Student Questions

Since the Jewish claim to the land of Israel is religious, how do you justify your claim to that land to those who are not religious? Does Israel fund Palestinian schools in Israel? Catherine Stevens

One never seems to hear about Palestinians living within Israel, not the West Bank or Gaza. Do they have the same rights as Israeli's and are they patriotic to Israel? Virginia Johnson

Do you think the U.S. would be in favor of a Palestinian state if we did not want support for military action against Iraq? Wayne Gore

You said earlier that the U.S. was your number one ally, but in your video presentation of the history it didn't mention them at all. Why is that? Do you think the actions of Ariel Sharon and his army are justified or do you think they're going over the top? Rasha Saad

You said earlier that there aren't only religious reasons but also political reasons as to why the Jews have a right to claim Israel. What are those reasons? Marwa Alkharo

Do you prefer the Clinton "let's get the U.S. actively involved in this conflict" view or the original Bush view, which was "we should let the parties solve this for themselves"? Bruce Bentley

If the U.S. were to go to war with Iraq, how involved would Israel be? Do you think that a war against Iraq would intensify the conflict between Israel and Palestine? Romana Muzzamell

Do you think it is fair to compare the Palestinian terrorist groups with the Irgun; the Jewish group that used terrorism to get the British to leave Palestine after World War II? Ibrahim Nur

If the current conflict with Palestinians continues, will Israel use more powerful weapons against the Palestinians? Patrick Coles

Where were you when Prime Minister Rabin was killed? What did you think at that time? Doug Segura

Is the conflict between Israel and Palestinians more of a conflict over land or religion? Maggy Vaughn

Are some Israeli's and Palestinians afraid to make peace because they are afraid they will be killed by extremists? Brian Turner

Do you think Arafat has the power to stop the suicide bombers or is he just not that powerful? Sadaf Ulomi

Do you think Ariel Sharon would be able to sit down with a Palestinian leader? Paco Robinson

Do you believe that making Jerusalem neutral under Israeli and Palestinian control would help solve some of the conflict or cause more conflict? Laura Hampton

Do you know of Palestinian leaders you would like to see become their next leader? David Van Every

Was Zionsim an overall good idea? It seems Jews in the U.S. are safer? Mike Geiger

What is your reaction to the U.N. calling for a Palestinian state and the US voting for it? Tim McCarthy

Due to illness, Laura Smith was not able to attend our trip to the Israeli Embassy. If she had been there she would have asked: Since Palestinians and Israeli's have been fighting for so long, do you think there could ever be enough trust between the two groups to have a peace treaty?