Welcome to the Commune podcast. My name is Jeff Krasno.

Today's episode is the third installment of the four-part series of conversations

from the Peace Initiative for Israel-Palestine that I hosted at Commune-Tupanga.

This week-long mini-conference gathered Palestinian and Israeli Jewish campus leaders from Columbia University, from Brown University, and from UCLA, as well as a number of Middle East historians and expert mediators.

The goal of the summit was to engage in deep listening, to learn each other's

narratives, and to stand in each other's shoes. And then from this place of empathy and mutual

understanding work cooperatively to forge potential structural solutions for peace and justice in Israel-Palestine.

I provide more context for the summit and this series in the introduction to episode one,

in which I interview my mother, Professor Jean Krasno.

In fact, the genesis of the summit and this podcast series was

rooted in her classroom at Columbia University. She taught a class in the spring semester

titled Peacekeeping and Negotiation. In her class, there were prominent voices, both from

the Palestinian and Israeli communities on campus,

including today's guest Aharan Dyrdik.

Today on the show, Aharan shares his story of relocating as a child from California

to a settlement near Hebron in the West Bank.

He talks about his experiences growing up,

how he felt, and what he saw. He tells the harrowing story of his conscription to the Israeli

Air Force and the decision that he was confronted with, one that would change and define his life

and work. Aharon also describes his work on campus at

Columbia as part of Jews for ceasefire. He recounts the tightrope act of maintaining

productive relationships with his Jewish community while also yearning to bridge

...