At a punk music festival in Columbus, Ohio a few years back, something deeply important occurred. A group at the festival had created a “people of colour safe space,” where non-white punks could hang out together and feel safe. The white punks, who also represented an overwhelming majority of attendees, felt very slighted and hurt by this safe space. Many argued that punk was supposed to be about inclusion, and that the people of colour were excluding them. The situation was exacerbated by the fact that the punk rock scene was very politically correct at the time, so to call a white punk insensitive towards a person of colour was a major insult.
Eventually, the members of the people of colour safe space made a presentation on stage, outlining their frustrations. Despite all the good intentions of white punks, the punks of colour were still a heavily underrepresented group in the scene. When one of them went to a show, there would be a very good chance that they would be the only person of colour in the room. None of the white punks would ever understand that feeling; the shows they went to were always filled with people who look just like them. Therefore, the people of colour safe space offered something the group usually didn’t have: unity and familiarity.
And so we come to the Palestinian Solidarity Conference, again run by groups who look around campus and feel cornered. As demonstrated by the clashes on campus last Wednesday, Palestinian supporters can’t even protest without drawing counter-protests from Israeli supporters. At least one counter-protestor admitted that if he had been allowed into the conference, he planned to ambush speakers with questions about suicide bombers and bus attacks, even if that particular forum was on feminism or queer activism in Palestine.
Valid criticisms? Perhaps. But doesn’t this group deserve a chance to sit down and organize, to address these criticisms among their own group members, and not be worried about being judged? The basis of unity may have been extreme in its tenets, but it had a very specific purpose: to ensure that those attending the conference were on the same wavelength. Whether we as outsiders understand or agree with the basis of unity is irrelevant: much like the punks in Columbus, Palestinian supporters need some time to figure out how they are going to deal with an issue that has often torn apart the families of both themselves and their opponents. It’s not like Israeli and Palestinian supporters are never going to debate each other on campus again. In fact, the best debates are the ones in which both sides are as well informed as possible. If the administration didn’t want to support the event, they should have rejected the proposal right off the bat, instead of cancelling with less than 24 hours to go. Let’s be thankful they came to their senses and let the group do the one thing they needed to do right now: get together and talk.
