Editor,
Sonoma State University’s Center for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide starts its 43rd annual 15-week lecture series [2] on Jan. 27, 2026. The series, “Making Sense of Genocide in an Age of Intolerance,” will begin with a presentation by the Jewish-Palestinian Dialogue Group of the Bay Area, founded in 1992 in San Mateo.
Two Jews and two Palestinians will engage in dialogue by sharing their stories. An experiential workshop the following day will provide students the opportunity to hone their own dialogue skills.
Everyone knows the first step of dialogue: listening. Students learn a few do’s regarding how to listen and some don’ts regarding how to respond. Those who choose dialogue over demonization, plurality over polarization, and community over conflict, transform traditional enemies into friends.
Dialogue enables parties to talk safely about difficult subjects like genocide. With cousins living in Tel Aviv and a lifelong love for Israel, it is painful for me to hear “genocide” to describe what has happened, and is happening, in Gaza. I have tried to clarify my own feelings about this charge; I admit I am still working on it.
Dialogue among countries leads to a public “peace process,” a phrase coined by diplomat Harold Saunders in the mid-1970’s. With Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Saunders helped achieve two disengagement pacts in 1974: between Israel and Egypt, and between Israel and Syria.
His “Sustained Dialogue Process” helped end the civil war in Tajikistan, 1993-97. Such is the power of dialogue to achieve peace.
By equipping students with tools for dialogue, we hope to create a public peace process in the Middle East: one student, one story and one relationship at a time.
Dr. Miriam Zimmerman
Belmont
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