“When students launched the Barnard Columbia Solidarity
Network (BCSN) last year, they sought to put into practice principles of
solidarity between movements and work against forms of oppression using an
intersectional framework. The guiding principle of this coalition was that all
forms of oppression operate in interrelated ways and thus must be fought
together.
“Although BCSN sought to foster solidarity among campus
activists, its inclusion of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish
Voice for Peace (JVP) incurred virulent criticism as some argued that the
pro-Palestinian groups created a hostile environment for students who support
Israel. We, members of Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), were left
asking: why should recognition of intersectionality exclude Palestinians? How
could one, in good conscience, ignore racism, sexual violence, environmental
racism, and colonialism in the context of Israel/Palestine?
“When students are made aware of this double standard, they
will often say that they simply don’t know enough to take a stance. This
widespread belief—that entitlement to an opinion requires exhaustive knowledge
of the Israeli occupation of Palestine—keeps many students out of the
conversations we in CUAD try to encourage on campus. Moreover, the misleading
and divisive narrative of “us vs. them” that attends dominant discourses
surrounding Israel/Palestine activism intimidates students and activists with
the implied accusation that any engagement at all amounts to full endorsement
of one side or the other.
“Either afraid of negotiating or believing themselves unable
to negotiate these polarizing stances, students retreat to a position of
presumed “neutrality,” a non-stance amounting to little more than tacit support
for the status quo: occupation, dispossession, and apartheid. “Neutral” silence
has become a powerful tool wielded by Zionists in their effort to bolster the
hegemony of Israeli apartheid and dissuade dissenting voices. From hard-right
Zionist groups such as AIPAC to student Hillel chapters, the discourse about
Israel/Palestine at Columbia is in need of dramatic recalibration.
“We put on events for Israeli Apartheid Week to create a
space for learning and growing, not hostility. Activism is a process, one that
is shared between all groups organizing against oppression and one that asks
for the participation—at whatever capacity—of those who might not call
themselves “activists.” Without engaged people seeking new information,
dialogue on campus becomes a repetitive cycle of attack between the “two
sides.”
“As part of our work this Israeli Apartheid Week, CUAD will
present a resolution to CCSC calling for divestment from companies that
participate in Israel’s occupation of Palestine and the government’s continued
human rights abuses. If 10 percent of the CC student body signs our petition
supporting the resolution, CCSC will be obligated to put the resolution to a
vote for the entire Columbia College student body.
“The resolution seeks to end our University’s support for
corporations that engage in and profit from human rights violations in
Israel/Palestine. Education and dialogue during Israeli Apartheid week are
essential to the resolution vote. This is our way of honoring the Palestinian
call to BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions). BDS, with its three simple
demands, is an effective tactic for pressuring the Israeli government into
abiding by international law. It is a tangible way to empower everyone, from
consumer to politician, to end apartheid.
“There is a new administration in Washington, and a staunch
supporter of illegal settlement building has been nominated to be the new US
Ambassador to Israel. Now more than ever it is incumbent upon us to fight for
institutional support in the struggle to end the well-documented violations of
human rights in Palestine. To do so means both to learn and to act
simultaneously. We hope Israeli Apartheid Week will serve this purpose.
“This week, featuring events every night, and our mock
Apartheid wall on Low Plaza every day, is an essential moment in our movement
and an excellent opportunity for students to learn about Israel/Palestine
“The United States has witnessed the consolidation of power
by some of the country’s most overtly corporate, racist, and authoritarian
forces in the past few months. The supposedly neutral stance on
Israel/Palestine may have felt comfortable for people in the past, but it now
becomes impossible to uphold if we are at all opposed to what is happening in
the United States—the Muslim ban, the Dakota Access Pipeline, police brutality
and the reinstatement of Jim Crow-era voting laws in some states.
“It has been heartening to see so many in the United States
come together—in the streets, at town hall meetings, on campuses—to reaffim our
basic principles of equal protection under the law. Right here in Morningside
Heights, students, faculty, staff, and administrators have recommitted to the
principles of sanctuary. In this fraught moment, it is especially important
that we all reaffirm our insistence that basic human rights are not limited by
zip code, religion, or national identity, but that they are fundamental rights
for all individuals. This is what we, as CUAD members, fight for this week and
every week.
“Columbia University Apartheid Divest is a coalition between
Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP).”
