Last week was Israeli Apartheid Week at Cal! Check out our pics below. Events included a mock checkpoint and Apartheid Wall display on Sproul, a protest encouraging students to boycott Hewlett Packard for their complicity in Israeli war crimes and human rights abuses, a panel discussion on the Arab Spring and a talk with internationally acclaimed journalist Max Blumenthal on Israel, its impending war with Iran and the US presidential race.
(Attachment – Image of vandalized signboard)
BERKELEY, CA – A student group signboard belonging to Students for Justice in Palestine at UC Berkeley was defaced with anti-Islamic, anti-Palestinian, and anti-ally stickers, the latest in a pattern of continuing anti-Palestinian and anti-Muslim acts on UC campuses. Among the stickers was one which read “Fight Islamic Terrorism” and another stating “Celebrating 62 Years of Israel”, placed directly on top of the sign’s image of a small boy holding a teddy bear. Another sticker bears the faces of Osama Bin Laden, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, Hugo Chavez, and Fidel Castro, each with a target symbol superimposed over their faces. The message of the vandalism is clear— a direct threat to Palestinians and their supporters.
Days earlier, a similar act of hate-fueled vandalism occurred on the UC Davis campus, where the campus’s historic Third World mural was defaced to cover a Palestinian flag and peace dove. Additional anti-Mexican graffiti was also discovered on the UC Berkeley campus during the week. The UC Berkeley anti-Palestinian vandalism targeted the second signboard the group has displayed; the first was smashed to pieces and destroyed in a similar hate-fueled attack in 2007. The latest two incidents are only the most recent in a pattern of hate actions against Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims, as well as their supporters, including:
- a 2008 occurrence anti-Palestinian hate graffiti in Dwinelle Hall, one of the major lecture halls on campus
- an attack on three Palestinian students during a silent protest in 2008
- an attack on a student senator during SJP’s divestment drive in Spring 2010
- a 2004 hate crime assault against eight Muslim women near the UC Berkeley campus
- Jewish SJP members receiving anonymous harassing phone calls and emails
and several other incidents.
SJP is co-sponsoring a panel discussion titled “‘Ground Zero Mosque’ or Zero Mosques in America: Islamophobia and Critical Race Theory” on October 12 2010 at 7pm as part of its response to these crimes. The event will take place at 155 Dwinelle Hall on UC Berkeley campus.
Students for Justice in Palestine calls on the University of California and UC Berkeley administrations to investigate these hate crimes fully and to take immediate action to stop the anti-Arab, anti-Palestinian, and Islamophobic atmosphere on campus, including issuing statements condemning these attacks from both the UC Berkeley Chancellor’s office as well as the UC Office of the President. In addition, SJP calls on the UC Office of the President to ensure the safety of Palestinian, Arab, Muslim and allied students in the face of these hate crimes.
A project by Students for Justice in Palestine at UC Berkeley, Facing Apartheid is part of an effort to educate the campus community on its connection to and responsibility for illegal military occupation and apartheid policies which directly and systematically impede access to higher education for Palestinian students in the West Bank, Gaza and 1948 Palestine. Click here to see the whole display.
“Pessimism comes from reality, because reality is tragic. Optimism comes from action, because action changes reality.”
~Jose Mariategui
We Students for Justice in Palestine stand in solidarity and support the actions of the UC Berkeley Hunger Strikers. We find their stand against the racist and violent Arizona law SB 1070 to be courageous, demonstrating a commitment to human welfare and social justice. We recognize that it is not enough to denounce this particular law. We must instead condemn the rules and norms that criminalize and dehumanize migrants especially the Latino people in this country and on this campus.
Our intimacy with the situation of the Palestinian people, who face similar racist laws geared at preserving the ethnic purity of Israeli space and government, moves us to note the similarities of oppression here and there. Since 1948, the return of Palestinian refugees to their land in what became Israel has been criminalized. In their own homes Palestinians have been called “infiltrators.” Like Latino people here, Palestinians did not cross the border: it crossed them. The situation has endured to the present, where a recent Israeli military order has authorized the occupying military to detain and deport any person defined as an “infiltrator” – even on their own lands.
Last month the Israeli government issued two military orders, like SB 1070, which legalizes human transfer. The Israeli military orders are in grave violation of the 4th Geneva Convention as it alters the law and allows an occupying power to prosecute, detain and deport any Palestinian defined as “infiltrator.” The Israeli military and Arizona police can use the law to abuse power secretly without public debate or judicial review. Such laws legalize, mandates even, racial profiling, and necessitates the dehumanization of migrants. Like the Latino and indigenous peoples in the America’s the Palestinians have been oppressed legally. The paradox is law is ideally supposed to the mechanism that protects people from injustice. What then are we to do when law is used to facilitate racist agendas?
We believe that this system of control on movement, whether by Israel, Arizona, or the United States government, is inhumane and invasive. That SB1070 legalizes the use of racial profiling points to the motivations of this bill. Egregious ramifications of such racist laws are already apparent and are part of a larger pattern of legalizing oppression. We believe that both policies insidiously mask their unjust core because they are laws—laws that create double standards, laws that facilitate injustice, laws that break up families, laws that advance the powerful over the powerless even as the laws claim all persons should be equal under the law.
Inspired by the energy and sacrifice of our brother and sister hunger strikers, we remain optimistic and steadfast in our solidarity with the Raza students who have acted with great courage to change and challenge power with what little they have, the truth and the righteousness of their cause. During our campaign urging the university to divest our efforts were actualized at the expense of what little we had, like the hunger strikers, we understand that confronting power requires sacrifice.
It was with great joy that I learned of the recent 16-4 vote at UC Berkeley in support of divesting the university’s money from companies that enable and profit from the injustice of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and violation of Palestinian human rights. Principled stands like this, supported by a fast growing number of U.S. civil society organizations and people of conscience, including prominent Jewish groups, are essential for a better world in the making, and it is always an inspiration when young people lead the way and speak truth to power.
Despite what detractors may allege, these students are doing the right thing. They are doing the moral thing. They are doing that which is incumbent on them as humans who believe that all people have dignity and rights, and that all those being denied their dignity and rights deserve the solidarity of their fellow human beings.
I have been to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and I have witnessed the racially segregated roads and housing that reminded me so much of the conditions we experienced in South Africa under the racist system of Apartheid. I have witnessed the humiliation of Palestinian men, women, and children made to wait hours at Israeli military checkpoints routinely when trying to make the most basic of trips to visit relatives or attend school or college, and this humiliation is familiar to me and the many black South Africans who were corralled and regularly insulted by the security forces of the Apartheid government.
In South Africa, we could not have achieved our freedom and just peace without the help of people around the world, who through the use of non-violent means, such as boycotts and divestment, encouraged their governments and other corporate actors to reverse decades-long support for the Apartheid regime. Students played a leading role in that struggle, and I write these words of encouragement for student divestment efforts cognizant that it was students who played a pioneering role in advocating equality in South Africa and promoting corporate ethical and social responsibility to end complicity in Apartheid. I visited the Berkeley campus in the 1980′s and was touched to find students sitting out in the baking sunshine to demonstrate for the University’s divestment in companies supporting the South African regime.
The same issue of equality is what motivates the divestment movement of today, which tries to end Israel’s 43 year long occupation and the unequal treatment of the Palestinian people by the Israeli government ruling over them. The abuses they face are real, and no person should be offended by principled, morally consistent, non-violent acts to oppose them. It is no more wrong to call out Israel in particular for its abuses than it was to call out the Apartheid regime in particular for its abuses.
To those who wrongly allege unfairness or harm done to them by this call for divestment, I suggest, with humility, that the harm suffered from being confronted with opinions that challenge one’s own pales in comparison to the harm done by living a life under occupation and daily denial of basic rights and dignity. It is not with rancor that we criticize the Israeli government, but with hope, a hope that a better future can be made for both Israelis and Palestinians, a future in which both the violence of the occupier and the resulting violent resistance of the occupied come to an end, and where one people need not rule over another, engendering suffering, humiliation, and retaliation. True peace must be anchored in justice and an unwavering commitment to universal rights for all humans, regardless of ethnicity, religion, gender, national origin or any other identity attribute. These students are helping to pave that path to a just peace and I heartily endorse their divestment vote, encourage them to stand firm on the side of what is right, and urge others to follow the lead of the youth.
God bless you richly,
Desmond Tutu. Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town.
Huffington Post 4/13/2010
**********CALL TO ACTION**********
***************PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY***************
Blessings Community! We hope our words find you in good health and spirits! As you may all know Berkeley’s Students for Justice in Palestine have been fighting to uphold Senate Bill 118A, calling for divestment from two companies that support the Israeli Occupation of Palestine.
What: Silent Direct Action!
When: Wednesday April 14, 2010 at 11:30am-2:30pm
Where: Sproul Plaza University California Berkeley
How:
Please Respect the following wishes from SJP Berkeley:
Sincerely in Struggle,
CAL SJP
*As special thanks to the Middle East Children Alliance, Jewish Voices for Peace and the Arab Resource and Organizing Center
*****************
Lena Meari: belongs to a Palestinian refugee family from Al-Birweh village which was destroyed in 1948. Born and raised in Haifa and later worked and lived in Jerusalem and Ramallah. Graduated and worked in the Institute of Women Studies at Birzeit University. Currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Cultural Anthropology at the University of California- Davis. Conducted her research on the interrogation encounter between Palestinian political activists and the shabak.
Ziad Abbas: a Palestinian refugee from Dheisheh Refugee camp in the West Bank. He is the cofounder of the Ibdaa Cultural Center in Dheisheh where he served as Co-Director from 1994 to 2008. Ziad is also a journalist who has worked with Palestinian and international media and has participated in the production of several documentary films. He recently completed his Master of Arts in Social Justice in Intercultural Relations from the School for International Training Graduate Institute. Ziad is the Associate Director of the Middle East Children’s Alliance in Berkeley.
Following the event we will be attending the UC Berkeley Senate meeting where they will vote on the Divestment Resolution. We encourage all to attend and support the efforts the Students for Justice in Palestine.
Sponsored By:
Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC), Al-Juzoor, Al-Awda SF, Bay Area Campaign to End Israeli Apartheid, Free Palestine Alliance, Middle East Children’s Alliance, Muslim Student Association – Berkeley, Palestine Youth Network (PYN), Students for Justice in Palestine – Berkeley, Sunbula: Arab Feminists for Change, US Palestine Community Network (USPCN), Voices of Middle East and North Africa-KPFA
For more info: www.freepalestinianprisoners.com
This Wednesday night you have a chance to stand up for universal human rights standards and to object to Cal’s profiting from war crimes and occupation. Following the veto by the ASUC President’s of a 16-4 vote in the student senate in support of the “UC Divestment from War Crimes” bill, there will be a vote to override the veto this Wednesday night starting at 7:00 PM on the seventh floor of Eshleman Hall. The bill calls for the removal of ASUC and UC investments in companies that supply the Israeli government with weaponry used to commit violations of international law, human rights law, and, in the judgment of the UN, war crimes. It also establishes an ASUC committee to look into a comprehensive divestment policy targeting companies that enable war crimes throughout the world. Come speak and show your support.
The previous debate lasted till 3AM, so be prepared.
Information on the original debate and full text of the bill:
http://www.kabobfest.com/2010/03/uc-berkeley-student-senate-passes-divestment-resolution.html
Letter of Support by Archbishop Desmond Tutu:
http://www.salem-news.com/articles/april112010/desmond-tutu-dt.php
Statement of support from internationally best-selling author, journalist, and cultural critic Naomi Klein, author of No Logo and the Shock Doctrine:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/naomi-klein/open-letter-to-berkeley-s_b_520328.html
Where: 7th floor of Eshleman Hall, (near Bancroft and Telegraph), UC Berkeley
In Commemoration of Palestinian Political Prisoners Day
& In Support of the UC Berkeley Divestment from Israel Resolution Join us:
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
6:30 PM
UC Berkeley Boalt Hall 105
Palestinian Political Prisoners in the Context of Colonial Occupation
& Resistance, Displacement and the Struggle Against Israeli Apartheid
Click on the image for more details.
(Update Nov 16, 3:30PM: Response to Arutz Sheva News Release)
For Immediate Release
Please Forward Widely
November 14, 2008 (Berkeley, CA)
SJP is extremely concerned about a violent attack on three Arab Palestinian students on the evening of November 13, 2008 around 6:00PM, and calls upon campus administrators and authorities to immediately investigate the incident and bring those responsible to justice.
According to dozens of witnesses on the scene, three organizers for the “Zionist Freedom Alliance” attacked one male and two female Arab students who stood nearby the event holding a Palestinian flag. The assailants were identified by the Daily Californian to include current ASUC student senator John Moghtader, Cal alumnus Gabe Weiner, and performer Yehuda De sa. The paper also reported that all three had been cited by the UC Police Department on several counts of battery (Update 9:00AM 11/14: The Daily Californian now identifies only Gabe Weiner as having been cited. We are unsure what the status of the other two individuals is).
The three Arab students had decided to display the flag as a silent statement after hearing offensive anti-Arab remarks at the concert. They did not attempt to interfere with the event. Shortly after they put their flags on display, the assailants were seen angrily rushing into Eshleman Hall and disturbing several meetings to reach the protestors who were located on the 2nd floor balcony. Students on the scene report that the men were yelling racial epithets directed at Arabs and Palestinians.
When the assailants arrived at the balcony, they attempted to push the protestors aside and take their flags away. Witnesses claim that the assailants eventually knocked one protestor against the balcony railing, with a scuffle ensuing where two Arab students, one male and one female, were hit several times. Within a few minutes the assailants began to rush away, though a small group of their supporters had followed them upstairs. Throughout the process the assailants and their supporters were also overheard making remarks like, “we’re about to take care of some f***ing Palestinians,” and “you Arab dogs, we will kill you.”
The group of assailants was eventually pushed away by a crowd of students who were waiting for the police to arrive and collect statements. One of the assailants accused his victims of assaulting him, causing citations to be issued on the victims despite the testimony of several witnesses on the scene refuting the claim. Fortunately nobody was seriously hurt during the ordeal.
SJP is concerned by the willful and concerted escalation to violence by these individuals, who are members of student organization Tikvah. SJP disagrees with the Daily Californian’s characterization of the event as the result of “tensions between Palestinian and Jewish students.” In fact, the incident was isolated, and the assailants are not representative of the Jewish community at Cal. After a series of similar threatening encounters with a handful of individuals this semester, SJP members began to document these incidents. Two of the attackers, John Moghtader and Gabe Weiner, were involved in another outburst at a campus lecture last month that led the Jewish Student Union to place Tikvah on probation [1, 2].
SJP calls upon campus administrators to pursue the incident immediately, and for students to remain committed to resolving their political differences through peaceful dialogue and discussion.
References
[1] (Video) Tikvah members disrupt Berkeley event: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNkFwb4MS6Q
[2] Jewish SF: Friction among Jewish students at Cal (http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/36441/format/html/displaystory.html)
Response to Arutz Sheva News Release, November 16, 2008
This morning we became aware of an article on Arutz Sheva regarding the incident on Thursday evening. We were disappointed to see that they had incorrectly inverted what actually happened, probably in accordance with a factually baseless press release issued by Tikvah and the Zionist Freedom Alliance.
Arutz Sheva claims that Husam Zakharia was arrested and detained. In fact, that is not true, as a simple phone call to the UCPD can confirm
Arutz Sheva claims that the concert was attended by hundreds. In fact, that is not true, as the photograph below, taken before the altercation, shows. Clearly the reporter did not bother to confirm this fact either. There are no more than two to three dozen people in attendance.
Arutz Sheva claims that “Arab students attacked Jews.” In fact, neither the racial context nor the incident reporting is true. We will await the police report which will clarify the truth, but it is telling that the article regurgitates Tikvah’s press release almost word for word.
In the meantime, SJP has received a number of threatening e-mail’s calling Arabs “subhuman,” who should be “nuked,” calling for our death. We consider these to be a direct result of Arutz Sheva’s irresponsible and false reporting, and we call upon Arutz Sheva to retract the story immediately and apologize for its claims.
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:
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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.” |
