Thomas Friedman ’75, an established journalist and Brandeis alumnus, visited campus on Sunday and Monday to speak on the topics of Israel and climate change, respectively.

The event on Sunday was titled “Get with the Times” and was hosted by Brandeis Visions for Israel in an Evolving World, a group that aims to discuss Israel and the Middle East in an open-minded and respectful way.

Friedman spoke about his opinions on Israel and shared experiences and advice from his long career as a journalist. Friedman was interviewed by BVIEW leaders Chen Arad ’15 and Rivka Cohen ’17.

“I’m a huge believer in the two-state solution. If you believe that, you’re my friend, if you don’t, you’re not ... there’s no mystery about my views,” Friedman told the audience on Sunday.

“Israel as a modern state had three goals: to be a Jewish state, in the ancient homeland of the Jews, and to be democratic. The issue is that you can only have two out of three,” said Friedman, summarizing what he sees as one of the key problems in the region.

Another key problem, he told the audience, is Hamas: “To me, Hamas is a tragedy. It’s a tragedy for the Palestinian people.”

Toward the end of his talk, Friedman was asked about his career as a journalist and for advice for up-and-coming journalists.

“The secret of journalism—actually, the secret of life—is being a good listener,” he told the crowd. “Because truly listening to someone is a sign of respect.”

According to Arad, between 130 and 150 people attended the discussion on Sunday.

Yesterday, Prof. Sabine von Mering (GRALL and WGS) hosted a discussion with Friedman about environmentalism and drought in the Middle East. Friedman is a noted proponent for environmentally efficient practices.

“How to be powerful? Clean, green, energy efficiency,” he said. He said that a positive tone, making people want to take action instead of forcing them to stop behaving in a certain way, is the most effective way to convince people to be energy efficient.

On a global scale, Friedman said, making laws governing carbon use is an important option.

Friedman shared a clip from his documentary Years Of Living Dangerously, in which he interviewed several Syrian environmentalists—some of whom are now in prison—who suggested the possibility that drought in Syria was a cause for revolution.

“I can predict that clean energy and water will be the next great global initiative,” said Friedman.

Von Mering began the event with a list of climate problems in today›s society. “2014 was the hottest year on record since 1980,” she said. “Ice is melting in the arctic, and setting wildfires is becoming the norm in many parts of the world.”

She added an example that Brandeis students have personally experienced: “On this side of the continent,” she said, “we are seeing extreme winter storms.”

At both events, audiences were suggested to Tweet questions at #AskTomFriedman and he answered some of them at the end of both talks.

The head sponsor of yesterday’s event was Faculty Against the Climate Threat.

Several academic departments and student groups were co-sponsors, along with the Brandeis Alumni Association.