“Israel-Palestine Teach-in” with Dr. Masaki Mizobuchi

The escalating crisis in Israel and Palestine, especially the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the West Bank have shocked the world and our community.

 

In the process of seeking ways to help cultivate peace in the region as a member of civil society, we felt the need to better learn its historical background.

 

On 11/25, WFC invited Associate Professor Masaki Mizobuchi of Graduate School at Hiroshima University to give a broad overview of the current situation, its genesis and implications unraveling the contemporary history of Israel and Palestine.

 

The lecture began with an explanation of what has been happening since October 7, which was of great interest to the audience (in particular, what is Hamas and the relationship between Hamas and the general public), then about the Ottoman Empire that ruled the Israel-Palestine region and World War I that ended the empire and the root of problems that stemmed from it, the war and confusion caused by the founding of Israel, and why peace has still not been achieved to this day.

 

Dr.Mizobuchi called for us to continue learning and to raise our voices as citizens. This teach-in played a valuable role in helping us place the daily news stories into context, and provided us with the understanding and opportunity to explore this issue further.

 

One attendee shared that they had been “watching the news,” but attending the teach-in gave them confidence to begin educating themselves more fully on this important matter.

 

Thank you to all of the people who took the time to learn with us despite the teach-in being planned and announced at the last minute.