Young Christians, Muslims and Jews in the Vatican: there is a possibility of living in peace

In 2023, the conflict between Israel and Hamas dragged universities around the world to a war of ideas with protests, proclamations and accusations full of tension.

The initial almost unanimous support towards Israel and the condemnation of the 1,200 murders and 252 kidnappings that Hamas executed on October 7, 2023 quickly became protests, some very violent, for the forcefulness of the Israeli response.

“What happened in the academic world is that it became a place where people can no longer speak free. Everyone takes sides and silence to the other saying: ‘We are right, the others are wrong,’ ”Professor Elitzur Bar-Asher Siegal, from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

“When I see my students go to a demonstration, I do not tell you not to do it because I think it means the topic that matters to them. The problem is when they repeat soflameas that mean nothing or arguments based on false news; There I feel that the university has failed in its purpose, ”he says.

The example of the demonstrations in favor of Palestine throughout more than 60 universities of the United States, was also replicated by the students of Europe, Australia or Latin America that in turn developed hundreds of camping in which they even demanded to break diplomatic relations of each of the centers with the Israeli institutions.

All this was forged in the heat of a torrent of misinformation in orchestrated social networks to manipulate public opinion with photographs and false videos that promoted two faced and partial narratives.

In this polarization context, the project emerged Middle Meets with the aim of generating listening and understanding spaces among Hebrew students, Jews and Christians.

“We felt that universities around the world were becoming very divided and very extremist. And we wanted to create a platform for Palestinian, Hebrew and American students to carry out a depth conversation, without superficial slogans and without going to the extremes; Simply listening to each other in an open dialogue, ”he details the young Tomy stockman.

Two months after Hamas’s attacks in Israel, this student at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem put the seed from which he was born Middle Meetswhich currently directs Bar-Asher Siegal and in which until now 33 young people from Israel, Palestine and the United States have participated.

The first meeting was in November remote, But this week they have gathered in person in Rome thanks to the Fundacion Pontifical Schools Meeting in an interreligious encounter also promoted by the Vatican.

“More than gathering they have lived and forged friendship ties. It has not been easy because they have talked about painful situations, war, confrontation, but it has been a process of sharing pain and suffering, ”explains the Hebrew academic.

It also values ​​the “historical moment” that supposes that the Vatican has yielded its spaces to carry it out.

“When we visited the Plaza de Roma Campo de Fiori, they explained that the Vatican prohibited Talmud in the 16th century. But here we are now, five centuries later invited by the Vatican. Things can change, ”he says during one of the meetings this Tuesday, February 4 at the San Calixto Palace, headquarters of the Fundacion Pontifical Schools Meetinglocated in the central Roman neighborhood of Tretevere.

Ignore the other, main cause of polarization

The Jewish student Stockman, who shares classes at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem with other Muslim students, expresses ignorance between Jews and Palestinian Arabs is a constant.

“We ignore ourselves. Before this meeting promoted by Middle Meets I had no Palestinian friend, ”he reveals. And he adds: “Society is so divided that it is almost impossible to start a conversation with someone from another ethnic group.”

In this sense, you want the creation of dialogue spaces such as this to forge bridges of friendship that exceed the divisions present in the social fabric of the Holy Land.

“At this time there is an Israeli narrative and a Palestinian narrative about the conflict, and we are trying to create a third narrative based on the possibility of coexisting in peace within the country’s societies,” he says.

Shadan Khatib is another of the young women who has participated in the Middle Meet project. He is Muslim and studies at a University of Tel Aviv. When he received the invitation to participate in the meeting, something skeptical was shown at first.

“It has been very difficult to see your people die, innocent civilians and at first I thought that these types of organizations that bring Jews and Muslims never reach anywhere,” he says.

However, a friend who has also participated in the project made him change his mind. After two days of coexistence with other young Christians and Jews, he judges experience as “very positive.”

Thus, he says he returns to Tel Aviv with the conviction that the mission of young people is “starting a new chapter.”

“Peace is very far now, but I have hope. I think there will be forgiveness if we find an equal solution for both parties, ”he says.

“At the end of the day we are all human, we all want to live in peace and happy,” he remarks.

One of the most anticipated moments of the program has been the meeting with Pope Francis after the general audience of this Wednesday, February 5, where young people have had the opportunity to present the conclusions worked and a letter with their desires of peace in the region .