Picture a warm Sunday afternoon. Besides being the last Sunday of August and the first at Brandeis, it was also the date of the activities fair, held by representatives of campus organizations for the newly arrived first-years. As one of those shy and intimidated freshmen floating aimlessly from booth to booth, I wanted to discover where exactly I belonged. Foremost, I assessed myself politically, in terms of Israel. I stumbled upon the booth of Brit Tsedek v'Shalom (BTvS or The Covenant of Justice and Peace), admiring their welcoming presentation, which also somewhat implied tension between them and the booth of their neighbors, Zionists for Historical Veracity (ZaHaV).

To me, both names sounded very enticing and even quite alike. I decided to first pick up information from the former stand. Indeed, I discovered that beyond their names, they both claim to be pro-Israel and pro-peace- qualities that stress their deeper similarities. Just then, my close friend approached me, saying, "Don't associate with them, that's BTvS. You should stick with ZaHaV."

It was then I realized the mysterious clash between them. I was rather hurt, as a Zionist Jew, at what I sensed from both sides. First, why was the tension present and, second, why did I, on my sixth day of school, have to choose between them?

Well, it is already the second semester of my freshman year and I am now a member of the ZaHaV Executive Board. However, I have not been on ZaHaV for very long, nor am I writing this piece as one who has. Rather, I would like to present this underlying fragile situation as an objective onlooker.

Leaving aside the political stances of both organizations, their mere behavior toward one another was the main hallmark of this tension. BTvS has put up fliers with a disputed representation of Israel and has advertised Israel's acts of "violence" - factors that obviously would offend a more conservative Zionist.

Meanwhile, ZaHaV has managed to more or less dissuade many non-religious Jews from joining because of its image of having a predominantly religious Jewish following. In addition, ZaHaV has, in the eyes of more liberal Zionists, failed to present the Palestinian experience and, to some, the entire historical element that is the essence of their organization.

The very idea of two Jewish groups that fundamentally support peace in Israel and the idea of having a Jewish homeland in some sort of conflict with one another is appalling. When one enters a room with the two organizations, one senses the same sort of atmosphere as one would around pool of ice. There should be a sign placed at the entrance of that room stating, "Warning: any sudden movement could cause ice to crack." I don't mean that this crack in the ice would take shape as a verbal or physical fight, but the tension between them is certainly present.

On a much broader scale, this divide has become the burden for many concerned Zionist students when given the opportunity to choose between the two. One would never want to even dip one's feet into the icy water of Jewish politics- and understandably so. I should make clear that everything said in this column about both organizations is meant with the utmost respect for both. They work hard at presenting their respective views of Israel and their visions for its future. Needless to say, each does an excellent job at it-otherwise they would not be discussed so much. Still, much has to be done to unite them.

Now is a good time for this to happen. A new semester has arrived with new leadership on both sides. Both groups should now begin to look for ways of building a strong link of trust and camaraderie. Both seek a peaceful resolution to restore stability to a very fragile region. They should be commended for their undertaking the task of examining the conflict and trying to find solutions. As Zionists, and as concerned Americans with ties to Israel, they ultimately want the same thing. So why dwell on their differences? Now that both groups have cross-examined one another, they should focus on what qualities they share. They really needn't think for long. Here's a hint: Zionists, Israel, peace.

In his essay, "The Jewish State," Theodore Herzl, who is credited as being the father of Zionism, summarized this point quite succinctly when he said, "We [Jews] ought not to create new distinctions between people; we ought not to raise fresh barriers, we should rather make the old disappear."

Once this first step has been accomplished, our Zionist organizations should begin working together on promoting Israel awareness on campus and educating the students not only about how to achieve peace in the Middle East, but also on how to consolidate the various Zionist factions.