Shantouf is a fourth-year neuroscience student.
By Ronney Shantouf
In Ben Shapiro’s column titled “You know
you’re at UCLA when loony liberal ideas abound“
(Daily Bruin, Viewpoint, May 15) he mentioned many points, none of
which I’m going to get into, except for one ““ the
“Tent of Peace” concerning the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict.
Shapiro stated, “yup, talking about feelings truly quells
violence and promotes tolerance.” He should not mock an event
that not only tried to, but also did promote tolerance between the
two groups. I question whether or not Shapiro wants the killing of
Israelis and Palestinians to end.
The “tent” doesn’t stop violence itself as
Shapiro says, but builds trust. It forces us Arabs and Jews to work
together and get involved without just holding on to preconceived
notions about each other. It challenges the Bruin Arab to try and
understand the Bruin Jew, and likewise, it challenges the Bruin Jew
to see the Bruin Arab as not just one who “calls for Jihad,
screams “˜Death to America,’ “˜Death to
Israel’ and “˜Let’s teach them how to kill
Jews!'” as Shapiro so craftily attempts to stereotype
Arabs.
I challenge Shapiro to see the other side, to attend future
talks between UCLA Arabs and UCLA Jews. I challenge him to
acknowledge that the Israeli Defense Force bulldozes innocent
Palestinian homes just as I will acknowledge (yes I’m Arab)
that the suicide bombings against Israel are horrific and
unacceptable methods of dealing with the occupation.
I challenge Shapiro to ask why some Palestinians go to such
extreme measures ““ just as I do regarding Israel. I challenge
him to talk with “dirty Arabs,”
“Palestinians” and “terrorists” instead of
hiding so easily behind that pen of his. I challenge him to tell
more of the whole truth about what’s going on in the West
Bank, in Gaza and in Israel.
I challenge him, the next time he writes, to mention not only
the mortar bombs hitting Israel and the suicide bombers, but also
how the Israeli army dug a 12-foot-deep trench “severing the
main road leading to the university (Birzeit University in the West
Bank) and 30-odd Palestinian villages” (The Washington Post,
May 13, 2001), how over 4,000 Palestinian residential buildings
have been shelled, that 25,000 Palestinian olive and fruit trees
have been uprooted, or that over 400 Palestinians have died in the
last seven months including a four-month-old baby.
I challenge him to try and see the other side, to see
Palestinians as humans, to separate the suicide bombers from those
getting bombed by Israel. It’s easy for him to make a joke
for his column; we all can do that.
The “Tent of Peace” doesn’t stop violence, but
it does help promote tolerance, encourage understanding and create
a forum for open, respectful, strong dialogue on an issue that
concerns many of us deeply.
Yeah it might be a “loony liberal idea” as the
headline of Shapiro’s column calls it. Then again
“loony ideas” brought about the civil rights movement,
and I hope Shapiro wouldn’t have found that one funny.