‘Genderfluid’ environmental activist will tell you Israel’s sins
Jewish students spoke out against anti-Israel protests at Columbia University last week, calling the activists âbigotedâ and ignorant of âfactsâ regarding the history of Israel and Palestine.
Flyers for Columbiaâs version of Israeli Apartheid Week, an international series of events marking the 100th anniversary of Great Britainâs pledged support for a Jewish state, proclaimed that âZionism is Racismâ and Israel is âStolen Land.â
The anti-Israel events were countered by Jewish students who proudly wore shirts labeled âZIONISTâ and accused their opponents of âliesâ against Israel.
The president of Columbiaâs main pro-Israel student organization told The College Fix that pro-Israel students âfelt empowered by these shirts, and I hope they continue to refuse to be intimidated by false accusations.â
One 1990s graduate of Barnard College, Columbiaâs affiliated womenâs school, told The Fix the campus environment for Jews was not hostile back then: âI never saw anti-Israel rallies.â
It’s as ‘traumatic’ as South African apartheid
An Apartheid Week âNo Peace on Stolen Landâ flyer invited students to âsay noâ to the âoccupationâ of Palestine, and to hear from Maile Hampton, a âgenderfluid organizer and water protectorâ (protester against the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock).
The âZionism is Racismâ flyer invited students to âlearn about Israelâs racist and imperialist apartheid policiesâ from Barney Pityana, an early leader in South Africa’s apartheid-era Black Consciousness Movement.
During his talk about the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, Pityana called the âparallelsâ between South African and Israeli apartheid ânot only inescapable,â but also âtruly traumaticâ when he visited Israel, according to Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), which is pushing BDS demands on the university.
Other events included a talk with a professor titled âNatives and Colonists,â and another event on âPalestine activism.â
The events were organized by CUAD, a coalition between Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and other student groups.
‘National liberation movement’ for everyone but Jews
Some Jewish students did not take kindly to the apartheid events, which smeared Zionists and called Israel morally bankrupt.
âColumbia University Apartheid Divest spreads misinformation about the Israel-Palestinian conflict and is counter-productive to the peace process,â Leeza Hirt, press officer for Columbiaâs Aryeh chapter and self-described âproud Zionist,â told The Fix.
She called the âZionism is Racismâ flyer both false and âa bigoted attack on the many students on this campus who identify as Zionists.â
These activists âapply a double standard to Jewsâ by singling out their ânational liberation movementâ for scorn, said Hirt, noting that even the United Nations – Â âan institution that has been historically hostile to Israelâ – revoked its âZionism is Racismâ resolution in 1991.
Aryeh held counter-events throughout the week, including âDemystifying the Israeli-Palestinian Conflictâ and another on the link between China, U.S. and Israel.
On Feb. 27, it dispatched 50 students across campus wearing shirts that proudly declare themselves âZIONIST.â
The shirts âshow that we are proud of our identity and are not afraid to stand up for what we believe in â that Jews have the same right as other nations to self-determination in our historic homeland,â Aryeh President Dore Feith told The Fix.
He said that as a history major âI care about the factsâ of the Israel-Palestine conflict, not the âpropagandaâ advanced by Apartheid Week. âIsrael, is, in fact, a normal Western democratic country.â
Countering the past yearâs demands from Columbia SJP, Aryeh is petitioning Columbia not to divest from Israeli companies.
Divestment runs against âself-determination for Israelis and Palestinians,â undermines âIsraelâs right to exist as a Jewish and democratic stateâ and harms the prospects for âa peaceful solution,â it reads.
Mother fears Columbia will ‘indoctrinate my children’ against Israel
The campus climate has some Jewish alumni uncomfortable.
Last year, Jewish newspaper The Algemeiner ranked Columbia as the âworst school for Jewish students.â It cited âthe extraordinarily high number of anti-Jewish incidentsâ on campus and Columbiaâs âconstellation of anti-Israel groups.â
âI was a proud Zionist when I was at Barnard and never worried about expressing my love for Israel,â according to a 1990s graduate who comes from a family of Columbia and Barnard graduates.
âI think that the statements made by SJP are Judeophobic,â she said, asking The Fix to withhold her name so the administration wouldnât discriminate against her children if they applied for admission.
Though she would still send her children to Columbia, the day is not âfar offâ that she would keep them away, out of fear that Columbia will âindoctrinate my children with Judeophobia.â
âWhat has Israel done different from any other country that Israel is deserving of boycotts, demonstrations and clubs dedicated to criticizing Israel and its policies?â she said.
Columbia SJP and CUAD did not respond to multiple queries about their perspective on the weekâs events. Individual club members also did not respond.
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