Exploring the Arab-Israeli Conflict through Dialogue and Study

Join a group of diverse participants to be in conversation together about the Arab-Israeli conflict.This group is for people looking to engage in meaningful dialogue with those who come from different backgrounds and perspectives. We will operate under shared guidelines of respect and use the text “Arabs and Israelis” as our guide. The group will have equal participation from three groups: American Jews/Jewish Israelis, Arabs/Palestinians/Muslims, and interested Americans who do not identify as either of the first two groups.

Goals

We have identified the following goals:

1. Provide a forum for a small and diverse group of Twin Cities individuals to come together in meaningful dialogue around the Arab-Israeli conflict. Recruit an even number of participants from faith/regional backgrounds, with even distribution across age demographics.

2. Facilitate meaningful conversations around a shared academic text in order to expand both knowledge and understanding amongst participants that they will carry with them back to their own communities.

3.Develop relationships grounded in respect that may grow and evolve beyond the sessions.

Big Ideas

1. Each participant comes with their own set of biases, educational background, and personal lived experiences that inform their current understanding of the situation.  The biases in the group are likely to be diverse and at times in tension with each other.

2. Each participant also comes with a desire to learn and with an openness to listen to the stories and experiences of others with respect, and with an assumption of good will.

3. We all have more to learn and we can learn from historical text and also from each other.

4. The complexity of this particular conflict is such that there are times where multiple and conflicting narratives are sometimes true.

5. Being in a relationship with those who are different from us can help to lower the temperature around difficult topics.  

Essential Questions

1. How can we hold multiple perspectives at the same time?

2. What does it look like to share our experiences without fear that we will be attacked or judged?

3. How do we integrate complex historical facts into our worldview about current events and contemporary issues?

4. How do we reconcile current events that challenge our historical perspectives?

5. What do we do when historical facts, or current events, make us uncomfortable or challenge our own narratives or personal experiences?

6. How do we take our expanded knowledge and bring it back to our communities in meaningful ways?

7. How do we honor high emotions around current events while sticking to the curriculum?