Grand Valley State University’s student organization Peace M.E.ans brought its advocacy and awareness efforts to campus on Wednesday with speaker and activist Norman Finkelstein, who spoke about his involvement in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict that has been ongoing for the past 95 years.

“There’s an element of sheer lunacy,” Finkelstein said. “It just goes on and on and on.” Elizabeth Kuchenmeister, president of the group, said Peace M.E.ans is geared at raising awareness about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict overseas and believes peace is possible through education and open discussion.

Finkelstein’s involvement in the conflict arose from the Lebanese-Israeli war in 1982. He said he was disgusted with the treatment of the Lebanese and decided to take action.

“You’re young, you’re Jewish, you’re liberal, you’re idealistic, you don’t want to come into a situation like this defend it,” Finkelstein said. “You don’t.”

Over the past three decades of involvement, Finkelstein said he has come to the conclusion that it is ridiculous for him to leave it alone.

“They don’t have a choice of being bored and moving on,” he said. “Why should I?”

He is slightly more optimistic about the situation these days as public opinion has shifted in favor of Palestine. Finkelstein has passionately worked towards a two-state solution that would allow for Palestine to receive vital pieces of land in exchange for Israel returning to their 1967 borders.

Although some in the crowd dissented to this idea — one calling the solution a “lousy loaf of bread” — Finkelstein said just trying to reach a two-state solution is monumental enough.

“The victory is also the start of victory,” Finkelstein said.

Finkelstein spoke on the misconception of politics and why it has affected the way he has handle the situation.

Politics, to him, is uniting the many against the few in order to achieve victory. This cannot be done by alienating supporters by having a very strict set of demands, he said — instead, the demands should be broad.

Finkelstein said in an annual BBC poll asking what countries affect the world negatively, Israel placed in the bottom four with Pakistan, North Korea and Iran.

“Let’s remove it from the pages of current events,” he said. The Soviet Union was born in 1917, the same year the Palestinian conflict began, and fell in 1991. Let’s put it where it belongs; in the pages of a history book.”

jcampbell@lanthorn.com