Monday, June 4, 2007

'Apartheid Resurrected' Speaks Truth to Power

For the past two weeks the New University has printed a number of articles criticizing the Muslim Student Union's "Israel: Apartheid Resurrected" week, calling it anti-Semitic, extremist, and uninformative. However, unfortunate as it may be to those who made the previously mentioned claims, the week did not embody any of those characteristics.

Alex Chazen was right when he said that someone would come forth correcting the statement that equates anti-Zionism with anti-Judaism. Zionism, as it is defined by the American Heritage Dictionary, is "an organized movement of world Jewry that arose in Europe in the late 19th century with the aim of reconstituting a Jewish state in Palestine. Modern Zionism is concerned with the development and support of the state of Israel." Zionism, by being a movement which supports the development of a nation, is thusly not in any way the same as Judaism. Judaism is a way of life derived through the scriptures given to humanity by God. Simply because a significant group of Jews support the political idea of Zionism does not make it the same as the religion of Judaism itself. To learn about a religion, look to its scriptures, not to its followers.

The "Israel: Apartheid Resurrected" week was thus aimed not to coerce a desire to "kill a few Jews" but to expose the state of Israel for what it truly is: a land that practices apartheid, not peace. The evidence is irrefutable. If simply "showing off the beautiful culture of the [Palestinian] people" were enough to put an end to the typical student's apathy, I am sure a different approach to the week could have been taken. However, the fact of the matter remains that Israeli forces are causing destruction to Palestinians every day, and people are still in denial of the fact that Israeli forces are occupying the land of the Palestinians and murdering them without reason.

Sadly people like Alex Chazen need more information than this in order for the Palestinians to "earn them [his] respect or concern." I guess the fact children are being brutally oppressed, that Palestinian houses are being razed and destroyed to make more room for Israeli settlers, that the apartheid wall forces some people to carry up to three permits every day simply to get to work, is not enough reason to have respect for human beings. Perhaps he agrees with Rabbi Yaacov Perrin that "one million Arabs are not worth a Jewish fingernail," or maybe he agrees with former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Maier when he said, "There was no such thing as a Palestinian people…It is not as if we came and threw them out and took their country. They didn't exist." This would, of course, make perfect sense as the Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated pieces of land in the world today.

Reut Cohen claims that MSU members to whom she has spoken "don't support a two-state solution," and implies that this means they "want Israelis out [of Palestine]." However, supporting a one-state solution is not the same as "wanting Israelis out." The land of Palestine should be returned to its rightful owners, and a democratic state should be established in which all those residing on the lands of Palestine can live in freedom, equality, and peace. If Israel were truly a democracy, perhaps these goals would have been achieved.

Cohen goes on to claim that MSU members have "harassed and intimidated" those who are Jewish or pro-Israel, where this is not the case in the slightest. Many of these "incidents documented on [their] cameras" are not harassment nor were they committed by MSU members. Perhaps they were more random idiots like the "young male wearing a head scarf covering his face and holding a sign reading: 'Death to Israel--Death to America.'" Although this student was not a member of the MSU, teacher Gary Fouse and his colleague unfortunately bought into that poor man's ruse to discredit the Muslim Student Union, just as Cohen tries to do by falsely accusing MSU members of intimidation.

While certain people like Chris Kilpatrick believe that "MSU harbors extremists that support ideas similar to those who seek the destruction of humanity," the truth is quite the opposite. If speaking out against the oppression of massive amounts of people is not a humanitarian cause, I'll be honest and tell you that I don't know what is. "Israel: Apartheid Resurrected" week was dedicated to further the voices of the oppressed Palestinian peoples. When one disregards the horrific circumstances of millions of people in order to further their own political gain, I would consider that to be pretty extremist and destructive to humanity. To do that would be up to par with ignoring the Jewish Holocaust. So what is the FBI really investigating here? The MSU does not harbor extremism nor does it support anti-Jewish sentiments. It seems that these calls for investigations are only in efforts to suppress one thing: the truth.

Zoya Ahmad

16 comments:

Nabulsi said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Huda Shaka` said...

Right on Zoya...right on.

Nabulsi said...

The settlers in Gaza were TRANSFERRED to places like the West Bank and other parts of occupied Palestine. They were also given free housing and other lofty incentives to relocate.

The IOF frequently uses human shields during their raids and the
international community has criticized this.

Once again, when has the sympathy of the international community benefited the Palestinian people?

They still seem to be under occupation. They still are living under apartheid.

Belal Abdelfattah said...

First off, the "sympathy" of the international community is meaningless to the Palestinians because as already stated it has zero benefit for them. As for your argument about the settlers "dragged" out of Gaza, they were sent to newer settlements in the West Bank that took up more Palestinian land than before, and each settler was given $250,000 dollars to relocate. This doesn't sound like being dragged out to me. And it is known that the Israeli's use Palestinians as human shields when conducting raids. And if you want to talk about pathetic, it's pathetic how easily manipulated your mind can be to the point that no matter what wrongs the Israeli's do you will never even admit to maybe thinking that the Israeli's are wrong.

Anonymous said...

Why did the Israeli army actually have to manhandle numerous settlers who refused to leave? Why were some settlers even attacking the Israeli soldiers who were enforcing the withdrawal? The Israelis give so much to the Palestinians, and all the Palestinians do in return is shoot katyusha rockets at apartment buildings in Haifa.
If anything, the Israelis need to take a tougher stance. They could perhaps take a lesson from Slobodan Milosevic who valiantly fought the Islamic fundamentalist terrorists who tried to turn the Balkan Peninsula into a theocracy.

Anonymous said...

Okay, so I don't agree with everything Slobodan Milosevic did. He did overstep some boundaries. But he was trying to defend Serbia from radical extremists. It's unfortunate so many innocent Albanians died, but if only the moderate Albanians spoke out against what the Kosovo Liberation Army was doing.

Anonymous said...

Alright, forget I even said anything about Slobodan. I think what happened with the Srebrenica massacre was horrible and should never have happened. What I wanted Israel to do was to not be so politically correct in dealing with terrorists.
Again, I just got too worked up in my comments and yeah, I didn't mean everything I said. Sorry.

Anonymous said...

And I think the Palestinians should develop a better and stronger stance against the Israeli OPPRESSION.
I think they should fight until all the checkpoints are removed.
I think they should struggle until ALL the ILLEGAL settlements are removed.
I think they should develop artillery power to better equip the RESISTANCE.
I think and hope that a people living under OCCUPATION will be firm enough to carry out another INTIFADA to regain humility and their livelihood.

Anonymous said...

Great, and I can't wait for the IDF to come and kick all the terrorists' rears. My heart does go out to all the innocent Palestinian children who unfortunately will suffer from Israel defending itself, but it's unfortunate that the Palestinians will use their own children as human shields. May the IDF teach Hamas, Hezbollah, and any other gang that wants to mess with Israel a good lesson. Then, maybe we can discuss peace.

And again, I regret my earlier comments about Slobodan Milosevic. I have since realized he was a socialist, and socialism goes against my philosophy 100%, so it was wrong for me to glorify him.

Asadullah said...

Hey Zionist Blogger,
First, off Hezbollah taught the IDF a good lesson this last summer. Second, go get a brain

Anonymous said...

1) This isn't Reut. Reut doesn't leave anonymous posts.

2) I already have a brain. I suggest you get a heart. And maybe a legitimate green card.

3) The IDF was just getting warmed up last summer. If it wasn't for the liberal media pressuring Israel to be all nicey-nice, Hezbollah would have gone the way of the dinosaurs.

Belal Abdelfattah said...

PLEASE! The media making Israel go nice? The fact of the matter is that mighty Israel was getting embarrassed by Hezbollah. Everybody knows this. Even Israeli's know this, look at the recent calls for Olmerts resignation. And the only thing Israel can teach Hamas or Hezbollah is how to oppress another people and make sure that spin control always keeps you looking innocent. Hezbollah and Hamas build schools, hospitals, orphanages, this is known. You're telling me that the government that creates the need for the orphanages is the innocent one? Once again another stupid argument. And for the last time please stop with the whole "Hamas uses Palestinians as human shields" get me proof, all the pictures we have ever seen of such is Israeli soldiers doing it, never Hamas or Hezbollah, so stop with the lies please. The settlers were not manhandled either, I'd love to be manhandled to the tune of a new house and $250,000, to call it mandhandling or helping the Palestinians is stupid, because all they did was go to the West Bank and take more Palestinian land

Anonymous said...

Well where's your proof the Israeli settlers were paid $250,000 a pop? How do I know you didn't pull that number out of your butt?

Nabulsi said...

"The withdrawal plans hit home last week after the security cabinet voted 9 to 1 to offer advances for those who leave voluntarily and set compensation parameters ranging between $200,000 and $500,000 depending on house size, family size, and years of residence"

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0922/p06s03-wome.html

Nabulsi said...

"The withdrawal plans hit home last week after the security cabinet voted 9 to 1 to offer advances for those who leave voluntarily and set compensation parameters ranging between $200,000 and $500,000 depending on house size, family size, and years of residence."

www.csmonitor.com/2004/0922/p06s03-wome.html

Belal Abdelfattah said...

There's your proof, and you're right I was wrong, seems like the number wasn't $250,000, it was between $200-500,000, meaning more money than I had said was given. Now let's wait for the reply tht says this is all propoganda...