The Wall is an Accurate Reflection of the Ugly Reality

-Hank Pin

The wall display on the Quad during Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) seems to have generated quite a lot of discussion. From Mr. Deuc’s piece Apartheid Wall Tells 1,000 Lies to Ms. Addato’s Israel is Not an Apartheid State, people seem to have a real issue with using the word “apartheid” to describe the situation faced by the “only liberal democracy in the Middle East.” As someone who respectfully disagrees with their positions, I would like to briefly discuss the reasons why people do consider the apartheid analogy to be apt.

Let’s first, then, discuss what exactly is apartheid. Rome Statue of the International Court defines apartheid as “inhumane acts…committed in the context of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other racial group or groups and committed with the intention of maintaining that regime.” Without a doubt, in the Occupied Territories, the systematic oppression of the Palestinian people is the daily reality, from house demolitions, raids, to unjust arrests of children. The question then, is whether or not this form of systematic oppression can be called “apartheid.” Following the Oslo Accords in 1992, Palestinian areas in the West Bank have practically become islands in an area crisscrossed with settler-only roads and exclusively Jewish settlements that Palestinians cannot live in.

Area A, or areas that are supposedly under the control of the Palestinian Authority (which seems to act as a subcontractor of the Occupation more and more each day), composes only 18% of the West Bank and, for all intents and purposes. Gaza, supposedly no longer occupied after the unilateral disengagement of 2005, lacks meaningful autonomy, with Israel still maintaining control over its borders, power, territorial waters, and electricity. Despite the veneer of sovereignty provided by Oslo, Palestinian areas are nothing more than isolated Bantustans, with no real sovereignty and surrounded by Israeli settlements, infrastructures, and military.

For the Israeli settlers, the situation is quite different. As Israeli citizens, they, unlike the Palestinians of the West Bank, are not subject to military rule. Instead of being tried in the military court system, they have access to the Israeli civilian court, with their rights and privileges protected. They do not have to endure the humiliation that Palestinians have to go through at the checkpoint, or have their children dragged off in the middle of the night for detention. While the nearby Palestinians have to struggle with water, settlers in nearby settlements can enjoy swimming in a pool. Even when it comes to settler violence, the army, more often than not, turned a blind-eye while imposing numerous restrictions on the Palestinians who endured the attacks. The reality on the ground is there are two separate and unequal systems operating in the Territories: a preferential one for Israelis, and a discriminatory one for the Palestinians.

Now, many are probably objecting to what I am writing on the basis that the Occupation is supposed to be “temporary,” with a final status agreement just ahead, along with the creation of a Palestinian state. However, has the State of Israel treat the Palestinian territories as area ruled under a temporary occupation? Contrary to international law, there are now more than 500,000 Israeli settlers living in the Occupied Territories. Furthermore, these Israeli settlements continue to expand, with the government doubling the amount of settlement housing construction in 2013. Prime Minister Netanyahu even go as far as claiming that Ariel, a settlement with a population of 18,000 deep within the West Bank, is an integral part of Israel and “capital of Samaria.” These settlements, permanent in nature, clearly show the blatant disregard towards the status of the Palestinian Territories as “occupied.” Let’s not kid ourselves for one moment: no Israeli government is going to uproot the 500,000 settlers living in the Palestinian Territories; no Israeli government will evacuate Ariel, Ma’ale Adumim, or Gush Etzion. Creating a viable Palestinian state, with territorial continuity and sovereignty, is no longer possible.

With every year, the IAW has generated more debates and discussions on the problem of Palestine. Only a few years ago, the discussion on this campus was still on whether or not the Occupation exists. Now, we are discussing whether or not the word “apartheid” can be used to describe Israel’s system of oppression in the Palestinian Territories. Mr. Deuc expresses his hardship trying to pass the wall that was placed on the quad. However, the real hardship is that endured by the Palestinians who are separated from their land and their community by the wall, who find themselves suffering from institutional oppression despite being natives of the land. It is about time that we talk about the ugly reality on the ground: the separate and unequal treatment of two populations living in the same land.

Letter of Solidarity with Northeastern SJP

To our comrades at Northeastern University,

We here at American University have heard about the unfortunate news regarding Northeastern University’s unprecedented attack on academic freedom and student activism. It is with great sadness that we’ve learned that Northeastern University has taken the draconian step of suspending Students for Justice in Palestine at Northeastern, showing their complete disregard to basic rights of free speech and assembly.

As fellow activists for the cause against imperialism and oppression, we very much admire the work that SJP at Northeastern University has done, highlighting the plight of the oppressed in an environment that has become increasingly hostile. Nevertheless, we fully believe that our triumph is inevitable. Much like how colonialism, imperialism, and apartheid are now rightfully condemned, the inhumane policies conducted by the State of Israel will likewise be swept into the dustbin of history.

At this critical juncture of the struggle, we are glad that the students at Northeastern University are taking a stand against institutional intimidation. We fully believe that in time, SJP will be vindicated for their courage to fight for the equality and justice in Palestine.

With best wishes,

American University Students for Justice in Palestine

Statement of Support for American Studies Association

To the members of the American Studies Association (ASA)

We here at the American University chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine would like to extend our thanks to all members of the ASA for supporting the academic boycott against Israel. We know that it was not one that was undertaken lightly and that both the ASA and its individuals members have been met with severe backlash for their actions.

The humiliation and the suffering of the Palestinian people continues on a daily basis. Less than a week ago, an 85-year-old Palestinian man died after a tear gas canister was shot into his home, the first Palestinian death of the new year and the latest in a long line of civilian casualties as a result of the actions of Israeli forces, stretching all the way back to the Deir Yassin Massacre. Since 1948, the Palestinian people have been stripped of their land, homes, dignity, and self-determination. The Occupation, which has been ongoing in West Bank since 1967, only serves to make the daily life of the Palestinians more difficult.

Historically, such crimes have been whitewashed by the State of Israel with the help of Israeli academic institutions. However, the American Studies Association recently made the brave decision to boycott Israeli academic institutions that have long been complicit in maintaining the Israeli occupation and denial of basic Palestinian rights. This is a tremendous step forward not only for academic freedom but for justice and peace, the ideals of which have evaded citizens of Israel and Palestine for far too long.

It is curious that supporters of Israel decry the decision by the ASA as a step backward for academic freedom when those same people have time and time again attempted to stifle the voices of those who dared to speak out again the actions of the state of Israel, oftentimes with the help of Israeli academic institutions. Contrary to their actions, the decision by the ASA is not meant to stifle the voices of those who would oppose it. Rather, it is meant to allow for the possibility of nuanced debate regarding Israel and Palestine by granting a voice to the Palestinian cause that has long been denied.

However, what those who criticize the ASA on the grounds that it is stifling academic freedom are truly missing is the one basic truth that ultimately, this decision is not about academic freedom at all but about restoring human rights to those in Israel and Palestine to whom they have long been denied. It is a widely accepted fact that those living in Israel and Palestine are not granted equal rights and that this is unacceptable.

As Alex Lubin, associate professor of American Studies at the American University of Beirut, puts it “Academic freedom means very little when it takes place in a context of segregation and apartheid”. The decision by the ASA shines a much needed light on the ugly apartheid system that has become a part and parcel of Israeli society, a system that must be corrected.

In the 1960s, a group of brave academics began the academic boycott of South Africa as a means to pressure the South African government to abandon its apartheid system. Back then, these scholars faced the same criticisms that the ASA is facing today, from charges that such boycotts damage academic freedom, or that the educational institutions are the wrong targets. However, the actions of these academics are validated today, with the collapse of the South African Apartheid. We encourage all supporters of the academic boycott to stand strong and not give in to pressure, enormous at it may be. There is no doubt that in the future, the actions taken by the ASA will, too, be vindicated.

-Students for Justice in Palestine, American University