In light of recent conversation and events on campus regarding Israel and Palestine, we want to clarify what the pro-Israel community at Northwestern stands for.

We welcome open conversation about this sensitive, important topic. But we wish to counter some incorrect information — whether misconceptions or outright historical inaccuracies — that has been spread on campus recently.

NU should be a place where we learn to engage with people who hold perspectives different from our own. As such, we seek to create opportunities for students of all backgrounds to engage with each other on issues surrounding Israel and Palestine and to forge a path for meaningful political action.

We also condemn practices such as “anti-normalization,” which in this context means a refusal to engage in conversation with anyone who believes in Israel’s right to exist.

Over the last few weeks, Students for Justice in Palestine has hosted a number of events on campus that have promoted a historically inaccurate narrative about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and attempted to monopolize the discourse on this incredibly complex matter.

Every one of us has the right to freedom of speech — and that extends to SJP’s recent “Apartheid Wall” display at The Rock and the group’s events featuring Steven Salaita and Remi Kanazi.

But that does not mean that this speech is beyond challenge or reproach. Through these events, SJP has espoused a narrative in which supporting Israel and supporting Palestine are mutually exclusive, in which the conflict is falsely reduced to a binary where any support for Israel is synonymous with opposition to basic human rights.

Within the pro-Israel community at NU, some of us believe that Israel should focus on ending its occupation of territories that would be part of a future Palestinian state in a two-state solution, while others believe that Israel should focus on spreading awareness of its contributions to the world, including major technological and medical advances.

But we are united in this:

We refuse to accept this polarizing environment that reinforces a divide on campus and ultimately detracts from realistic efforts to end a conflict thousands of miles away. We firmly believe in Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish, democratic state. And we just as firmly believe in the Palestinian right to self-determination in an independent Palestinian state. But the necessary and just call for this Palestinian state cannot come with a systematic denial of the same right for Jews.

We, the undersigned, support the establishment of a secure, independent Palestinian state alongside a secure, Jewish, democratic State of Israel, with borders based on those before 1967, a position which is shared by the United States, European Union, United Nations, Israel, Arab League and Palestinian Authority.

We all want to be able to talk openly about possibilities for a path to peace with people who do not agree with us. No justice or peace will ever be achieved without constructive dialogue among people who care passionately about the state of this small, special piece of land.

The following list of events is a sampling of upcoming opportunities to challenge, question and engage in dialogue with professors, guest speakers and other students on this subject:

“Gaza and Beyond: Israel, the Palestinians and the Arab World,” a panel moderated by Prof. Elie Rekhess on Thursday, Oct. 23 at 5 p.m. in the McCormick Foundation Center.

“5 Broken Cameras,” Oct. 29 at 6 p.m.

“Zionism in the Black and Jewish Communities,” featuring Dumisani Washington of the Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel, Nov. 6 at 5 p.m. in the Norris Wildcat Room.

Julia Rudansky, president of the Hillel executive board

Jonathan Kamel, president of Wildcats for Israel

Alex Krule, president of Alpha Epsilon Pi Tau Delta Chapter

Tina Umanskiy, Israel Education Center intern

Josh Boxerman and Tal Axelrod, co-chairs of J Street U Northwestern

This post was updated with additional information about the screening of “5 Broken Cameras.”