By Alishba Zarmeen

A guest from a region of political controversy and social turmoil spoke at Earlham this week. Kamal Abu Jabar, former Foreign Minister of Jordan spoke to a group of students and faculty on Wednesday, April 13.

While he made the participants laugh with his political jokes, Abu Jabar mainly talked about peace-building efforts, the reasons some efforts don’t work and steps which individuals and governments should take to accelerate the solutions to solve the Israel-Palestine conflict.

About 50 participants attended Abu Jabar’s discussion, including Earlham faculty and staff. Abu Jabar later attended a dinner engagement with Director of International Admissions Musa Khalidi.

Abu Jabar touched on various historical concepts, including pre-Islamic Arabia. He explained that the enemy today is racially not any different than the other, and traced the biological heritage of the Muslims of Palestine and the Jews of Israel. This included how they are the descendents of one patriarchal ancestry.

Speaking about his dream for the Palestinians and Israelis, as well as Arabs and Jews in general, Abu Jabar said, “I’m dreaming that the traditional partnership between Arabs and Jews, between Muslims and Jews, will one day become reality.”

Abu Jabar also emphasized the fact that the misconception that Jews suddenly appeared in the Middle East needs to be corrected. According to Jabar’s presentation, Jews, in addition to other communities, have always maintained their presence in the region, which makes it more diverse.

Discussion about diversity characterized Abu Jabar’s talk.

“I don’t want to be tolerated. I want to be accepted for who I am,” he said.

According to Abu Jabar, acceptance requires a change of behavior and characteristics primarily on Israel’s part, so the world can see the actual side of a normal Jew and peace-building efforts from both the territories and their leaders.

The major responsibilities lie with the political leaders and the leaders of the Islamic world in particular, he said.

In response to a student’s question, Abu Jabar said that the only way young people can bring about a change is through education and awareness and by making educated decisions.

Senior Toivo Ashekee said, “The talk was interesting but the information was not particularly new. I was more looking forward to some talk about the revolutionary movements happening in the Middle East.”

But Elena Locker-Torres, a freshman, enjoyed the event.

“It was very informative and I ended up recommending a Broadway musical to Abu Jabar only to find out how much he loves NYC and Broadway,” she said. “[He is] a fun personality.”