Civility Suddenly Breaks Out At Israel-Palestine Student Debate
The College Debates and Discourse Alliance seeks a paradigm shift in how students confront contentious issues
College students coming together to debate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict without yelling, finger-wagging, sign-waving, or the customary venom and vitriol?
How can that be?
Well, not only can it be, but it actually happened. And a reporter from Inside Higher Ed was on hand to record the moment for posterity.
Here’s how Inside Higher Ed set the scene:
Sixty people attended an event at George Washington University that sought to demonstrate how opposing sides can talk about contentious issues.
Nearly every seat in a lecture hall at George Washington University was full as a contentious debate began in a city known for polarized politics. The question up for discussion: Should the U.S. cease to aid Israel?
The perspectives reflected among the approximately 60 attendees last Thursday evening varied widely, but comments from both sides of the argument—pro-Palestine and pro-Israel alike—were often brash.
One student posed a hypothetical: Imagine a terrorist organization from a neighboring country invaded the U.S.; what would you expect the government to do? Another charged that their peer was reciting an elegant laundry list of unjustified humanitarian offenses. Offhand asides—including “no one’s that stupid” and “I’m one of the Jews”—filled the room.
Many observers would expect such comments to stir emotive retaliation. But throughout the more than two-hour conversation, not one person yelled at another. No one got violent. And no one stormed out of the room in a rage.
Instead, the intercollegiate crowd of students from universities across the D.C. area sat peacefully. Some nodded their heads in agreement, others in disdain. Many stroked their chins or scribbled notes in reflection. But the climate of the room remained civil.
As explained further along in the piece, which we urge you to read in its entirety, this is the work of a remarkable group named the College Debates and Discourse Alliance, which was formed through a partnership between BridgeUSA, Braver Angels, and the American Council of Trustees and Alumni. The Alliance’s aim, to put it succinctly, is to teach students how to civilly and respectfully debate even the most contentious issues, with the aim of creating a new culture of discourse on campus that’s badly needed in times of campus turmoil like these.
“Constructive dialogue events and curricula like this have been developed in response to the rising demand for both civic engagement and civility on college campuses across the country,” reports Inside Higher Ed. “The practice has been growing in popularity since Donald Trump’s polarizing 2016 campaign rocked the nation. But in the wake of fallout from last spring’s campus unrest and with anxieties about next week’s presidential election reaching a boiling point, many colleges have prioritized promoting civil discourse even more this fall.”
Will this new emphasis on decorum, civility, and reasoned debate bring a halt to marches, mayhem, encampments, occupations, and slogan-slinging? Probably not, at least initially, given where things are now. But it could bring a major paradigm shift, over time, if given the care and watering the effort requires to plant roots and flourish.
AFSA affiliates already have participated in or co-sponsored such events. We hope in the future to host many more, through a growing relationship with our friends at the College Debates and Discourse Alliance. Please stay tuned to this page for news of future civil discourse and debate events.