Kitchen Talks: Israel and Palestine
Wed, Jul 7, 2021 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4)
Register here.
An online dialogue space where people gather to discuss divisive topics. Share your experience. Hear the other side out. Come to encounter.
About this event
From May 10th to May 21st, violence escalated in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, resulting in extensive civilian damage in the Gaza Strip, protests in East Jerusalem and destroyed homes on Israeli-controlled territories. Polarized coverage in different media outlets was common: some accused Hamas of jihadi terrorism and others accused Israel of war crimes and apartheid.
The issue remains increasingly politicized, as support for either Israelis or Palestinians has often become a signal for other political opinions or agendas. How public figures do, or don’t, express support for a side or its victims is a matter of public criticism or praise. The gap between how entire populations (and societal groups) define “terrorism,” “victim” or even “history” is growing wider, and the Israel-Palestine issue (or the “Israeli-Hamas” or “Israel-Arab”, depending on how you define it) has increasingly become a matter of moral, philosophical and even identarian belonging.
How do we approach such complex issues in our current media environment? How do we sort through conflicting information sources? What principles do we use to claim that our information is better than others’? What conversations can we have when even the language we use to speak about the issue is constantly challenged?
Kitchen Talks is a project that hosts dialogue-based events and workshops that create space for people to speak about controversial topics, express their ideas non-destructively and learn why people hold diverse beliefs. This group discussion may be attended by people with very different (and potentially uncomfortable) views, and what’s encouraged is less figuring out who’s right than learning more about the other side and what it is, exactly, that divides us.
To prepare, feel free to read the following articles:
Israel-Gaza violence: The conflict explained: https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-44124396
We need some outrage over anti-Semitism in Canada: https://nationalpost.com/opinion/avi-benlolo-all-canadians-need-to-stand-up-against-anti-semitism
Will Israel be held accountable for war crimes?: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/3/will-israel-be-held-accountable-for-war-crimes
Green MP crosses floor to join Liberals after challenging leader over Israeli-Palestinian conflict: https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/canadian-press-newsalert-new-brunswick-mp-set-to-cross-floor-from-greens-to-liberals
Why Is It So Hard To Talk About The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict?: https://www.npr.org/2021/05/24/999923328/why-is-it-so-hard-to-talk-about-the-israeli-palestinian-conflict
