Israeli-Palestinian tensions may be at their peak, but Israeli Jessica Nevo and Palestinian Taleb Al-Harithi agree the United States could do more to end the conflict in the Middle East.

Nevo and Al-Harithi spoke to about 100 people Thursday evening in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union to promote peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

“If the United States resolves the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it will solve a lot of terror in the world,” Al-Harithi said. The perceived lack of fairness and seriousness of the United States as the mediator only helps to continue the tensions in Israel, Al-Harithi said.

Another factor that maintains high tensions in the Middle East is the different accounts of history recounted by the Israelis and Palestinians, Nevo said.

Each group has its own beliefs about how the Israeli-Palestinian conflict occurred and why it is maintained, he said. This makes it hard to find a way to begin a dialogue between the two groups so they may find a way to live in peace, Nevo said.

Al-Harithi explained to the audience about the violence the Palestinians endure on a daily basis. For example, he said Palestinians have been made to “get down on their knees and cry like a dog” or strip out of their clothes in front of Israeli soldiers.

The Palestinians must also go through checkpoints in order to travel, Al-Harithi said. On his journey to the United States, it took him three days to travel forty miles because he had to pass through numerous checkpoints.

Many Palestinians are not allowed to even obtain medical attention at a hospital because the Israelis control their right to travel, Al-Harithi said.

Nevo said Israel is a highly militarized society.

“You cannot talk about or challenge the Israeli army,” she said. Nevo did not dispute Al-Harithi’s allegations.

Both Nevo and Al-Harithi encourage U.S. citizens to get involved in peace organizations to help end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Nevo is not originally from Israel. She was raised in the military regime of Argentina and did not move to Israel until she was 16 years-old. Nevo said there are many different conflicts playing into the disputes between the two groups. Different tensions exist between Zionists and non-Zionists, religious and secular, immigrants and citizens, Jews and Palestinians and men and women.

“The United States is now a superpower, and they are vital not only in our region, but in the whole world,” Al-Harithi said.

Marian Soloman, an anti-war activist who traveled to Iraq in the fall, said the United States sides with Israel. She believes Palestine should be allowed to develop into its own state.

“Palestinians have to accept the reality that Israel will exist as a Jewish state,” said Mark Finkelstein, director of the Jewish Community Relations Commission in Des Moines.