"Screening In The Middle at the 41st Buffalo International Jewish Film Festival and hosting the talkback with students and lay leaders was genuinely moving. Watching and hearing the next generation find the courage to sit with difficult conversations and truly listen across a painful divide was inspiring. The Middle Meets program does something rare and necessary."

"Our community deeply appreciated the opportunity to engage with Middle Meets organizers and participants. They added personal insights to a complex political topic and emphasized the nuance needed for meaningful dialogue. Their online visit opened up conversations among our community members and reminded us of the importance of ongoing efforts to promote peace in Israel and throughout the Middle East."

"What felt most palpable in our screening of Middle Meets and in our dialogue with the participants was the honesty. The honesty about hardship and disagreement and irreconcilable differences. I am struck by the strength of the Israeli Jewish and Palestinian students who actively seek out spaces for meaningful debate. Their relationships, many of them now cherished friendships, are founded not on easy synergies and sympathies but on difficult, often painful divisions. They want different things. They have inherited and hold different pain. And yet they extend themselves to one another as neighbors, fellow citizens, and builders of a better world. One can’t help but leave this program feeling a deeper sense of obligation to be curious about others and to stretch our tolerance for difference. If they can do it, so must we."

"The Jewish community in Australia doesn’t have a lot of opportunity to hear directly from Palestinian voices. It was really powerful to hear from both the Israeli and Palestinian students directly about the challenges and rewards of being involved in Middle Meets, without any intermediary. One of the local youth movements joined the call and they were really engaged with the chance to speak to youth their age about the challenges of an October 7th reality. Middle Meets does not pretend to gloss over the many challenges but works to honestly create a space for people to sit together, listen and learn. Surely this is something that we all need more of in today’s polarised world."

"Engaging with both the film and the students involved left a lasting impression on our community. What stood out most was their honesty in addressing conflict, disagreement, and the reality that some differences may never be fully resolved. Despite this, the students consistently choose to sit together, listen carefully, and engage across divides with seriousness, openness, and respect. They are undertaking the kind of intellectual work we hope to see in educational settings, yet too rarely encounter: grappling with complexity, holding competing truths, and resisting the pull toward simplistic conclusions. In many ways, their approach reflects the essence of academic inquiry at its best—rigorous, open, and grounded in dialogue rather than certainty. Their conversations bring nuance and lived experience to a subject that is often reduced or polarised. More importantly, they model something rare and deeply valuable: the willingness to remain in dialogue even when it is uncomfortable. The relationships they build are not based on easy agreement, but on the more demanding work of understanding. It is clear that this program does not seek to provide simple answers. Instead, it creates space for curiosity, empathy, and sustained engagement. That alone makes it both necessary and deserving of support."