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The Dartmouth
March 29, 2024 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

U.S. students protest Israeli attacks

Students at 30 universities across the country, including Columbia, Georgetown and the Universities of California, Massachusetts and Washington rallied yesterday under the banner of human rights to protest the Israeli occupation of Palestinian areas.

This national "day of action" kicked off a student-led movement petitioning universities to divest themselves of stock from corporations that support Israeli military operations, such as Boeing.

At the University of Michigan, a march and demonstration organized by a group called Students Allied for Freedom and Equality attracted a crowd of 200 students and community members including "a mix of Arabs, many Muslim students who weren't Arab, Christian students, Jewish students, American students and a few African-American students," said Amer Zahr, an active member of SAFE.

"We are not an organization that is ethnic or religious -- we're an organization of all religions with a simple message of human rights ... What we want to see is peace and justice for all," said Fadi Kiblawi, the organizer of yesterday's demonstration.

"The root of terrorism is occupation," Kiblawi said, as he and the members of SAFE advocate the withdrawal of Israeli troops. Members of Jewish student groups disagree with SAFE's platform.

"Their goal is to get Israel to be disliked, to see it as this racist, horrible, Nazi regime," David Livshiz, a member of the American Movement for Israel, told the New York Times on Tuesday. "It has become a trendy cause, and that's unfortunate. To a large degree it's because they are using this language of human rights; they make themselves very appealing. Because they're so much louder, they get support."

According to Zahr, pro-Israeli students held a counter-demonstration at the same time as the SAFE march. "There was some dialogue, but no violence," Zahr said of the interaction between the groups.

Pro-Palestine students marched through the campus in silence, symbolically covering their mouths with cloth and binding their wrists with rope. The demonstration ended with a skit in which all the men ages 15 to 45 were told to lay face-down as a representation of the oppression of the Palestinian people by Israeli forces, Kiblawi said.

"We're hoping to parallel this to South Africa. In the early 1980's our university divested from companies that had financial interests in South Africa," Kiblawi said, comparing the Palestinian situation to that of the Bantustan tribe under Apartheid.

He also mentioned that Southeast Michigan has relatively large Arab population, but that there were only 2,000 Arab students as compared to 6,000 Jewish students at the university. "The pro-Israel establishment is much more organized," Kiblawi said.

Student reactions to the current conflict in the Middle East have been comparatively mild at Dartmouth, although there has been much discussion especially among members of both Arab and Jewish student groups.

Dartmouth was not one of the 30 schools participating in the "day of action," and the newly-formed Arab student group called Shamis focuses on cultural education rather than tackling political issues, co-founder Leyla Kamalick '02 said. She and co-founder Mohamad Bydon '02 were unaware of the "day of action" until yesterday.

"I'm interested in the personal stories, the human interest, behind the politics. There is a sense for a need for peace both in the U.S. and in the Middle East," said Kamalick, whose Christian grandparents were forced to flee the city of Haifa with the creation of Israel after World War II.

"I think the terms 'pro-Israel' or 'pro-Palestine' are hurtful more than they are helpful ... they put you in a quagmire," Kamalick explained. At the same time, she expressed sympathy for the Palestinian people.

"Being an American, experiencing 9/11, I recognize the need to do something in the face of terrorism. At the same time I'm aware of the other side of the story, of the all Palestinians who are hopeless," Kamalick said.

"The Israeli offensive kills Palestinian civilians as much as the Palestinian terrorist attacks do."

In general, students involved in Hillel at Dartmouth expressed support for the Israeli defensive. While there is internal debate as to the correct solution for peace, Hillel member Michael Sevi '03 said that doesn't mean students aren't staunchly pro-Israel.

Attack "is the only option in terms of defense," Hillel member Arielle Farber '03 said. "Sometimes, defense means engaging in a preemptive strike."

"We need to handle a military situation militarily. Sharon is a military man. This is what's necessary," Sevi said.

Members of Shamis expressed differing opinions.

Israel "is digging in its heels, preparing for a permanent presence in the West Bank and Gaza. I cannot support that. The Israeli offensive has to be launched and completed in a context of a complete, or almost complete, withdrawal from the occupied territories," the Lebanon-born Bydon told The Dartmouth

Neither students of Arab or Jewish descent expressed support for Yasser Arafat's leadership. They mentioned his lack of statesmanship and his connection to terrorism as reasons that he should not lead any future Palestinian state.

"Nowhere does Arafat talk about the Palestine that he wants. He doesn't talk about education or taxes or the future," Farber said.

"I think Arafat is a horrible leader," Bydon said.

"His arrival in the occupied territories in 1993 undermined the natural Palestinian leadership that had emerged in his absence."

Israeli and Palestinian students were also in agreement that the creation of a Palestinian state was a necessary step in order to achieve peace in the Middle East. Students at the University of Michigan also championed this as a solution to terrorism.