Students, parents and faculty alike gathered together for the first entry of the spring semester in the Cosumnes River College’s exploring global cultures film series on Feb. 5.

Political science and global studies professor Martin Morales presented the film, “Behind the Hatred: Roots of the Conflict” in the L-111 forum. The film gave an in-depth look at the Palestine-Israel conflict that has gripped the Middle East for the last 70 years.

“You have a whole region of the world that’s on pins and needles,” Morales said. “I just opened the door by talking about one of the focal points.”

“Behind the Hatred” addressed the political and social history of the conflict, ranging from the Jewish pogroms of the late 19th century to the Oslo Accords of the early 1990s, in a way that promoted intelligent conversation from the attendees during the Q-and-A session.

Michelle Nolan, a 20-year-old political science major, said she appreciated the questions students asked Morales, adding that she thought the attendees showed real interest in the subject.

“I was just surprised,” Nolan said. “As an American I had really no idea what was going on.”

A focal point of the discussion was what President Barack Obama would do to curb the string of violence between Israelis and Palestinians during his meeting with current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Feb. 6.

“You don’t shy away from a task because it’s difficult,” Morales said. “What our leadership does, what we do in the world, affects us.”

Unlike Nolan, 20-year-old economics major Ahsan Khan felt that he already had an understanding of the violence in Israel and said that events like these are good for American students.

“I thought the film was unbiased, unlike the way the media portrays it [the conflict],” Khan said.