Leaders of Dickinson’s J Street U chapter are challenging students to think about what it means to have a “global perspective.”

J Street U is the student sector of J Street, a “pro-Israel, pro-peace” national organization that supports “the right of both the Jewish and Palestinian peoples to sovereignty and security in democratic, self-governing states” according to the J Street U website.

Dickinson’s chapter has worked to bring this issue to campus through meaningful engagement and discussion. This semester, J Street U partnered with the Clarke Forum, Muslim Students Association, Phi Beta Kappa, the Office of Academic Advising and the Asbell Center to host an Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Salon on Nov. 23. Leaders of Dickinson J Street U attended and provided a pro-peace perspective at a panel discussion on Nov. 18 sponsored by Am Yisrael Chai, a new pro-Israel student group on campus.

J Street U Co-Presidents Shayna Solomon ‘16 and Maretta Sonn ’16 value bringing multiple narratives of the conflict into a variety of spaces. Both leaders are residents of the Social Justice House on campus, where they are excited to bring the conversation about Israel and Palestine.

Solomon ’16 said, “engaging with the world should mean evaluating what is best for it and advocating for change.” She says that “[Living in the Social Justice House] has helped me see the intersection between different issues of social justice.”

Sonn, who grew up in a Zionist household, said that her Judaism and passion for social justice allowed her to become aware of the “violence and sense of displacement” that Palestinians face.

“I didn’t want to be connected to the Zionist identity that I felt oppressed people, and ended up rejecting my Jewish identity,” said Sonn.

Solomon originally discovered J Street in an article published in the Washington Jewish Week, and introduced the organization to Sonn, who had left the Jewish community by the time she started at Dickinson and thought that she “would never relate to Israel-Palestine advocacy.”

As she learned more about J Street, Sonn began to recognize, “as much as I wanted to choose whether I was Jewish, the world was seeing me as Jewish. Therefore, I was responsible to do something within the Jewish community to stop the occupation, the violence, and deaths.”

With the help of Jessica Klimoff ’16 and Emily Katz ’16, Solomon and Sonn founded a chapter of J Street U during their sophomore year at Dickinson. The organization is included under the umbrella of the Asbell Center as of this year, which Solomon said indicates their positive relationship with the Jewish community on campus.