Palestinian-Israeli Conflict Brings Meaningful Conversations to Campus from UT Austin Students

Two University of Texas at Austin students who are on a mission to unify Arabs and Jews during the ongoing Isreali-Palestinian conflict made an important stop at St. Stephen’s before winter break. 

During Middle and Upper School Chapels, Jadd Hashem, a Palestinian American Muslim, and Elijah Kahlenberg, a Jewish American spoke to students about their work with Atidna International — a college campus-based peace and open dialogue initiative they founded in 2022, which seeks to solidify Arabs and Jews as cousins, one unified family, not enemies. The organization, which now has chapters at 10 college campuses nationwide, including Harvard University and Columbia University, has received national attention.

Kahlenberg, the first president of Atidna, will be graduating this spring and passing the baton to Hashem, who will become the first Palestinian president of the UT Austin chapter.

The two explained that the name Atidna combines the Hebrew word for “future” with the Arabic suffix for “our” to mean 'our future,' and that their first grassroots meetings at UT Austin were inspired by the historical absence of inter-communal dialogue and joint peace initiatives on college campuses. Hashem and Kahlenberg have created a space for both peoples to freely and openly engage in civil discourse to understand each other’s identity, culture and history.

“At the end of the day, I believe that we are all created equal and that we all deserve to be treated equally,” Kahlenberg told Upper School students. “And it is our duty to stand up together against oppression, whether it be occupation, whether it be on the ground, violence from any side, because at the end of the day, whether I see an Israeli baby, a Jewish baby, a Palestinian baby, an Arab baby being killed, my question should not be about what their nationality or ethnicity is, It should be about what can we do to help? How can we aid these people?”

The two also talked about the dialogues they lead with fellow Longhorns each semester, which always begin with breaking down “the erroneous misconceptions both peoples have with the other” regarding one question: What relationship do you have to the land? Kahlenberg said this question is powerful in the Jewish community, specifically in the Jewish Zionist community. While growing up, he was told that Palestinians are simply Arabian conquerors of the land, and that they took the land from the Byzantines, who took it from the Romans, who took it from “us,” the Jews, the Judeans, who were there 2000 years ago.

He said similarly, many Palestinians are told that Jews have no connection or ancestral ties to this land, and by allowing Jewish people to have a conversation about their relationship to the land, both Jews and Palestines discover commonalities and learn how each group shares the same respect for the land.

“It gives us the ability to break down that erroneous misconception and see each other as family,” said Kahlenberg. “By perceiving each other as family with related roots in this land, it allows us to break down all the hate in the world.”

Kahlenberg provided examples of challenging times Atidna has faced, including the “most tense time for our peoples” following October 7, 2023, the day Hamas launched attacks against Israel that killed 1,200 men, women, and children – including 46 Americans and citizens of more than 30 countries.

He said it caused many student members to leave Atidna, including their head of Israeli affairs and their head of Palestinian affairs who each said “now is the time to focus on ourselves.” 

“I understand that sentiment completely,” said Kahlenberg. “But when the blood is high, that is when conversations are most important. That's when you have to be able to have the conversations to ensure no one else's life is lost, and we had many amazing Jewish, Arab, Israeli and Palestinian students come together two and a half weeks after October 7 to not only have a conversation but find common ground.”

During the fall 2024 semester, the UT Austin Atidna chapter held a joint memorial service for all Israelis, Palestinians and others in the Middle East who have been killed since October 7. The service included two speakers — one Palestinian and one Israeli — who both lost family members in the October 7th attacks. 

“These two men, with all of the hatred that you could imagine that they have for the other, decided to channel that for bringing themselves together, and they did this because they knew that the only way for this to end is with non violence. It's with mutual understanding. It's with respect, and it's with having conversations that we can actually get to humanize one another. Because if I seek revenge. What am I doing? I'm adding on to the bloodshed that's happening. And these two men put together a powerful testimony that showed what coming together can look like,” said Kahlenberg.

The two closed their Chapel talk by encouraging St. Stephen’s students to seek meaningful and peaceful dialogue with those they do not always agree with by using their story of unity and Atidna as a shining example of the future they hope to create.

To learn more about Atidna International click here.