It’s remarkable that Israel has achieved peace with neighbors who originally vowed never to recognize it as a country, yet heartbreaking that peace negotiations with the Palestinians have repeatedly failed.

We at WashU Students for Justice in Palestine would like to draw the student body’s attention to an annual event that is scheduled to take place this Sunday, Feb. 14.

Ezra Schwartz was just a boy. He was a boy who started food fights at camp and organized cabin mischief. A boy who sought to make others happy and brighten the lives of those around him. He was just a boy—an 18-year-old boy shot dead in his car by Palestinian terrorists on his way home from bringing food to Israeli soldiers.

The past month has seen increased violence in Israel and has resulted in the deaths of dozens of civilians—both Israeli and Palestinian. This violence has stirred the emotions of many students and Student Union groups, including WU Students for Israel (WSI) and WashU Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). Both groups have organized events in the past week for their respective beliefs, yet both have been asking for the same thing: peace.

Standing on the Green Line that divides Israel proper from the West Bank was not how I imagined the most impactful moment of my 12th-grade Israel trip. Yet, upon arriving and spending time in the world’s only Jewish state, I found myself more drawn to the modern political and social context surrounding Israel than its equally important foundations.

I risked imprisonment and death in order to study at Washington University. Last summer I was thrilled to learn that I had earned admission and a scholarship to the Brown School of Social Work. But I almost could not be here—for one reason. I am a Palestinian from Bethlehem. I needed to go to the United States consulate in Jerusalem to apply for my visa.

Russ Carnahan, Democratic Congressman for Missouri’s third district—which contains Washington University, spoke to students and community members Wednesday night as part of an event organized by Wash. U. Students for Israel.

Dear Editor, Last week, Studlife elected to run an ad by the David Horowitz Freedom Center on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Several editorials opined on the subject, and stated that they believed the paper erred in doing such.