An Ivy in Amman

Today was an eventful day for the school community and especially for the junior fellows. On campus, the school hosted its inaugural annual International Peace Day. While, off campus, Columbia University celebrated the official opening of its Middle East Research Center. For its peace day, the school created an alternative schedule in which students, instead of attending classes, gathered in small groups for discussions, made posters of historical figures, and heard guest speakers such as the minister of social development and His Majesty King Abdullah. Since the itinerary of events at the Columbia Middle East Research Center wasn't scheduled to begin until 11:45, the junior fellows were able to attend the school's morning meeting that began the school's day of peace. The school community began its meeting with a video made by Peace Around the World (student club). Next we listened to the Minister of Social Development for about 45 minutes. Her talk focused mainly on the role of youth in Jordan, discussing how Jordan needs to accommodate a greater increase in births and how Jordan needs to provide resources for its youth to actively engage in community service. After this first part of the day students and teachers met with their assigned activity groups in their assigned locations across campus to discuss peace in the Middle East and to make posters on famous historical figures who have contributed to peace. Meanwhile, the junior fellows got ready to leave for Columbia’s Middle East Research Center. When we arrived we registered at the front desk, collected our nametags and pamphlets, and wandered around until we found our way to the auditorium. The first panel/lecture for the day was titled “Changing Perspectives of the Middle East in the Media”. The panel of speakers included Ethan Bronner, Ipek Taha, and Rashid Khalidi. The main points of discussion centered around the recent turmoil in Gaza and the frustrations that journalists faced when trying to report on those events. They also discussed how American perspectives almost always have a bias for Israel and acknowledge Israel’s right to exist and its positive contributions, whereas most of the world explores both arguments. After a short but incredible lunch break, we then gathered back in the auditorium to hear from the program’s guest of honor, Jeffrey Sachs, who was the only speaker to have the stage all to himself and whose time was the spoken of as the most valued. Indeed, even Mr. Sachs himself didn’t hesitate to inform us that he had a call with the UN in 40 minutes and that he was frustrated with Obama Administration’s decision to increase the national deficit to over one trillion. As for what Jeffrey Sachs actually spoke of, he basically expressed his views that most of the world’s most serious regional conflicts, such as Sudan, Central Asia, and even Gaza, can actually be described as water and natural resource conflicts. He didn’t say that these conflicts were only results of lack of natural resources, but he did say that they were major factors. He also talked about how global warming is indeed real, how the Middle East can and should invest in solar, wind, and hydro electric (Red to Dead Canal) power, and how countries simply need to effectively assess the prices of these new technologies. After Jeffrey Sachs we heard a talk about Islam in the 21st century from two speakers with slightly different experience but with similar opinions. The speakers were Peter J. Awn, Dean of School of General Studies and director of the Middle East Institute, and Naif Al-Mutawa, creator of THE 99, the first ever comic book to feature main characters with Islamic backgrounds. Both speakers expressed their opinion that Muslims need to send the right image of Islam to rest of the world so that outsiders do not form opinions based on the views of radical views. Mr. Naif Al-Mutawa even said that Muslims need to “take charge” of their religion. He then told a story about a disagreement he had with someone about the proper interpretation of the Quran. In order to support his own interpretation, Al-Mutawa asked this person if he knew what the first word of the Quran meant. When the man responded that the first word meant “read”, Al-Mutawa retorted by saying that the first word also means “spread” (i.e. the prophet did not know how to read when he received the word of God. Al-Mutawa then posed the question of how someone can be so sure about an interpretation of the Quran if that person doesn’t even know the meaning of the first word. After all the speakers had presented, the day’s events ended with a reception, a jazz performance, followed by a dinner, all of which took place in the central courtyard.