The 7,849 square-mile piece of land called Israel and the West Bank has been a controversial area for centuries.

To better the American public’s understanding of this conflict, North Park University in Chicago will host a conference titled, “Israel and Palestine Toward a Just Peace; Exploring the U.S. Role.” The day-long conference runs from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Sunday in North Park University’s Anderson Chapel.

The conference is sponsored by five organizations: Not in My Name, American Friends Service Committee, Arab American Action Network, North Park University Center for Middle East Studies and the Chicago Area Churches for a Shared Jerusalem.

“We began planning in the summer in light of the recent intifada [the third Palestinian uprising],” said Jennifer Bing-Canar, director of the American Friends Service Committee. “We felt the U.S. hadn’t addressed it, and we felt people needed to explore it deeply and then Sept. 11 happened.”

A few changes in the conference have been made since Sept. 11.

“It started with a different plenary: Peace and Justice,” said Don Wagner, director for Middle East Studies at North Park University. “Since Sept. 11, we felt we should go back to the Palestinian question with the strong U.S. role in the region.”

The conference will include 24 speakers from a variety of religious and political view points.

They’re trying to appeal to everyone in the community, including people confused about the conflict, college students and faith communities so that they can hear voices not heard in the mainstream media, Canar said.

Some topics that will be discussed during the breakout sessions are basic questions on the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict, Understanding Islam: Beyond the Stereotypes, Grassroots Organizing in the U.S., New Threats to Civil Liberties, Grassroots Peace Efforts in Israel and Palestine, Campus activists workshop, U.S. Media Coverage of the Conflict and Why the Oslo Peace Process Failed to bring a Just Peace.

Among some of the speakers will be members of the Christian Peace Market Team who have personally witnessed violence in the area and Salim Muwwakil from the Chicago Sun-Times.

The conference was initiated by Not in My Name, a Jewish group formed in protest to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Wagner said.