Editorial: Local groups should be example for peace

The cafeteria bombing at Hebrew University in Jerusalem last
Wednesday hit closer to home than past hostile attacks in Israel
because five Americans, including Marla Bennett, a UC Berkeley
alumna, were killed.

Universities should be safe places for learning and the free
interchange of ideas. But with the current volatility of the Middle
East conflict, this is no longer an option for students in Israel.
Their universities are located in the center of conflict which
elicits the worst aspects of human nature in a back-and-forth
slaughter.

Perhaps the most important thing UCLA students should learn from
this incident is how this reflects on the incorrect manner the
Middle East debate is handled on campus. We are fortunate enough to
live thousands of miles away from the conflict but continually
waste this opportunity for a productive and mature exploration of
the issue by resorting to partisan protests throughout the year.
These accomplish nothing more than to provide an arena for
bickering and the display of antagonistic fanaticism, essentially
brining a version of the original conflict to campus.

We should do what those students caught up in the turmoil
cannot: take advantage of our removal from the conflict to look at
the conflict through a strictly academic and cultural perspective.
At UCLA, the Muslim Student Association and Jewish Student Union
are both known for being highly politicized groups. As such, they
should be the first to do something morally necessary: organize an
event on campus during the first week of fall aimed at advising
students to deal with the Middle Eastern conflict like students,
not militants. An event of this nature organized by both groups,
that does not involve heated debate, is long overdue given the
events of this year.

If MSA and JSU who are not part of the Middle Eastern conflict
cannot do this, how do they expect people in the Middle East
to?