This morning, students from our organization noticed that the SJP sign-board on the bridge near Sather Gate had been vandalized and destroyed. The sign was broken in half, its pieces left in place for passersby to see. No other signboards from other student organizations were targeted. Photographs of the damage are visible below:
During its brief two weeks of existence, the signboard displayed an image of the apartheid wall that Israel is constructing in and around the West Bank, as well as a caricature of Handala, a famous cartoon of a Palestinian refugee by cartoonist Naji al-Ali.We are deeply disturbed by this hateful, deliberate, and targeted attack, and we call out to other student groups to stand with us in condemning this sort of behavior on campus. We are distressed that some find glee in taking apart what fellow students spent countless hours and much energy and money in putting together. We encourage anybody who may have information about this act to send any information they have to the UCPD, referencing case #07-04029 by calling 510-642-6760.Unlike our signboard, our spirit has not and will not be broken. SJP members will be working to replace the signboard in the near future. We will also not cease our activities on campus in support of the struggle against apartheid in Palestine.
We hope that this act of hate will draw the attention of the campus community to an issue as contentious as ours, and that students will take this opportunity to learn more about our organization’s cause. The ignorance that inspired this hateful act is widespread, and is paralleled by the same ignorance that fuels the ongoing oppression of the Palestinian people. We consider this incident to be exemplary of a general and pervasive atmosphere on campus and in the country that permits acts of violence against Palestinians and against those who stand up for them to be rationalized and justified.
In this spirit, we encourage interested members of the campus community to attend one of our upcoming events, to sign up for our e-mail list for weekly updates by sending an e-mail to cal_sjp-subscribe@lists.riseup.net and to join our Facebook group. We also encourage students to read more about Israel’s illegal apartheid wall at the website of B’tselem, an important Israeli human rights organization. We also offer more information about the Handala below, with an explanatory passage written by its creator, Naji al-Ali:
 |
The child Handala is my signature, everyone asks me about him wherever I go. I gave birth to this child in the Gulf and I presented him to the people. His name is Handala and he has promised the people that he will remain true to himself. I drew him as a child who is not beautiful, his hair is like the hair of a hedgehog who uses his thorns as a weapon. Handala is not a fat, happy, relaxed, or pampered child, he is barefooted like the refugee camp children, and he is an ‘icon’ that protects me from making mistakes. Even though he is rough, he smells of Amber. His hands are clasped behind his back as a sign of rejection at a time when solutions are presented to us the American way. Handala was born ten years old, and he will always be ten years old. At that age I left my homeland, and when he returns, Handala will still be ten, and then he will start growing up. The laws of nature do not apply to him. He is unique. Things will become normal again when the homeland returns. I presented him to the poor and named him Handala as a symbol of bitterness. At first he was a Palestinian child, but his consciousness developed to have a national and then a global and human horizon. He is a simple yet tough child, and this is why people adopted him and felt that he represents their consciousness.” |