U. hosts conference with Arab students

“The idea came from our awareness of the fact that the relationship between the [United States] and the Arab world in particular is a defining issue of our future,” conference coordinator Nour Aoude ’10 said. “We wanted a platform for direct communication and dialogue between American and Arab students who are all leaders in their respective communities.”

The conference aimed to foster knowledge, empathy and collaborative leadership by bringing together students of different backgrounds to share views on pressing issues, conference facilitator Danny Growald ’11 said, adding that the symposium’s organizers sought to encourage students to re-evaluate their visions of the world.

“What I expected from this conference was to clarify stereotypes we have about each other,” conference participant and Cairo, Egypt, native Perihan Abdelghaly said. “I learned more about respecting each other’s points of view and giving everyone’s views consideration.”

Fifteen Princeton undergraduates hosted seven university students from Egypt, five from Lebanon, two from Morocco and one from Jordan. The foreign participants, as well as the Princeton students, were chosen as conference participants through a competitive application process.

While the conference included daily public lectures, the core of the weekend’s events was the series of open dialogue sessions that were open only to the selected Middle Eastern and Princeton students to protect their privacy.

“The point of the conference is to talk about sensitive issues,” conference organizer Zvi Smith ’09 said. “It’s a way to provide a safe space for people to discuss.”

In the concluding lecture of the conference, visiting Near Eastern studies professor Roger Hardy emphasized the importance of a “common good” shared by the West and the Middle East.

Defining “interests” as power, land and money, Hardy explained that the conflicts in the Middle East are clashes of interest and not of civilization.

Three problems Hardy cited are the unequal distribution of wealth, dissatisfaction with the ruling elites and resentment of the West.

“Right now, as the people and policymakers look at each other, they have very different interests, priorities and concerns,” Hardy said. “We should look at those instead of thinking that [conflicts arise from] a clash of civilizations and cultures.”

“It’s good to talk,” Hardy said. “But if we think dialogues will [fix things], we’re mistaken. If we think visits alone will do it, we’re mistaken.”

Still, participating students said they found the weekend’s dialogue to be fruitful.

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“We have learned a great deal that has transformed the way we have viewed the nature of our relationships,” Smith said, adding that the coordinating team would work to maintain communication between participants after the conference’s conclusion.

Conference participant Cara Singer ’09 echoed Smith’s assessment. “It’s good to hear a voice that’s coming straight from people our age, straight from people living in all parts of the world that’s not filtered through the American media or the world media,” she said.