The Islamic party Hamas’ recent victory in Palestinian elections could foster more intense discussion among members of Peace of Mind, Northwestern’s Muslim-Jewish dialogue group, members said.

Later this month, Peace of Mind will host a panel of five professors and students to discuss prospects for peace in the Middle East. Heated conversation could follow, but it would generate deeper understanding among students, said Medill junior Ramah Kudaimi, one of the group’s co-founders.

“This is all something that as a group we realized was going to happen,” she said. “We’re prepared as a group.”

Hamas is responsible for some of the deadliest attacks against Israel but has mostly abided by a cease-fire for the past year. The group won a sweeping victory in the Palestinian legislative elections last month, winning a majority of seats in the Palestinian assembly. The radical Islamic group displaced the Fatah party, under which peace talks with Israel continued.

Hamas’ victory came in the wake of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s debilitating stroke, which made progress toward Middle East peace uncertain.

Hamas promised in its charter to remove Israel and support armed attacks against the region. Israel and the United States have expressed hesitance to cooperate with Palestine under Hamas, although Israeli-Palestinian peace talks are likely to continue under Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestine Liberation Organization.

NU’s Peace of Mind, founded during the winter of 2004, hosts events and discussions to foster understanding between Muslim and Jewish students, said co-founder Fatima Alloo, a Weinberg senior. A primary goal is to help students recognize the fundamental similarities between Islam and Judaism and build a foundation for discussion, she said.

“We have the same values, we have a lot of the same practices,” Alloo said. “Why is there such a divide between our communities when we have so much in common?”

Events sponsored by the group have included documentary screenings and January’s Beat Box performance about the lives of Muslim and Jewish characters. But the group is likely to become more confrontational, Alloo said, adding the Hamas victory will likely generate more conversation about perceptions of Israel and Palestine.

“It’s definitely going to force us to confront these stereotypes,” Alloo said.

Kudaimi said she hoped the Hamas victory would help members recognize issues that have slipped from the forefront of people’s minds and think more about the Middle East.

“Things are happening now, so that gets people realizing that the issue’s not dead,” she said. “That gives us an opportunity to plan events.”

But Kudaimi said discussion shouldn’t alienate either group. Peace of Mind has attracted about equal numbers of Jewish and Muslim students who have broken fast with each other on Ramadan and Yom Kippur.

Weinberg junior Monica Gomberg, secretary of Hillel’s student executive board, said she didn’t think students would turn against each other but that logical discussion would ensue.

“That will make it so much more meaningful when they can talk it through and have a discussion based on facts rather than attacks,” she said.

Although students are distanced from conflicts in the Middle East, issues such as the Hamas victory can alienate students who support either side, said Medill Prof. Marda Dunsky, a former Jerusalem Post reporter. But conflicts also provide fertile ground for discussion and allow students to be open-minded.

“I don’t see this development as a reason to say, ‘All bets are off, no use in talking, slam the book shut, end of discussion,'” she said.

Reach Lauren Pond at [email protected].