Cambridge’s Palestinian Society (PalSoc) has once again found itself at the centre of a boycott-based controversy, snubbing the Middle East Peace Week by alleging that it had been organised to overshadow Israeli Apartheid Week.

Along with the Middle East Society and the Turkish Society, PalSoc questioned the timing of the week, coinciding with their annual events which seek to draw attention to what they call the Israeli Apartheid.

Middle East Peace Week was organised by the Israeli Society, the Calais Refugee Action Group, the Persian Society, the Kurdish Society, and One Voice, with the intention of opening up a dialogue between societies who “all strive for one goal – a better Middle East”.

According to the Facebook page, Middle East Peace Week seeks to “bring to the forefront” innovations from the region which are often overshadowed by war, and “set a precedent for communication and understanding both forwards and within the region”.

Talks and discussion will be held throughout the week and will cover topics such as religion and the state, as well as the history of religion.

A group of pro-Palestine societies will not be taking part, arguing that it had been organised to overshadow their own commemoration of Israeli Apartheid Week.

Historically held in February or March, Israeli Apartheid Week is an occasion marked by different university societies across the country which aims to bring attention to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS)movement. Though it was launched back in 2005, Israel Apartheid Week has been marked in Cambridge for only a few years, and this year’s festivities included a Union debate, an open mic night, and an event advertising volunteering opportunities in Palestine.

PalSoc also claim that the Arab Society boycotted the week. However, they have yet to make a statement and are listed as a supporter of the week. Response to the boycott has been characteristically mixed. PalSoc told Varsity that the timing of the week was “no coincidence”, and suggested that the event “attempts to direct attention away from the growing success of Israeli Apartheid Week”.

“We made this decision on the basis that the only way out of the current stalemate and the first steps towards a viable peace is through demanding that Israel be held accountable for its crimes and that it abides to its obligations under international law.”

On the other hand, Jonathan Davies, a member of the Israeli Society, was scathing of the boycott: “the decision to boycott is simply grandstanding, it’s about middle class students making themselves feel good, not about the interests of the Palestinian people”.

“Boycotts don’t lead to peace; talking, engagement and mutual understanding do – why not take a positive approach?” said Jonathan, emphasising that his view did not necessarily represent that of the Israeli Society.

Despite PalSoc’s boycott, the topic of Palestine nonetheless spilled into the discussion at the Peace Week event, which took place this week Wednesday’s forum on the place of women in the Middle East saw a particularly heated exchange, with Kurdish activist Ruwadya Mustafah criticising Hadas Aharon’s work on women’s rights in Israel.

“Your presentation was very unfair”, Mustafah began, citing the lack of reference to Arab and Palestinian women in Israel.

She brought up the 11,000 Arab women living in Israel who have degrees but struggle to find work. She also criticised Aharon for ignoring the inequality in the system and the “lack of opportunity” for these women.

The tension was quickly diffused, with Aharon largely conceding the legitimacy of Mustafah’s concerns. As billed, the rest of the evening gave an overview of the state of women’s rights in the region, commenting on progress that has been made in some quarters and regression in others. Mustafah noted the potential of Rojava, the new Kurdish society in northern Syria, which she claimed had a constitution “premised on equality”. However, there was a thread of sorrow which ran through the discussion, with references to the brutal sexual torture of women in the Iraqi and Syrian conflicts recurring throughout the night.