On the heals of this weekend's suicide bombings in Israel, an audience made almost entirely from Penn's Jewish community packed Hillel last night to hear about the current situation first-hand.
Neil Lazarus, an educator of Israeli politics who currently resides in Israel, spoke to roughly 100 students about the present and future state of politics in the Middle East, emphasizing the impact of recent events.
The dynamic, witty English-born educator was last night's spotlight speaker in "Israel 101," an event sponsored by Hillel, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and the Israel Program Center.
Although yesterday's program was not planned in response to this weekend's events, Jewish students found it a comforting opportunity to come together.
Lazarus began his talk by glancing at his watch.
"I was afraid we were going to start late," he joked. "And when speaking about Israel, there might be a change in government if we don't start on time."
He then proceeded to give a description of current Israeli politics. He discussed why peace in Israel seems to be moving backwards, attributing the regression to the removal of Israeli troops from Lebanon, the collapse of the Camp David Peace Accords and Bush's policy of anti-involvement in the Middle East.
But Lazarus said world events have forced change.
"Ladies and gentlemen, on September 11, the Middle East came to America," he said.
A video aid -- which showed a cheering group of Palestinian extremists with guns celebrating in the aftermath of Sept. 11 and the anti-American, anti-Israeli last words of a suicide bomber -- accompanied his speech.
Although students felt Lazarus made the complex issues of Israeli politics much clearer, there were some who disagreed with his perspective.
"I don't totally agree with him," said College freshman Eli Lipschultz, "While I am definitely pro-Israel and pro-peace process, I don't think [Lazarus] gave enough credit to the Palestinian people."
Lazarus emphatically declared that there is only one way for Israel to experience peace.
"Whatever the cause, terrorism is wrong," he said. "Yasser Arafat has to put an end to the suicide bombings."
A question-and-answer period revealed the diversity of perspectives among the audience. Comments ranged from questions on the violated lives of Palestinians living in Israel to statements comparing Yasser Arafat to Adolf Hitler.
At the conclusion of the lecture, many members of the audience continued to debate the ideas Lazarus had raised.
Following Lazarus' speech, the audience had the opportunity to attend five workshops on topics including "Israel & the Arabs: Is Peace Possible?" and "Human Rights Issues."
The addition of these workshops helped to "span a wide political spectrum and present many different sides of the issue," said Liz Rutzick, a College senior and the event's organizer.
As with any hotly debated political issue, there was contention last night. But organizers said that representing a diverse range of perspectives was the aim of the program.
"The most important part of a program is that it is healthy... representing the plurality of these complex issues," said Shamir Caplan, Hillel's assistant director.
