About 400 people gathered in Rackham Auditorium Monday evening to listen to CNN host Van Jones and Hussain Abdul-Hussain, research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, discuss the historical conflict between Israel and Palestine. The talk was presented by University of Michigan student organization Facts on the Ground, a group dedicated to creating dialogue on campus surrounding the Israel-Palestine conflict. The group was specifically formed in opposition to the language in AR 13-025, a CSG ballot proposal that was canceled by University administration.
Jones began the conversation by asking Abdul-Hussain about recent attempts to settle the conflict through policy at Washington, D.C.. Abdul-Hussain said he believes the U.S. government is no longer non-partisan on issues of foreign policy.
“I’ve been in D.C. for 22 years now; until 10 years ago foreign policy was non-partisan,” Abdul-Hussain said. “Both parties agreed on foreign policy. Recently, it has become very partisan and sometimes I think they do things for spite, regardless of what’s right and what’s wrong. People like me who focus on foreign policy try to always say what’s right and what’s wrong, regardless of party.”
Abdul-Hussain told Jones he believes both sides need to start from scratch in order to implement a solution that is beneficial for both sides of the conflict, emphasizing the Palestinian’s role in this effort.
”It starts with hitting the reset button on both sides, but mainly on the Palestinian side,” Abdul-Hussain said. “We have a set of people over here, and another bunch of people over there — what can we do for these two sets of people to live in dignity and peace for everyone?”
In reference to the historically shifting borders between Israel and Palestine over time, Jones added that borders are constantly changing throughout history.
“All borders are the result of politics and war,” Jones said. “It’s not like God drew all of these countries and everybody has sort of always been all of these countries … In fact, here in the United States, California — where I am raising a family — used to be Mexico. Texas used to be Mexico; all of that used to be Mexico and now as a result of politics and war it’s now not.”
In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Jones said social media algorithms can negatively contribute to political polarization and disinformation.
“Anytime you’re getting a narrative that has one side being all completely good and one side being all completely evil, you are getting disinformation,” Jones said. “And yet so many of the social media algorithms, once they figure out a student has a slight lean in one direction or the other, starts just pumping one-sided narratives into the heads of those students, and we have to be very careful of that.”
Jones spoke to the crowd about student protests, which swept the country last spring, including at the University. He discussed a protest he witnessed at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he was disappointed by some of the protesters’ language.
“You could not get them to say one bad word about Hamas, you could not get them to say one kind word about the victims of Oct. 7,” Jones said. “They had a script that they were using. Once they figured out that you were sophisticated they would not talk to you. They would send over a couple people, especially Jewish students who would just parrot the (same) line.”
In response to this statement, Abdul-Hussain said he believed there is a distinction between criticizing a country’s government and denying its existence.
“You can be opposed to the politics and the state and the government of Israel all you want and no one will come after you,” Hussain said. “You cannot be opposed to the existence of the state of Israel, and that is the difference.”
In an interview with The Daily, Jones said he believed student protests are important, but the end goal should be to engage in constructive dialogue.
“Everyone wants to fight; nobody wants to talk,” Jones said. “A part of making change is the fight, but a part of change is also diplomatic dialogue. Student protest is important, but it should be designed to lead to a constructive outcome — not to delegitimize and demolish the other side. That doesn’t make democracy stronger, it makes society weaker.”
LSA senior Daniella Ludmir, director of events for FOG, concluded the event by speaking about the importance of continuing to engage in education and conversation.
“The real impact comes from what we do next, whether it’s continuing to educate ourselves, engaging in thoughtful conversations or challenging narratives that divide rather than unite us,” Jones said. “We all have a role to play. We cannot let hate, division and disinformation drive out respect, peace and truth. True peace isn’t just about avoiding conflict. It’s about having open conversations and working towards a shared vision for a better future. Let tonight be the start of that journey.”
Daily Staff Reporter Caroline Wroldsen can be reached at cwrold@umich.edu
