Overseas conflict will be the topic of discussion Thursday. A former Israeli Defense Forces paratrooper will be speaking candidly about his experience.
Avner Gvaryahu — the former paratrooper for Israeli Defense Forces and co-director for Breaking the Silence, an organization that collects information from former defense force soldiers — will share the account of his time occupying the West Bank.
The event is being hosted by the OU chapter of J Street U, which was founded by Danielle Fultz, a J Street U intern and a junior studying French, history and war and peace studies.
Gvaryahu is traveling with Ira Stup, the deputy director of J Street U, to tell stories and also inform students as to how they can become involved in supporting a two-state solution to Israeli and Palestinian conflict.
The goal of the event is to inform students of the situation on the ground as Israel occupies the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Fultz said.
“We want people to listen and hear the stories that Avner tells,” Fultz said. “We want them to listen because he was stationed in the West Bank, so he is an interesting viewpoint on the conflict.”
Gvaryahu’s viewpoint was one that changed as he left the military and started working with Breaking the Silence.
“I thought that I would be that moral soldier on the ground,” Gvaryahu said. “I quickly realized the problem was not with my specific action, but with the whole infrastructure of the Israeli occupation.”
Gvaryahu said that his presentation will focus on his experience with the occupation as well as with the testimonies of many former Israeli soldiers published in a book released in September.
The testimonies will be the backdrop for Stup’s presentation, in which Stup hopes to inform students on ways to not just learn about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but also to take action to support the two-state solution suggested by his organization, J Street U.
Stup explained that a two-state solution would mean that both Israel and Palestine would no longer be at conflict and both the Israeli people as well as the Palestinians would have the right to self-determinism, or the right to choose one’s own country.
Fultz, Gvaryahu and Stu said they hope the event inspires people to learn more about the conflict.
“Curiosity is what I want; that is something I really want to inspire on campus,” Fultz said. “I want people to be curious about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to talk about it, because that’s one of the main goals of J Street U — to have an open dialogue.”
ds834910@ohiou.edu
