In light of the Middle East uprisings, Professor Shukri Abed, an Associate Professor of Arabic at the University of Mary Washington, spoke at the Josef Korbel School on March 24 to address what impact the turmoil will have on Israel-Palestine relations.

"Both sides should view current development in a positive light- without fear and without arrogance," Abed said. "Both sides should grasp this opportunity to move the peace process forward. If we do not learn to share this land, no one will live to enjoy it."

Presented by the Institute for the Study of Israel in the Middle East, Abed offered an historical overview of the peace process between Israel, Palestine and a number of third parties.

"Failure to achieve peace has not been for lack of opportunities, but for lack of will to grasp them," he said.

Abed said a number of challenges are preventing a solution. He said the current situation seems to be at an impasse. Abed added that the situation on the ground is incompatible in forming an independent Palestinian state.

"Many settlements are still there and many are planned so it will make it impossible for Palestinians to establish territory," he said as he pointed to a map of Israeli settlements throughout the area.

While Abed said ideally there would be a two state solution, that is getting more and more impossible. He said there seems to be no way to separate the two people now, so more likely a binational state will form.

"The land should be for all of us," he said.

Abed added that there are certainly extremists on both sides but that the majority wants peace.

"There's no shortage of excuses to demonize the other side but the issue is not black and white," he said.

However, Abed added that there are positive signs. He said that Wikileaks has provided new evidence of dialogue between the Israeli and Palestinian governments and that there is agreement on major points. He added that the new Middle East has conditions to support peace going forward.

"The new Middle East can be tremendous," Abed said.

Abed projected a number of scenarios resulting from the uprisings. First, that a reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas seems both possible and necessary. He also sees signs that the new Egyptian government will seek to reclaim its leadership role in the Arab World and show support for a just Palestinian solution. Abed predicts that other Arab leaders may be persuaded to be more accountable to their people and that it's unlikely any new governments will renege on existing treaties and commitments.

While all this looks promising, Abed stated that achieving peace between Arabs and Israel will require a mutual respect and appreciation.

"We are too alienated from each other," Abed said. "We don't understand each other. We have to get to know each other and know our mutual cultures."

Abed added that while it is ultimately up to the two parties to move the peace process along, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is everyone's problem, in the Middle East and throughout the world.

"I'm not a dispassionate observer," Abed said. "As a Palestinian Christian, citizen of Israel, and lifelong scholar of Islam, I am part of the problem. And I am also part of the solution."

-M. Schwinn, MA candidate in International Security
Josef Korbel School of International Studies