Dear Editors,
Where is the Justice for the Palestinians?
In Gaza, Hamas controls the Palestinian people through violence; spending money on weapons instead of making the lives of individuals socially and economically better. In the West Bank, President Abbas is in the tenth year of a four-year term, runs a dictatorship that uses international funds for his own needs and purposes. In Syria, militants have pitted the Palestinian people against each other for individual gain. Assad has thus far killed thousands of Palestinian people over the last two years. U.N aid workers are not allowed to reach let alone help these people.
And yet, instead of mentioning any of these atrocities, Students for Justice in Palestine have chosen to attack the one liberal democracy in the Middle East — Israel. They have made it clear through their actions on campus, that Israel is the enemy of the Palestinian people. And so, while the very leaders of the Palestinian people oppress and exploit their own citizens for personal gain, it is only toward Israel that they point their fingers to accuse.
Not that Israel has been so innocent either — Israel continues to allow settlements and encroachment in Palestinian territories. The life in occupied territories is truly filled with hardship. But that does not make it an apartheid state. In sovereign Israel, as a democracy, all citizens including Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze and Baha’i have equal rights. One can be non-Jewish and serve in the Knesset (the Israeli Parliament), attend university, become a judge, a diplomat or whatever other occupation one choses. People of all different races and ethnicities ride buses together. Over ten percent of the members of Israel’s democratically elected parliament are Arabs. In the two years before the security barrier was built, 73 suicide-bombings were carried out killing more than 330 citizens of Israel, who as mentioned, come from all types of religious backgrounds. Since the security barrier was built in 2003, the number of killings from suicide bombers has dropped drastically.
At Wellesley, we are encouraged to engage in dialogue and evaluate critically actions all sides of any issue. SJP refuses to engage in dialogue to further understand or engage in critical analysis of a very complicated situation. If SJP truly cares about justice for the Palestinian people, they should be proponents of change for the Palestinian people in other countries and territories as well as in Israel, and they should speak out against all injustice against the Palestinian people, not only Israel’s actions. If Students for Justice in Palestine really cared about justice for the Palestinian people, they would focus less on condemnation of one country and more on moving forward so together we can build a lasting peace.
Liza David
Photo Courtesy of Creative Commons
This editorial makes some very good points, but there are also some inaccuracies.
The good points are that it correctly identifies the murderous mismanagement by Hamas and Fatah of the non-Israeli muslim arabs who live west of the Jordan River. It also correctly cites some of the terrible circumstances under which the related peoples live in Syria. And so if any organization – such as the Students for Justice in Palestine – want to champion the rights of the non-Israeli muslims arabs, they should definitely be including these injustices, which are far worse than any of the injustices that they blame on Israel.
One inaccuracy is that the people are called “Palestinians.” They are not Palestinians. There is no Palestine, so there are no Palestinians. There was a Palestine, and the Palestinians were the Jews who lived there. Those people changed the name of their bordered region to Israel in 1948, when they declared independence, so now they are Israelis.
The adoption of the term “Palestinian” by the non-Israeli arabs who live in Gaza or the west bank cities was purely a public relations stunt to try and pretend that they have some claim to the land that exists west of the Jordan River. They have no ancestral or racial connection to the people who co-existed on that land with the Hebrews of Judea and ancient Israel. Unfortunately, the use of this bogus term only exacerbates the circumstances and confuses anyone who has never taken the time to read any history of the region.
The other inaccuracy is in labeling Israel as not “so innocent either.” It is not Israel’s responsibility to care for the NIMAs. The muslim arabs living west of the Jordan River were given the same opportunity as the Jews by the United Nations to have their own sovereign State, but the muslim arabs refused it. They refused it again, and again, and again. I recognize that part of the universal Jewish psychi is to assume guilt for any unfortunate condition. However, ‘Jewish guilt’ does not automatically translate to legal responsibility, and there comes a time when all Jews must realize that if you attempt to rescue someone being swept away in a raging river, or fallen through ice into freezing water, that they risk losing their own lives and drastically affect the lives of their family members. I’m not saying don’t try to rescue a drowning person, but if the drowning person is intent on suicide then there’s no reason to deprive your son, daughter, husband or wife from a much needed parent or spouse.
Moreover, the point must continuously be stressed that the muslim arabs living in what was Palestine already received more than 75% of Palestine in the early 1920’s. That land is now called Jordan. So this is not a situation in which the Jewish minority received the majority of Palestine. If you take into account the additional land intended for the muslims by the United Nations in 1947, the Jews were only granted about 16% of what was Palestine. Even taking into account the additional land that is part of Israel today, Israel has less than 20% of what was Palestine.
The entire BDS movement is nothing more than just an anti-Israel, anti-Jewish action.
Where is the justice for Palestinians…or Jews? It’s in the Middle East where this perpetual bitch-fest belongs!