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Celebration attempts to erase tragic history
Grab your black armbands kids, UCLA is mourning Israeli independence Israels independence coincides with expulsion of thousands of Palestinians who still feel the effects How can anyone protest a birthday? A day of joy, of happiness, of picnics, parties, barbecues and in this case Israeli flags fluttering in the wind. Surely nothing in this picture, to the average Bruin, should merit such protest. And all who participate in such an act of protest are merely anti-Semites who wish for Israel's death. It's a bit harsh, yet this simple and inaccurate analysis is one that prevails this time of year after the annual celebration of Israeli Independence Day. As one who has participated in these protests yearly, I hope to clear some misinterpretations. Yearly, members of the Muslim Student Association and other groups protest Israeli Independence Day celebrations, but in reality, they are more sad than angry. While others commemorate Israel's establishment, those protesting against Israel's independence day mourn the day Israel expelled more than 700,000 indigenous Palestinians from their homes through coercion, massacres and the destruction of homes and property. Before 1948, the land now known as Israel belonged to the Palestinians. Somehow, those who realize this just can't seem to wear a smile this time of year, let alone a party hat. Frederick Douglass once said in a famous address, "What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July?" He answered, "A day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is a constant victim." This is the same with the Palestinians, because not only do Israeli independence celebrations remind them of that horrible day, but they also remind them of the tremendous cruelty they are now There is nothing like Israeli Independence Day to manifest Israel's current total disregard of the Palestinians. It is celebrated as a supposedly peaceful, apolitical and patriotic event that no one should think of as disturbing. At UCLA it is filled with flags, Israeli songs, food and other cultural establishments, all of which serve the political purpose of creating the false facade of normalcy erasing from history what that day did to the Palestinians, as if Israel is just like any other nation. But Israel is not like any other nation. It continues to maintain a cruel military occupation of what little there is left of Palestine. It continues its construction of an eight-meter-high concrete wall that seizes Palestinian homes, farmland and water resources. It continues to violate international law by illegally establishing and expanding numerous civilian settlements in the occupied territories, forcing the Palestinians into smaller and smaller areas as over 400,000 Israelis crowd the settlements. And thousands of Palestinian men, women and children are killed, often for no reason at all. According to the American Educational Trust's Web site, rememberthesechildren.org, Ra'ed Ahmed Al-Batash, an innocent 11-year-old bystander, was shot and killed with his brother by an Israeli missile blast during a "targeted" assassination last March. In the same month, Akaber 'Abdul Rahman 'Ezzat Zayed, only 8 years old, was killed by a live bullet to the head during an Israeli incursion. When a nation that commits the crimes Israel has celebrates without any question, it is lying, creating a false reality. There is no longer an outrage, just people singing and dancing. The silent protest on Israeli independence has a clear objective. It is a protest against the repeated use of such celebrations to erase what happened on the day Israel became a nation by never mentioning it and pretending that Israel is currently not committing any atrocities. Israel's state holiday is also the day of Palestine's largest tragedy. If those celebrating Israel's independence also recognize what I don't know where to start with this one. So many historical inaccuracies and such clumsy writing aimed at undermining American interests and paid for by American taxpayers too. Another proud moment for academia. Posted by: ryuge 2006-05-04 |
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