Unpacking the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: History, Perspectives and a Guide to Productive Conversations.
Please note: This is a 3-session series for members only.
In this series we will try to give our community the means to productively talk about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict amongst ourselves and with family and friends. We’ll start with a short history of how the conflict has evolved over the years, with a focus on more recent history, and then move to greater understanding about how people in the region view the conflict rather than viewing our beliefs through the lens of what we “know” based on what we consume via traditional and social media channels. With all that context we’ll wrap up the series by introducing a framework where we can have productive conversations, rather than shouting matches, with those who share our perspectives and those that don’t.
Session Details
Session 1: “A Short History of a Long Conflict: An Introduction to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.” October 26, 2025, 3-5pm
There’s a lot that we all think we know about the Arab-Israeli conflict in general and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in specific. The session will be led by Ora Szekely who is both a member of the CAA, but more importantly an Associate Professor of Political Science at Clark University where she teaches about the politics of the Middle East in general and the Arab-Israeli conflict in particular. Ora will walk us through the “5 Myths of the Arab-Israeli Conflict” which will serve as part history lesson and, in equal part, an opportunity to question the tropes that people believe about how we got here.
Featured Speaker: Ora Szekely
Session 2: “Views from the Ground.” November 16, 2025, 3-5pm
Most of us consume our information from sources that provide a particular point of view. But true understanding of the conflict requires that we understand the perspective from all sides of the conflict. That doesn’t mean that one side’s truth is more correct, but it can give us insight into why people can feel very differently when we all believe the “truth” to be incontrovertible. We’ll focus on narratives, divided into “The Israeli Story”, “The Palestinian Story”, and “The View from the Neighborhood” (including Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, the Gulf, and Iran). We’ll organize discussion around questions like “How do these narratives overlap? Where do they conflict? Have they changed over time?” And we’ll also see if our “truths” feel any different when we’re done.
Featured Speaker: Ora Szekely
Session 3: “Frameworks for Productive Conversations and the Arab-Israeli Conflict.” December 14, 2025, 3-5pm
We all have experience in trying to talk with people about the situation in Gaza, the Arab-Israeli conflict in general. Coming to a common undemanding rarely happens. Often there is a lot of shouting and/or these conversations can end with the unfortunate phrase of “I guess we’ll agree to disagree”. The ball has not moved forward, but feelings are hurt or worse, hearts are hardened. In this session we’ll be joined by Peter Krause who is part of the Political Science faculty at Boston College. While his expertise is in Middle East politics and international security, he also brings experience in talking to people from all sides of the conflict. He also has a framework that he’ll share with us — and use to lead a discussion among us to — make these conversations productive and positive experiences.
Featured Speaker: Peter Krause
