Arnon Perlman, the Senior Media Advisor and Chief Spokesman for former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, and current Vice Chairman of the board of directors of the Maariv newspaper, spoke at the University at Buffalo last Monday. He began his speech on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with an interesting parable:

At a zoo, a man sees a lion and a lamb sleeping together inside of a cage. The lamb is sleeping on the lion’s chest. The man asks the zookeeper how this could be; the zookeeper responds that they change the lamb every couple of hours. Perlman told his audience that at the end of his talk on Israel and Palestine we could decide for ourselves which is the lion and which is the lamb.

A confusing anecdote. I wasn’t sure what Perlman was trying to get at then, and I’m still not sure now. I arrived at the event expecting a certain degree of bias, and I wasn’t disappointed. The speaker was, after all, sponsored by the Jewish National Fund and Caravan For Democracy, an organization concerned with “the challenges Israel faces as the only democracy in the Middle East.” I attended the event as someone opposed to the occupation, concerning myself with the roughly four million Palestinian refugees, their self determination, and their right to an independent state.

Despite this, I agreed with much of what Arnon Perlman had to say. He advocated peace between Israel and Palestine, two states able to coexist side by side, and an elimination of civilian casualty. He asserted, however, that the atrocities committed on Israel by terrorist organizations are far worse than anything Israel has ever done to the Palestinian people, and he alleged that terrorists commit meaningless acts of violence which serve no purpose. A familiar claim, easily argued by the occupier against the occupied.

What Perlman did not discuss was the fact that in 1967, Israel conquered the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem in the Six-Day War. Though the United Nations demanded that it withdraw its forces from these areas, Israel has refused to do so. It has demolished countless Palestinian homes on the occupied territories, citing this destruction as a tactic to prevent terrorism—a reason also utilized to defend the wall built through the occupied territories, which often prevents Palestinians from accessing hospitals, schools, jobs, or food.

Topics such as resources and Israeli settlements in the West Bank also were not discussed. The European Union and the UN both consider the settlements to be illegal under international law because they are seen as violations of the fourth Geneva Convention. These settlements divert resources needed by Palestinian towns, such as arable land and water, and they reduce Palestinians’ ability to travel freely via local roads, owing to security considerations. Water, being a particularly important resource in a desert climate, is often drawn from Palestinian wells to supply Israel. And only recently has the Palestinian Authority been allowed to drill for natural gases on its own territory.

How can a people without a military or government fight one of the most powerful armed forces in the world? If terrorism is defined as violence against civilians, how then do we classify the civilian deaths caused by the Israeli Defense Forces during the war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, which left more than 1,100 Lebanese dead? Or when an Israeli airstrike on Kana killed 56 people (more than half of them children) in July of last year—who is held accountable?

I support neither suicide bombings nor Israeli attacks on civilians who may or may not be involved with terrorist organizations. In my eyes, these are equal atrocities. As Ishmael Beah shared with us on Wednesday night, human life is human life, and its loss is deplorable, whether it is caused by an army or by individuals.

Returning to Perlman’s story of the lion and the lamb, I’m confident in saying that it’s about strength versus weakness, and that Israel is the lion and Palestine is the lamb. Perlman should have associated Israel’s overwhelming military and political strength not with pride, however, but with shame—shame for the lack of respect that Israel has shown Palestinians who desire only freedom and peace, just as Israel’s own citizens do.