By Sara Ballenger

Pandora’s Box of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and U.S. involvement in the Middle East was opened for the sake of discussion at Foothill College, Nov. 20.

Sponsored by Foothill’s Middle College Program, a panel discussed what was billed as a “panel presentation on the U.S. intervention in the Middle East: War or imperialism?”

“This is a project I worked on with interest and support by students in light of the fact that war with Iraq is imminent,” said Seth Donnelly, a Middle College social studies teacher who organized the event. “We wanted to carry out some public education with a panel of people with expertise on the issue of intervention in the Middle East, who are looking at it from a critical perspective.”

Paul George, executive director of the Peace and Justice Center, spoke about post-World War II patterns of U.S. intervention in the Middle East; Khalil Barhoum, Stanford professor and Palestinian activist, spoke about the U.S., Israel and Palestine; Barbara Lubin, executive director of the Middle East Children’s Alliance, spoke about the myths and realities of the war in Iraq; Riva Enteen, director of the National Lawyers Guild, spoke about the war on terror and civil liberties; and Fordham University Professor Omar Ali spoke about connecting local and global issues through an Independent Political Party.

The discussion highlighted the control the Middle East has on the oil industry, which in turn spurs U.S. involvement in the region, George said.

“The U.S. has gone from basing troops in the region, to permanent bases throughout the Middle East,” George said. He said controlling the flow of oil and the profits derived from oil are the two major reasons for this. “The demand for oil is constant and the supply is carefully controlled. Saudi Arabia, almost alone, controls the price of oil; with Iraq having the second largest oil reserves in the world. The U.S. goal is to control the price of oil.”

Much of the discussion regarding the United States and the Middle East centered around war and the presence of the U.S. military — including the U.S. economic sanctions on Iraq in place since the Gulf War.

More than 1.2 million Iraqi civilians have died since the start of the Gulf War, when Iraq invaded Kuwait, Aug. 2, 1990, according to the United Nations.

“I went to Iraq one month after the Gulf War, where innocent civilians were killed, but were called ‘collateral damage,’” Lubin said. “The effects of war have been far worse than the bombing. The issues are not something you see on the surface. These kids look like our kids. We need to humanize people. We can’t just talk about the Iraqis or the Palestinians — they have names, families and children.”

A lot of discussion came after Barhoum showed clips of a video, “After Jenin,” which showed Palestinians sitting on ruins of the Jenin refugee camp, which was reportedly destroyed by the Israeli army.

“I maintain Americans are exposed to one side of the issue to complete absence of the Palestinian side,” Barhoum said. “The Israeli occupation has been unchallenged by the U.S. for 35 years. Israel has to face up to the challenge or choice to be an occupying power or to live with their neighbors in peace.”

Foothill student Eitan Gershenson, an Israeli settler, challenged Barhoum’s comments by saying that he hadn’t shown any images from Israel.

“This is a good example of our first amendment right — the right to dissent,” Riva Enteen said. “We all need to speak up for our beliefs. We all want to feel safe. The way we can feel safe is by addressing U.S. foreign policy and demand that our country abide by its constitution so we can all say what we want to say.”

Donnelly hopes that the panel was able to spark a continuing dialog. “We welcome panels in future from whatever perspective anyone wants to bring and take it from there in spirited dialog and debate,” Donnelly said.

For more information, call Seth Donnelly at the Middle College office, 949-7170.