As the world marks the 60th anniversary of the creation of the state of Israel, Hagit Ofran, an Israeli activist who works for Peace Now in its Settlement Watch project, delivered a lecture about the hopes for the eventual resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Her speech was part of a tour sponsored by the Union of Progressive Zionists, a Jewish student-led movement calling for an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The event, held at the UW Ethnic Cultural Theatre last night, also took place during the Jewish holiday of Passover.

Her lecture was about the Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank and why previous attempts for peace in the region failed. With a power point presentation including numerous maps and pictures of the settlements in the region, she outlined the conflict’s rocky history and tried to explain why she thought the Geneva Initiative, a peace talk between Israelis and Palestinians, was an effective first step toward peace in the region.

Ofran tried to present the issue through perspectives from both Israelis and Palestinians, highlighting the frustrations from Palestinians.

The violence in the Gaza Strip was an issue that she felt very strongly about.

“One year of advocacy could be gone away with just one bomb,” she said. “Although it is better not to be there, unilateral disengagement from Gaza was a mistake.”

Hamas should be included in the peace negotiations in order to achieve a lasting peace, Ofran said.

“The U.S. Administration and Israel want to isolate Hamas,” she said. “They believe that if we ignore them, they will simply go away, but this is just not true.”

However, the sentiment did not go over well with some of the attendees.

“How are we supposed to negotiate with an organization that doesn’t even recognize the state of Israel and calls for the killing of all Jews?” a woman in the audience asked. “I’ve read their charter online and I don’t understand how we’re supposed to negotiate with such people.”

Others supported her opinions.

“I agree with what she had to say. I just wanted to see the conflict from the Israeli perspective,” said Richard Tait, a former Boeing employee who had worked in the region in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s.

Ofran closed with a positive note, explaining the Geneva Initiative, which she said had a real chance of bringing peace to the region.

“As an Israeli, it’s hard not to be optimistic,” she said.