Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

Column: Opposing Israeli settlement, not an anti-Semitic stand
By Alexander Perry
The Crimson White, U. Alabama
March 08, 2009

I have a hard time knowing where to begin with Friday’s atrocious column by Cody Smith ("Israel Apartheid Week stirs controversy," Crimson White, March 6, 2009) declaiming Israel Apartheid Week as everything in it is untrue.

First of all, Smith claims that any move against Israel is an act of anti-Semitism. There are many Jewish organizations (IJSN, Jews not Zionists, etc.) that oppose Israel’s occupation of Palestine and the abominable war crimes the nation has committed. This is not a religious issue. This is a political issue of Israel’s violation of borders set by the U.N. and their breach of international laws. Refusing to support a nation that commits war crimes and occupies a neighboring country is not an act of religious intolerance.

Secondly, Smith implies that Israel grants full civil rights to Palestinians under occupation.

This is untrue. Palestine is currently under a military occupation, where armed Israeli forces patrol their streets. Furthermore, the Israeli government pays its citizens to settle Palestinian land taken by the Israeli government. These settlements and the highways connecting them are Israeli only. The only Arabs granted any rights are those who have shed their previous national identity and become Israeli citizens. These citizens are not treated equally, as Smith’s article claims. Arabs are discriminated against in employment and housing and frequently banned from participating in elections.

The idea that Palestinians have any rights in Israel or the occupied territories is absolutely ridiculous. Recently, Israel violated rights granted to Palestinians by international law when they attacked Gaza. One thousand ten Palestinians were killed — among them 315 children and 95 women. A total of 4,700 were wounded during the massacre.

Smith says no real apartheid exists in Israel and we should instead turn our attention to Muslims. I cannot comment on just how untrue and horrible this statement is. Israel has ignored the borders set by the U.N. and begun a military occupation to suppress the Palestinian people and take their lands. According to the BBC: “All Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territory are regarded as illegal under international law.”

The UN has moved to condemn Israel for it’s crimes many times in the past, and on Nov. 11, 2008 they did so again. For the 38th time since 1972, the U.S. used its veto power to defend Israel and protect them from war crime charges. Other nations around the world condemn Israel for these crimes. This is not anti-Semitism.

The Israeli government has committed war crimes, violates international law and suppressed and murdered the citizens of neighboring Palestine. In the midst of an economic crisis, the effects of which you and I readily see in climbing tuition and budget cuts here at the University, our government shelled out $2.55 billion to Israel this year. That amounts to $6.9 million every day. And you’re going to call me an anti-Semite for agreeing with most of the free world in saying that this is egregious and, furthermore, wrong?

Like Smith, I would encourage you to research this matter on your own.

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