A man charged with opposing Israeli principles spoke about Jewish dissonance and Palestinian oppression to more than 100 members of the ISU community.Marc Ellis, director for the Center for American and Jewish Studies at Baylor University, gave a lecture entitled “Israel, Palestine and the Future of the Jewish People” Tuesday in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union.Ellis, professor of American and Jewish studies at Baylor, described in detail what he considers to be a “Jew vs. Jew situation” that has been developing for many years. Because of his ideas about Palestinian liberation, he said he has been accused of not supporting Israeli ideals — an accusation he refutes. He said he can support both Israeli policies and Palestinian liberation.Ellis quoted an e-mail message he had received to demonstrate the emotions generated by his position.”Jews who speak against Israeli policies are pro-Palestinian,” the message read. “Jews are either for or against Israel. Those who speak for Palestinians are, by that logic, against Israel and the Jewish community itself.”The culture clash has been upgraded to a worldwide issue, he said. “A civil war between the Jews will now be played out on the national and international stage,” he said.The conflict between Jewish leadership and Jewish dissonance began because of the development of two different understandings of Jewish culture and the politics that grew out of them, Ellis said.There are people who support creating a Jewish homeland within Palestine, he said, but many also believe the creation of that state would militarize the homeland and Jewish life itself. He also said they do not support it because the Arabs now living in Palestine would be forced to leave, mirroring the displacement of the Jewish people throughout history.The debate over the creation of a nation-state has become a “litmus test” for Jewish loyalty and empowerment, Ellis said. “That is the religious and ethics test of Jewish life,” he said. “The calls for Jewish unity [by the Jewish leadership] are thinly disguised pleas to prevent a second holocaust.”Ellis said he is particularly concerned about the parallels between what the Jewish leadership in Israel is doing to the Palestinians and what has happened to the Jews themselves.”Initial reports of Israeli tanks and helicopter gun ships surrounding and menacing a defenseless civilian population brought a new realization of the ongoing campaign to demean and destroy the Palestinian struggle for dignity,” he said.Ellis said the offenses against the Palestinians are clear-cut.”What we have done to the Palestinians is wrong. It’s simple,” he said.Aref Al-Farra, graduate student in business administration, said he agreed with most of Ellis’ ideas. “He came from the Jewish perspective that is against the policies of Israel, and I find that useful,” he said. “Most of what he said I thought was quite detailed and to the point.”