Amidst the daily mass suffering and horrific battles in the Middle East, much of the focus remains squarely on Israel’s military operation in Gaza and the horrifying humanitarian fallout. But the Middle East Peace Dialogue I hosted at Yale last week provided a powerful reminder that despite daily tragedies, peaceful coexistence between Jews and Muslims and between Israel, the Palestinians, and Arab neighbors is not just an “impossible dream.”
Opening with the playing of The Impossible Dream written by a Yale alum, last week, Yale hosted an Arab-Israeli diplomatic dialogue on campus that harkens to the first Thanksgiving, a dialogue that promoted harmony across cultural divides. In the fall of 1621, 90 members of the indigenous Wampanoag tribe joined 52 English pilgrims in Plymouth, Massachusetts, to mark a successful harvest at the time of the ancient Hebrew holiday of Succoth.
