Local News
April 18, 2008
Palestinian Addresses Cardin Students
A Palestinian activist speaks to Cardin School seniors.
Rochelle Eisenberg
Staff Reporter
Last week, the Shoshana S. Cardin School took an unusual step for a Jewish day school. The non-denominational high school invited a Palestinian activist to speak to members of its senior class.
Ruba Musleh, who identified herself as a Palestinian moderate and believes in a two-state solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict, visited the Cardin School. During her April 10 presentation, she provided a history of the current situation from the Palestinian perspective and focused on the major wars since 1948, the intifadas, and how Palestinians view their current living situation.
This year, the school is offering an elective on the Arab-Israel conflict created by the David Project. The David Project is a non-profit organization that provides educational programming and advocacy training to help respond to the anti-Israel sentiments on college campuses, in the media and communities around the world.
The organization has created a 14-lesson high school curriculum focusing on the conflict’s history, exploring anti-Israeli bias and teaching students how to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state.
To supplement the David Project curriculum, Ms. Musleh was invited to provide students with a moderate Palestinian viewpoint of the existing situation.
“If we’re really promoting resolution to conflict, we are willing to talk to the other side,” said Zvi Geva, Cardin’s Hebrew coordinator and coordinator of Jewish life, who is teaching the elective. “You have to be in touch with them, and you have to have dialogue.”
Mr. Geva found Ms. Musleh through Peace Now, Israel’s oldest peace movement group. That organization suggested he contact the American Task Force on Palestine, which helped arrange Ms. Musleh’s appearance.
An intern at American Task Force on Palestine, an advocacy organization in Washington D.C., Ms. Musleh spoke about her support of a peace process that would result in a two-state solution and her belief — which she said was supported by research — that the majority of Palestinians share this view.
At the same time, she offered her perspective of Israeli checkpoints. “Instead of 45 minutes, it takes two hours to travel. Suffering causes violence,” she said.
Regarding terrorism, Ms. Musleh said, “Bombing is immoral and civilians shouldn’t be killed,” but also spoke about the bombing of Israelis of a 5-month-old baby. And she added a personal story, of going to college in Ramallah and having her mother call her in the morning, around 4 in the afternoon and before she went to sleep, just to ensure she was still alive.
One student challenged Ms. Musleh on her contention that Hamas does not have much credibility among Palestinians, since the terrorist group was elected to office in Gaza. Ms. Musleh responded that she has a Christian friend who voted for Hamas simply as a reaction to Fatah’s corruption. Ms. Musleh noted that some Palestinians, like her own mother, who believe in the peace process just did not vote in that election.
“It worried me that she said that Hamas was losing credibility. I have not read anything like that, and they continue to recruit young kids as suicide bombers,” said Becca Weinstein, a Cardin senior.
Another student asked how trust could be built between Israelis and Arabs if the Palestinians elected a terrorist organization, while one senior wondered if a two-state solution was only the first step towards eradicating Israel.
“Hearing the other side of the story gives you a flavor of what you are up against,” said Becca. “If you know the other team’s arguments, you can prepare rebuttals.”
Said another Cardin senior, Avi Zaleon: “It was the first time I encountered a Palestinian person. I find that a lot of time it is difficult to argue the Israeli side without meeting the other side of the story.”
Reflecting on how Hamas recruits young children for suicide bombings and how Israelis do not do the same, Becca said, “It was helpful to hear the other side. It strengthened my own pride for the nation of Israel.”
Mr. Geva has also supplemented the David Project’s curriculum by showing “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West.” The documentary features footage from Arab television, interviews with former terrorists and undercover footage of suicide initiations.
Mr. Geva said he plans classroom follow-up discussions. “I want them to go into this with open eyes,” he said, “and not to accept everyone at face value.”