The assembly room of the Universitat de València hosted on Thursday 23 January afternoon a new Debate session regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It was jointly organised by the academic institution, through the Office of the Vice-Principal on Sustainability, Cooperation and Healthy Life and the Valencia con Palestina association.

A session that adds to the rest of activities organised by the Universitat on the genocide happening in Gaza, as presented by the Principal of the Universitat de València, M. Vicenta Mestre at the inauguration. And thus, joining the University Forum for Peace of the Faculty of Social Sciences, the conferences of the historians Enzo Traverso and Ilan Pappé and the surgeon Abu-Sittah. Actions whose “goal was to bring the voice of Palestine to the Universitat, raise awareness in our society about this situation and pay homage to the institution’s statutes”.

The colloquium, moderated by UV’s professor and journalist specialised in conflict zones, Lola Bañón, also had Luz Gómez, writer and professor of Arab and Islamic Studies at the Autonomous University of Madrid, who presented her book “Palestina: heredar el futuro” (Palestine: inherit the future).  

A book that, as the author stated, “analyses Palestine’s history by reflecting on a hypothetic future based on what the citizens of the region are looking for and hope for”

The event, also had Emad Mahmoud Eid, correspondent in Gaza, on live connection, and he reported first-hand the current situation in the area and what are the perspectives following the announced ceasefire.  

This way, the debate covered several strands. On one side, the most recent and closest to the war offered by Emad Mahmoud and on the other side the historical and theoretical one, thanks to Luz Gómez. 

A debate that could not skip the very important agreement between Israel and Hamas about a “ceasefire” that occurred during the organisation of the activity and that, as stated by Lola Bañón “ is a relief for a population which has spent many months in a very precarious humanitarian situation. But at the same time marks the start of a series of violence that leaves far away the idea of the start of a Peace process”.

The activity ended with a performance in the cloister of the historic building of the Universitat. There, the attendees built the word PEACE alongside the statue of the humanist Luís Vives to launch a message of support and hope to Gaza’s society.