The ongoing conflict between Israeli-Palestinian statehood has spurred debate at MTSU as part of a series on Middle East relations, which encourages students to educate themselves about issues abroad.
Karen Petersen, professor in the department of political science, spoke to students on Monday’s installment of the lecture series, “Global Tensions: A Focus on the Middle East” focuses on Middle Eastern regional politics, culture and international relations.
“I want to argue that we have this simplistic view of the conflict that leads to some naive conclusions,” Petersen said, as she introduced students to her lectured called “Problem Solved? The Political Implications of Palestinian Statehood.”
Petersen said that the main point of her lecture was to discuss how Western policymakers address the various parties involved in that region.
“The policy that Western [politicians] have in respect to Israel and Palestine reflect this naiveté and these dangerous assumptions that our interests are the universal interests; that the interests of Western powers are in fact shared by the rest of the world,” Petersen said.
Petersen specializes in international conflict and spent the majority of the lecture addressing the complexities within Israeli-Palestinian statehood.
The series is designed to get students and faculty engaged and talking about the ongoing conflict in the region.
“The general goal is to get acquainted with what’s happening on campus and to encourage dialogue on campus,” said Scott Carnicom, assistant dean of the University Honors College. “We just want people to be well informed and to form their own opinions.”
Petersen said that the Western world has difficulty understanding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict because of this reason.
Among those mistaken assumptions, Petersen said that many believe that Palestine was at peace before Israel was created and that everyone involved desired peace. There is also the belief that the situation began in 1948 with Israel’s independence, and that a Palestinian state would satisfy political ambitions on all sides.
She said that one of the problems is that policymakers do not know the full history of the region, including Judeo-Christian history in the region involving the Crusades and the Holocaust.
Petersen said there were many different sides of the issues and how the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is often used for political gain or distraction by governments such as the United States and countries in the Middle East.
She said she believes peace is unlikely because of the complexities of external and internal factors often not understood by policymakers or ignored because of the political interest of those in power.
“I’m telling you to not base your hopes on some idea of international peace that doesn’t exist,” Petersen said. “It fits into our ideology, and it is in our interest to have world peace because we have the best technology, the best guns and all the power.”
Some of those in attendance said although they had were informed about the basic facts surrounding the issue, attending events like these are still helpful. Others were not as knowledgeable about the ongoing conflict.
“I don’t have a whole lot of interest in the Middle East, but it’s good to be aware,” said Ginny Schlitt, senior biology major. “Anything that happens to one part of the world can happen to another.”
Schlitt said she believes it is important for students to attend lectures that are offered on campus for free, and said that she felt as though she left the lecture with a new understanding about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“I learned about the history, and it is interesting to see how the different sides of the fence view an issue in different ways,” Schlitt said. “I think everyone seems to be looking for one answer but there isn’t actually one.”
The lecture series plans to address a wide variety of issues: jihad and holy war, gender issues, Iraq, torture and American foreign relations and policy in the Middle East.
Linda Seward, outreach coordinator for the MTSU Middle East Center, said she believes learning about the Middle East is important in a more globalized society.
“We live in a time when people can no longer ignore what is going on around the world, and the more we know about other cultures, the better off we are,” Seward said. “When we look at all the different regions of the world, the Middle East is the most misunderstood.”
The MTSU Middle East Center, one of the co-sponsors of the event, promotes education about the Middle East as well as heads the Middle East studies program at MTSU.
Director of the MTSU Middle East Center Allan Hibbard said he was pleased to have the opportunity to co-sponsor the event.
Hibbard said that the series supports the center’s long-term goals of promoting an understanding of the various populations and cultures of the Middle East among the student body and surrounding community.
“The lecture series topic responds to the increasing importance of the Middle East for Americans and the growth of programs in Middle East Studies here at MTSU,” Hibbard said.
Hibbard said he hopes that the lecture series will help develop and encourage student to become more interested in the programs offered through the Middle East Center.
“The series will provide students with a great way to learn more about the Middle East,” Hibbard said, “and at the same time be introduced to a fine and impressive cast of MTSU faculty with interest and expertise in the region.”
A committee from the University Honors College decides the topic for each semester. This semester’s series is being co-sponsored along with The Middle East Center.
“We asked students and faculty members what they were interested in, and this topic percolated to the top,” Carinocorm said. “We have a lot of faculty studying this area and a lot of students studying this area as well.”
The lecture series is set to take place every Monday at 3 p.m., in Room 106 of the Honors College Building Amphitheatre.