A Problem With No Solution?
Activist Bassem Eid engages the campus community on the issues
“I’m not a politician,” began Bassem Eid, speaking to the campus community in a lecture on Tuesday. Rather, Mr. Eid, a Palestinian human rights activist, had come to discuss his views on the conflict that has so long meant pain for his people, and his predictions for what the future of the conflict might look like. The guest lecture, hosted by Terps for Israel with the support of UMD College Republicans, UMD College Democrats, J Street UMD, the Israel on Campus Coalition of Greater Washington, the American Jewish Committee, and Mishelanu, was attended by over 60 last night in the basement of Juan Ramon Jimenez Hall.
Mr. Eid’s lecture featured a common motif, a conclusion which he arrived at from several angles; a general pessimism towards the notion that any resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is in sight. Yet, instead of encouraging attempts by foreign governments to intervene and solve the conflict with any sort of dramatic climactic action, he argued, the general public should instead focus on ensuring that the Palestinian people have the economic opportunity and access to basic human needs that will shift the status quo towards something that makes peace truly possible.
Mr. Eid outlined what he believed to be the genuinely prevailing mindset of the Palestinian people today. “The majority of Palestinians have lost trust in their leaders,” he said, in reference to Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas and local government in the territories. Most Palestinians simply seek “survival, education, and health care,” yet consistently find themselves unable to achieve even this modest quality of life, stymied by their own leaders in several respects. He emphasized to attendees that many who claim to speak on behalf of the Palestinian people do so only in an unofficial manner, and thus frequently do not reflect their true beliefs. He said that this is especially true for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
During the question and answer portion of the lecture, Mr. Eid was asked of his stance on the controversial movement to boycott Israel over its occupation of the West Bank. He responded in no uncertain terms: “I speak of [the BDS movement] as a place to find jobs for those who are jobless,” he joked. When prodded, Mr. Eid agreed with an audience member that the movement is based in anti-Semitism more than in anti-Israel political sentiment. He concluded that BDS is the modern, normalized form of anti-Semitism in the world.
Mr. Eid made it very clear throughout his lecture that he has little hope for a short-term solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Rather, he told students, it is up them to address the little things now and create the opportunity for peace over the long run. He implored student to get involved, to pay attention to BDS on their campuses, to talk to their representatives about restructuring funding for the Palestinian Authority and other issues of seemingly minor importance, but that can eventually make a difference. In the end, Mr. Eid said that the conflict is “easy to explain, impossible to solve.” As witnesses, he concluded, we must be to speak up as we are able.
