Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren said Israel is committed to peace talks and a two-state solution with Palestine during a speech Thursday at American U.

The speech was disrupted five times, as small groups of protesters stood up, turned around, displayed handwritten signs to the audience, then left.

Oren did not directly address the protesters until the third incident, at which point he said to the protesters exiting the Hall, “I wish you would stay and ask questions.”

The speech

Oren discussed the relationship between the United States and Israel, the possibility of peace agreements between Israel and Palestine and the logistics of a two-state solution.

He argued that the United States and Israel have always had a very close relationship, pointing out that America was the first nation to recognize Israel in 1948 under President Harry Truman.

On the issue of the land disputes between Jews and Palestinians in Israel, Oren said Jews want to be able to live in their homeland, but they are also more than willing to work out an agreement with Palestinians living in the same territory.

“[The nation of] Israel recognizes that this land is shared by another group of people,” Oren said. “We are willing to negotiate with the Palestinians so that one day we may live side by side in peace.”

However, Oren noted that this peace treaty must also come with the promise of secure borders for both nations and formal recognition of both states as sovereign nations.

Oren expanded on this during the question-and-answer portion of the event when asked if Israel was really committed to achieving peace.

“Israel is committed to the two-state formula,” he said. “Borders will have to be drawn [for Israel and Palestine], and not everyone is going to like it. It will be painful, but we’re committed to making this work.”

In response to a later question, Oren also said that Israel would have to demilitarize Palestine for the foreseeable future to “ensure stability and give us time to work things out.”

The protest

Michael Dranove, an American U. freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, was one of the main organizers of the protest against Oren’s speech. Dranove said he and other students were speaking out against the Israeli military occupation of Palestine and against Oren himself for some of his past statements.

In October 2009, Oren wrote a controversial op-ed for the New Republic in which he rebuked the findings of the United Nations’ Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, or the “Goldstone Report.” Oren took offense to Justice Richard Goldstone’s suggestion in the report that Israel may be guilty of war crimes.

“The Goldstone Report goes further than Ahmadinejad and the Holocaust deniers by stripping the Jews not only of the ability and the need but of the right to defend themselves,” Oren said in the op-ed.

Dranove and other protesters, including students from Howard University and Georgetown University, gathered in a crowd outside of Katzen before Oren’s speech.

The protesters chanted “This is what democracy looks like!” and “Free Palestine!” as they took turns addressing the crowd on a megaphone and holding up signs with slogans such as, “Occupation: wrong for Israel, wrong for Palestine.”

After Oren’s speech, the protesters started up again outside of Katzen with a much larger crowd than the pre-speech protest. A group of about 20 students banged on makeshift drums and waved a Palestinian flag chanting, “This apartheid bullshit’s gotta go!” and “Hey Obama, you will see, Palestine will be free!”

A group of about ten pro-Israel protesters set up a counter-protest against the pro-Palestinian protesters. Two students held up an Israeli flag while two other students held up a flag with the Star of David and an inscription in Hebrew. The group sang and chanted in Hebrew as the pro-Palestinian protesters continued their chants.

Numerous Public Safety officers were on the scene for both the pre- and post-speech protests, but they did not intervene at any point of the protests.

Reactions

Rachel Silvert, an American U. sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, said she was glad that Oren didn’t take an aggressive stance against Palestine in his speech.

“There were many opportunities for him to draw lines and be obstinate, but he didn’t [take those opportunities],” she said.

Silvert said the protesters who interrupted the speech could have found a better way to voice their opinions.

“If this is the way they’re going to present their voice, no one will hear it,” she said. “Stay and ask questions, don’t just hold up signs.”

Ayal Chen Zion, the president of AU Students for Israel, was overall pleased with Oren’s speech but was disappointed by the protesters’ interruptions.

However, he said he would not permanently rule out working with pro-Palestinian groups in the wake of this protest.

“They are entitled to their opinions and to their right to protest,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that they felt the best way [to voice their opinions] was to protest, but we would be willing to work with them in the future.”