David Makovsky and John Murray debated the Israeli-Palestinian peace process Tuesday.

With maps of Israel and Palestine as well as a map of the Middle East, Makovsky, Ziegler Distinguished Fellow at the Washington Institute and director of its Project on the Middle East Peace Process, and Murray, former external adviser to the Palestinian Negotiation Support Unit, provided context for the audience regarding the peace process occurring.

Makovsky explained why there is a lack of agreement between the two countries. He said both Israel and Palestine have narrowed their issues, which gives him some hope.

“Too much history and too little geography,” Makovsky said.

However, this is also the foundation of many people’s worries, Makovsky said.

“I believe that there is a real paradigm shift between the era of Yasser Arafat and now,” Makovsky said. “Hopefully the Israelis will see that Salam Fayyad wants to build a relationship from the ground up.”

“I think David has it right; it’s a question of human dignity and respect,” Murray said.

However, Israel and Palestine have sat down many times in the recent past to try and come to some sort of peace agreement, though no such agreement has been met at this point. Murray continuously came to the same conclusion about why the two countries cannot come to an agreement.

“That’s a radically different departure from what we saw before,” Makovsky said.

Where there used to be 42-man checkpoints in Israel, there are now only three, which provides a stronger feeling of safety for Israelis.

“If Israel feels more secure, it’s going to change the situation,” Makovsky said. “I think Israel wants to find a solution to the territory issue and I think it’s possible.”

Makovsky said the parties have to live with themselves.

“They have to work it out,” Makovsky said. “They each have to cross a historical threshold. I don’t think [Shimon Peres] is going to cross the threshold alone.”

But Murray didn’t quite see that Peres was willing to cross the threshold.

“There isn’t a lot of basic economic interest in moving out of the West Bank,” Murray said.

Murray said the uneven negotiation table is to blame for the failure in the previous agreement attempts between the two countries.

“If you look at those agreements, you’ll see that Palestinians are really blocked in growing as a country,” Murray said. “Every day is a day of opportunity.”

Murray said this is the year the Palestinians are looking to the international community to say, “It’s time.”

Murray spoke about Palestinians’ vital interests, most of which are having a continuous state and to have control of their natural resources.

“The Israelis don’t see any basic interest in ending the occupation,” Murray said. “It’s not all that bad for them.”

Ghaith al-Omari, advocacy director at the American Task Force on Palestine in Washington, D.C., was originally scheduled to debate with David Makovsky, but had a family emergency and was unable to show.

Murray took his place and James McCormick, professor of and chairman for the Department of Political Science, took Murray’s place as moderator.