Maryland prof tells past and future of Middle East conflict

Just when Israelis and Palestinians seemed to be on the verge of resolving a fifty-two year conflict, a new tide of violence this fall brought about a collapse in the peace process. Professor Shibley Telhami, Anwar Sadat Chair for Peace and Development at the University of Maryland and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, discussed the climax and ramifications of such violence as well as his outlook on the future at a lecture this Tuesday. About 50 students and faculty members listened in the Terrace Room of Logan Hall. Telhami summarized the ideologies behind both sides and theorized about the failures of the peace process at the event, sponsored by the Middle East Center, the Solomon Asch Center for Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict, the Christopher H. Browne Center for International Politics and the Penn Arab Student Society. "We have done more in Camp David than in two years of negotiations," Telhami said. "We are closer today than ever to an agreement, but... the whole thing has collapsed." Telhami was referring to the failed three-way summit between President Bill Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat at Camp David. Telhami said that, over the past three decades, the U.S. has focused more on this region than on any other in the world. "Even if George W. is President, and he doesn't want to deal with foreign issues, he will have one of his delegates deal with it," Telhami said, chuckling. "This is a number one issue of priority." According to Telhami, the media's framing of Jerusalem -- a site sacred to three religions -- has shifted from a national focus to an ethnic and religious one. "This transformation on framing is important," he said. "I see it as the biggest threat to the peace process -- period." Adding that he does not see a resolution to the Arab-Israeli conflict in the foreseeable future, Telhami pointed out that both sides truly need and want an agreement. He predicted that there will be another attempt at peace in the next few weeks, perhaps before President Clinton leaves office. "I don't say it'll succeed," Telhami said. Since Arab-Israeli tension is such a preeminent topic, PASS brought in Telhami to educate the Penn community. "We want to show people that it's not about political rhetoric," PASS member and College junior Omar Al-Wir said. "We want to show both sides of the argument, since it is the only way to get an agreement." College freshman Andrew Joseph agreed, saying, "I was expecting that he might be very anti-Israel... but I thought he gave an unbiased point of view."