Point: Israeli Apartheid Week brings a compelling and important discussion to campus
From March 1 to 7, Students Against Israeli Apartheid will present the sixth annual Israeli Apartheid Week with events on the U of T campus from March 2 to 4, and Ryerson on March 1 to 5. This year’s theme is “Solidarity in Action: Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions,” under which we will discuss the global BDS campaign that SAIA took up in response to the 2005 Call for BDS by over 170 organizations representing Palestinian civil society. To be clear, we took up the call because in Palestine there is a view that the situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories as apartheid—a view supported by a 2009 report by the official Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa.
There are individuals and organizations including Hillel, B’nai Brith, and even some members of U of T faculty— who signed an open letter in 2008 opposing the university for allowing IAW to go forward— that have also questioned IAW’s relevancy and whether it promotes dialogue beneficial to the campus or the public at large. At SAIA we strongly believe that IAW brings to campus a relevant and compelling discussion about international law and application in real-life circumstances.
Three demands are placed on Israel, none of which should be controversial. The first is for equal rights between Israeli Jews and Arab Palestinians who hold Israeli citizenship. For instance, in most cases, Israeli Arabs are not allowed to purchase land inside Israel, resulting from restrictions on military service. The second is to end the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. The third is to dismantle the wall and the Jewish-only settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Finally, the BDS campaign calls for Israel to respect the right of return for Palestinians.
Respectively, the three demands correlate to Articles 2 and 21-2 in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, U.N. Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338, and U.N. General Assembly Resolution 194. Our opponents essentially argue for a type of Israeli exceptionalism to these laws. While we view this argument as peculiar, some members of the campus may find it worth considering. Thus, IAW generates campus conversation about human rights and the application of international law.
Some may point out nations including Sudan and Iran also have poor human rights records, so why single out Israel? We respond that Western nations have an intimate relationship with Israel that makes us more directly responsible, and gives us greater leverage. We can all sign petitions demanding Sudan stop the genocide, but the unfortunate truth is Canada has little leverage over Sudan; the situation is different with Israel.
Another false and vicious claim is that IAW and the BDS campaign are anti-Semitic. This maladroit campaign reached a recent crescendo in the non-governmental Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Anti-Semitism. At SAIA, we feel the CPCCA only follows evidence that supports its agenda, while ignoring that paints a very different picture. However, even cherry-picking evidence won’t support CPCCA’s conclusions. Robert Steiner, Assistant VP of strategic communications at U of T, stated at a CPCCA hearing on Nov. 24 that, “There is no evidence of generalized anti-Semitism on U of T’s campuses. There is no evidence of Jewish students being systemically harassed and intimidated on our campuses.”
IAW represents an exercise of free speech rights protected by Canadian law and campus rules. Furthermore, IAW brings a compelling discussion to campus. Our opponents have tried to dismiss IAW as “irrelevant” on the one hand, and yet, on the other, as a grave threat worthy of the attention of 22 Canadian Parliamentarians. This obvious contradiction represents the difficulty our opposition has had in finding a reasonable argument against our campaign.
Savannah S. Garmon is a member of Students Against Israeli Apartheid
Counterpoint: Israeli Apartheid Week is an ineffective method to discuss the conflict
I’m not going to pretend I speak for all Jews or all supporters of Israel. I was asked to write about why Israeli Apartheid Week is an ineffective method to discuss the conflict. But in doing so, I’d like to step away from the position of the all-seeing, all-knowing observer we’re all used to when it comes to punditry on this conflict. I don’t know everything that is happening over there. I don’t speak for every rational person on the planet. And unless you’re God, neither do you. I’m also not immune to the emotional tug, like many of you, that comes with an upbringing on one side—a mainstream Jewish, pro-Zionist environment in this case. Okay, it’s all on the table. Let’s take a breath before continuing.
I’ve learned, slowly, haltingly, over the years that the situation in Israel and Palestine is complex. And, yes, I’m deeply uncomfortable with underlying problems in Zionist history—Jews settled on a land in which people already lived, built a state, and were then surprised to learn these people might oppose such a project. I also worry how power and victimhood can warp perceptions of morality, including past and present injustices against Palestinians.
I’ve also learned that each side selects the most agreeable facts while downplaying points of controversy. But when one bothers to look under the surface, to listen to the other side, the “story” defies most simplistic descriptions.
My biggest issue with Israeli Apartheid Week (or dogmatic advocacy in general) is that it does not provide a week of discussion, outreach, dialogue, and understanding. It’s an advocacy machine rolling into town to tell the uninformed the “truth” about Israel to garner support for the Boycotts, Divestments, and Sanctions campaign. And, by definition, you’re either with the campaign or against it. Thus, Arabs who believe in dialogue over BDS may feel excluded. Bassel Al Ibrachi, former editor of the collaborative publication Yalla Journal, is an example. “Last year I went to the opening event and even though the turnout was huge, I felt that everyone in the room was the same. They are reaching out to one group of people.” He also feels that while IAW has an important message, BDS can enter slippery territory. “I think that boycotting a product because it is Israeli is not the same as boycotting an Israeli human being.”
But what makes IAW so difficult for me to accept is the utter lack of attention paid to the many other ways to understand the conflict, and to the diversity of Israeli and Jewish narratives in particular. Where is the understanding that when Jews created Israel, they came from a world of deep hatred and persecution, attempting to build an idealistic socialist enterprise? That many Zionist Jews and Israelis ardently oppose the settlements? How settler leaders manipulate the state to further their interests? Where is the attempted engagement with the mainstream Jewish community—which sees Israel as a cultural homeland—to find common grounds? Where is the recognition of the evictions of Jewish Arabs from all over the Arab world, destroying thousand-year-old-communities? The apartheid label and the accompanying tropes—while a rich sensationalist marketing strategy—distances people like myself who see Israel as a complex summation of unique forces (Haredi, Sephardis, Arabs, Russians, peace activists, settler activists, religious Zionists, secular Zionists) all pulling in different directions.
I believe in the process of democratic engagement, education, reform, NGO work, and yes, political pressure to help make Israel a better place. And I believe in dialogue among those with a stake in the conflict to reach compromises, to better understand each other and ourselves. Seeds of Peace, for example, brings together Israeli and Palestinian youth to a summer camp for just that purpose.
Most of all, I believe mainstream Israelis and Palestinians are supportive of a peaceful and just two-state solution, but they are scared of irrational hatred and violence. We can help confirm these suspicions at divisive events such as IAW, or we can try to build bridges. If you want a two-state solution, if you want to help the Israelis and Palestinians who live there today, let’s talk.
Asher Greenberg was formerly involved in Israeli advocacy, and now works to improve Jewish/Arab dialogue.
