly spoke about their personal stories, what life was like in the West Bank and in Jerusalem. We wanted the audience to try to see their experiences through their lenses. When Palestinians engage in a dialogue with an audience that is 90-95 percent American, the chances are good that the Americans have little or no experience of hearing from Palestinians."

Panelists will include: Nadia Bilbassy-Charters, senior news correspondent, Middle East Broadcasting (MBC-TV); Gregory Khalil, president and co-founder, the Telos Group; and Aziz Abu Sarah, co-executive director of the Center for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University.

Howard Sumka, CEO of One Voice (former USAID mission director for the West Bank and Gaza) will act as moderator for the evening. Ori Nir, spokesman for Americans for Peace Now, will offer opening remarks.

In addition to hearing panelists reflect on life in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza, the Rodef Shalom audience will be able to hear each of the panelists' views regarding the path to a Middle East peace. The presentations will be followed by a question-and-answer session. Stern added that the political distances seem to have widened in recent years.

"I think there is mistrust on both sides," he said. "The role of the U.S. taking a bridge-building role has diminished."

Stern also said that "neither side is going away, and they should engage in discussion no matter how tough. I think we are still dealing with a cusp of hope about negotiations.

"Palestinian frustrations are tough," he added. "There is, however, progress being made on the West Bank, which gives us hope for future generations. I think we're providing a balance with discussions such as these. There's just too little discussion of the Palestinian realities as seen by Palestinians and too little discussion from inquiries by American Jews. We need a realistic perspective on the Palestinians' issues. And that's the balance we're trying to add."

Stern said that he wants the panelists to get right into their personal stories, how they actually lived and functioned. He doesn't want to start with the familiar issues that he said already divide the two peoples.

"We'll get into the issues and areas of reconciliations," he said, "but it shouldn't be the starting point. No, we'll start with personal stories, and then we'll sort our way through the difficulties."

Admission to the discussion is free.

The first time Stern organized such a panel was in October 2010. The program was entitled Who Are The Partners For Peace? Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk moderated the panel, which included Dr. Amal Jadou, deputy chief of mission of the general delegation of the PLO to the U.S.; Amjad Atallah, co-director of the Middle East Task Force, New America Foundation; and Ghaith Al-Omari, advocacy director, American Task Force on Palestine. J Street president Jeremy Ben-Ami, Stern and Rabbi Jonathan Roos gave opening remarks.