Last night, Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, a Palestinian-American from Gaza who came to the United States in 2005, spoke at Ithaca College about "Radical Pragmatism" in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Ahmed is a leader of the new "Realign for Palestine" project at the Atlantic Council and spoke about his own history and his hopes and plans for how to move away from mutual dehumanization towards coexistence.
He wrote on Facebook:
Immense gratitude to Ithaca College, its students, the politics department, and its leadership for hosting me and a screening of the Realign For Palestine "Waging Peace" short film. Having difficult conversations, breaking the cycles of dehumanization, agreeing to disagree, and pursuing common ground is a desperate necessity to get past the frozen and toxic discourse on college campuses. It is most unfortunate and shameful that the exchange of basic ideas and engaging in respectful dialogue across our differences has become the exception, not the norm.
From the Realign for Palestine Facebook page:
“We can disagree, without being disagreeable.”
This week, Realign For Palestine visited the students at @ithacacollege, per the invitation of students and faculty. During the event, we screened a sneak peek of our new documentary film about the RFP initiative and the voices behind it.
@afalkhatib spoke and engaged with a diverse range of opinions and shared the principles and visions of the two-nation solution, the necessity of recognizing multiple truths, and engaging constructively, even in the challenging campus climate. Ithaca College showed that we can disagree without being disagreeable and that difficult conversations can and must be had while elevating mutual humanity and empathy for both Palestinians and Israelis. This is not Kumbaya; this is radical pragmatism, which Realign For Palestine champions, at work.
Ithaca College students from the Ithacans for Israel group, which brought Alkhatib, attended, as did members of the leadership of IC, including President La Jerne Terry Cornish, and people from the larger Ithaca community. I wish that the attendance had been larger, because the message that Ahmed Alkhatib and Realign for Palestine are bringing is important and should be heard by more people, both at Ithaca College and in the city of Ithaca. There are quite a few pro-Palestinian activists in Ithaca, but I don't hear Ahmed Alkhatib's message from them - no mention of a "two-nation" solution and very little acknowledgement of the humanity of Israelis, or of Jews (especially Zionist Jews) who want to work for peace between Palestinians and Israelis. (On Facebook yesterday a supposed Ithaca progressive used the slur "Zios" to refer to people who don't think that Israel should be destroyed).
More on Realign for Palestine:
The Realign For Palestine project at the Atlantic Council is led by Gazan-American Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib. Launched in February 2025, the project is committed to challenging violent extremism, divisive narratives, and hatred by elevating common-sense approaches through policy and action. The project believes in promoting nonviolence and the two-nation solution as the only credible, humane path forward for peace between the Palestinian and Israeli people.
