The Israel-Palestine conflict was the focus of a debate Feb. 15 at the Lutheran Church of Atonement in Barrington.

Anna Baltzer, a Jewish-American author, speaker and Palestinian rights activist, said Americans are more involved than they realize—and there’s a lot they don’t know about the issue.

“When I traveled to the Middle East for the first time and met Palestinian families, I began to hear a completely different version of the Israel-Palestine story,” Baltzer said. “I realized how little we hear in this country. So I decided to investigate for myself.”

After years of traveling throughout the Middle East, Baltzer has become set on revealing the details of the Israeli occupation. She now travels around the world, appearing anywhere from universities in Istanbul to “The Daily Show” with Jon Stewart, urging dialogue between the two sides—and insisting that the concept of “sides” is itself artificial.

“The fact that these people historically lived in harmony should give us some hope that these two groups aren’t fundamentally incompatible,” Baltzer said. “These people had been co-existing for years.”

Baltzer, 30, has penned a book called “Witness in Palestine.” With photos, storytelling and hard facts, Baltzer unfolded a narrative of Palestinian life in the occupied West Bank. She explained the daily realities of Palestinians who are constantly subject to grueling security checkpoints—between their own villages.

“Palestinians can’t be sure of how long things will take—a trip that is the equivalent of a drive from Schaumburg to Barrington might take two, three, even four or eight hours,” Baltzer said. “Businessmen and women can’t be sure how long it will take to get to work. Students and teachers have trouble getting to school. Children die because they can’t get to the hospital in time.”

Baltzer said basic rights are denied to Palestinians, such as roads, water and the right to leave the country.

After the presentation, Baltzer said that she understands the motivation behind the Jews wanting a Jewish state, but that ethnonationalism is inherently fraught with problems.

“If creating a space for one diaspora population requires the creation of an entirely new refugee diaspora population, is that an okay tradeoff?” she said. “I say no. Our security should not come at the expense of another peoples’ security.”

Baltzer urged audience members to do their own research, and she praised places like the Lutheran Church of Atonement for being invested in peace discussions. The church has had a monthly series called “Prayer Around the Cross” for eight years, and has hosted Palestinian speakers in the past.

“[The series] tries to bring balanced information both from the Israeli and Palestinian sides,” said Dan Mjolsness, the church’s program director, who met Baltzer three years ago at a conference and has been trying to bring her to Barrington ever since. “What’s great about [Baltzer] is that she really stresses how moderate people on both sides want peace.”

Helen Ailabouni, the worship and music director for the church, added that Baltzer brings the attention back on basic rights rather than faith.

“We really appreciated that she was clear to make it not a matter of being anti-Semitic or anti-Jew or anti-anyone really,” Ailabouni said, whose husband is a Palestinian Christian. “She just takes the human rights angle.”

Baltzer stressed this point over and over again in her talk.

“There’s nothing anti-Semitic about speaking out against human rights violations,” Baltzer said. “It’s part of a tradition of social justice that’s so much a part of Jewish history.”

Baltzer said  that she enjoys speaking to churches because of their ready-made community feel. Baltzer, who lives in St. Louis, also said that she finds people in the Midwest refreshing because they are more open about the issue, whereas people on the two coasts seem to have strong opinions on one side or the other.

Still, a couple of Barrington audience members did speak out passionately to defend Israel. Baltzer says this is common.

“Usually by the time I’m done speaking, the audience is connecting with what I’m saying, but then there will be one or two people who will be extremely vocal,” she said. “Generally, though, audiences have been much more receptive than I thought they would be.”

 Ailabouni said that people sometimes don’t see Palestinian voices as credible.

“We’ve had a few Muslim speakers, Palestinian or not, saying the same things [as Baltzer], but then we’ll often hear feedback like, ‘Well, we’re not hearing the Jewish side,’” she said. “There’s a little bit less willingness to believe that this is true from the people who are being oppressed.”

Baltzer added that Americans don’t often know how many Palestinian versions of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela there are.

“There is so much Palestinian non-violent resistance that we don’t hear about,” she said during the presentation. “Both Jews and Palestinians are involved in solidarity efforts every day.”

Learn more about Baltzer on her Web site, Annainthemiddleeast.com, where she lists resources and ways to get involved.

--by Nona Willis Aronowitz, TribLocal.com reporter