Edinburgh Uni. Palestinian-Israeli Dialogue Soc.

Aim

Creating a Non-Partisan Platform for Dialogue about Palestine and/or Israel in the University of Edinburgh

Mission Statement:

The Edinburgh University Palestinian-Israeli Dialogue Society (EUPIDS) provides a non-partisan platform for students and staff of the University of Edinburgh to discuss their personal experiences, cultural identities and political views in relation to Palestine and/or Israel.  

Often conversations about such issues are divisive, and we are actively working to create a safe space where people can engage with discussions about them; expressing their views and hearing opinions they may not have been aware of. We aim at breaking down echo chambers, providing an alternative to the dichotomy that has been created and allowing for more nuanced and respectful conversations.

We launched our society in January 2019, and since then have already hosted a series of meaningful events. Overall, we have worked to find a balance between focusing on cultural, political and personal contexts in order to include the widest possible range of participants while allowing for more nuanced and multifaceted engagement with the issues at hand.

Overall, our events have provided a much-needed open space to discuss a range of issues regarding Palestine and/or Israel. Furthermore, this unique initiative has inspired students on other campuses, and we have already had students from other campuses in the UK reaching out to us and asking for advice in setting up similar societies. 

Our goal this year is to have more academic speakers come share their research and stories. We hope that by sharing information and awareness we can delve deeper into the questions that arise when thinking about Palestine and/or Israel. We have created an open space where we hope everyone can feel welcome and encouraged to share their stories and express themselves, we do this by providing diverse perspectives and being open to challenging our preconceptions.

A kind review:

"It is encouraging to see students from a wide range of perspectives creating a forum to discuss this difficult topic. […] The discussion certainly faced up to some uncomfortable issues. […] I was impressed by the variety and depth of the questions asked, and the respect of the safe space of the discussion."

- Katherine Crew's review of our Holy Land Interfaith Panel (Spring 2019) in the National Newsletter of the Council of Christians and Jews

With your support 

So far, our events have been rather modest in terms of funding, being funded by bake sales and individual committee members who wanted to contribute as much as they could. From the beginning we agreed that membership and participation in all events would be free to ensure that the discussions were open to all.

This sort of grass-roots funding can only get us so far, and your donation would allow us to expand the range and depth of our events. There are several aims for which we would use the funding.

We hope to:

• Bring in speakers from other universities and organisations across the United Kingdom and potentially the world. 
• Pay for film screening rights to host film screenings. We would like to show a range of documentaries and fictional films that relate to Palestine and/or Israel, and host discussions with the filmmakers through Skype afterwards. We are already compiling a list of films and getting in touch with film makers, but in the current situation cannot afford the film screening rights (about £100 per film)
• Cover logistics of events, for example room bookings and receptions.
• Publicise our events to reach a broader audience.
• Increase the number of events and discussions we have.

Since we are a relatively small and new organisation, your donation will go a long way to helping us expand our current activities and create a solid example for inclusive dialogue on UK campuses in years to come.

This project successfully funded on 14th November 2019