Journalist talks on peace in Middle East

The first thing that Elli Wohlgelernter told his audience Saturday afternoon was that he could not use any prepared notes because of the Sabbath. The second he started talking, this much was clear: He didn't need any notes. Wohlgelernter, a Jerusalem Post editor, spoke passionately -- and authoritatively -- about Israeli affairs for an hour at the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity house. Wohlgelernter's talk, given before a crowd of a dozen students and co-sponsored by the Lubavitch House and AEPi, covered topics including this summer's Camp David peace talks, conflicts between Jews, Muslims, Christians and Armenians in the Middle East and the Palestinians' fight for a state of their own. Dressed in a dark suit, the bearded 46-year-old journalist began his speech with a few interesting facts about the recently published list of the world's cities with the largest Jewish populations. He offered the surprising tidbit that Philadelphia was on the list both in the year 1900 and in the year 2000. "Throw that out at your next frat party," he joked. "No one will believe that." After briefly discussing his experience in Israeli affairs and in journalism -- an American, he has worked at the Post since 1991 -- he began offering some of his admittedly controversial opinions. He told the students that he believed the peace talks this summer, which ran for 15 days in July and involved Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and President Clinton, were a waste of time. Clinton, he said, wanted the meetings to be closed and so minimal information was made available to the public. "A lot of things you hear and read are not necessarily first-hand," Wohlgelernter said, because the concern is that "the more you leak out, the more it's going to affect the negotiations." The editor also gave insight on some proposed solutions to the peace process that are floating around Israel today, many of which he says he opposes. One option, for instance, would be to split up the Old City of Jerusalem -- where historical sites like the Western Wall and and the Muslim Dome of the Rock are located -- and give Israel control over the Jews and Armenians, allowing Palestinians to govern the Muslim and Christian populations. That is an absurd idea, Wohlgelernter said, because he envisions competing forces lined up across the street from each other as a result. He came out in favor of the establishment of a Palestinian state as it would offer Palestinians the pride of having their own state. But, even then, he said, there might still be many unemployed Palestinians in the streets who would not benefit from a state. The audience for the Saturday afternoon talk wound up being much smaller than had been expected. Still, those who did come said they enjoyed the talk, especially since it was given by a person with first-hand knowledge. "It's nice to open up dialogue," said Lee Gerson, an AEPi member and College junior who helped organize the event. "It's hard to be informed when you're in college."