It is difficult for me to comprehend how a group of American
Jews at UCLA can gather on campus to celebrate the occupation of
another state as they did in the recent Bruins for Israel rally.
Bruins for Israel upholds its pride for a state that is allegedly
the only democracy in the Middle East. But both Iran and Turkey
hold democratic elections with large voter turnout.
Such a view is ironic from a group supporting the only state in
the world with no officially declared borders. This is because
Israel’s very existence is an illegal occupation of the
indigenous, Palestinian people. In 1948, Israel took over what was
historically Palestine and created thousand of refugees by
depopulating 531 Arab villages. Since then, the so-called democracy
has been running the state in a system almost identical to South
Africa’s apartheid.
Ehud Barak’s famous “charitable” offer of East
Jerusalem and around 90 percent of the West Bank never specified
exactly what territory Israel was yielding. In reality Palestinians
were offered 50 percent of the West Bank (land meant to be
Palestinian territory even after the 1967 war) in separated
provinces. Ten percent was to be annexed by Israel and around 40
percent was to be left “under debate.” In other words,
the large majority of the land would continue to be under Israeli
control.
Barak, the supposed peace lord, also held on to areas like the
Jordan Valley and encircled all Palestinian terrain. As a result,
Palestinian territory bordered no other country but Israel.
Additionally, Israel controlled bypass roads (built for use only by
Israelis in apartheid-like discrimination) in between territories.
The illustrious 90 percent of the West Bank originally offered
quickly shrank to around 50 percent, which was only around 12
percent of what was originally Palestine, pre-1948. Israel talks of
granting this land to the Palestinians. However, since it was
illegally occupied in the first place, essentially Israel would
only be giving it back.
Even putting the legitimate land claims of the Palestinian
people aside for just a moment, it’s well-understood that the
West Bank and the Gaza Strip are already Palestinian territory. Not
to mention there has never been any talk about the right of return
for the millions of refugees living in Jordan and Lebanon.
The United States and Israel continue to justify their actions
by using the disguise of national security. In other words, for
these two nations the very existence of Palestinians means a threat
to their security, and the only solution they can come up with is
their elimination.
In President Bush’s State of the Union Address he proposed
$15 billion to “combat the spread of AIDS” for the
entire continent of Africa and the Caribbean. There are currently
20 million people infected with HIV in Africa alone. Meanwhile,
Israel receives almost $6 billion per year in aid. To date, they
have received a total of $92 billion in U.S. taxes for a population
of about 6 million. That’s not to mention blanket political
support that gives Israel full authority to do almost anything it
pleases.
This money directly funds the fast growth of settlements
throughout the West Bank and Gaza. It also funds Israeli occupation
forces that police Palestinian villages and routinely maintain
curfew and harass civilian populations.
As Americans, are we to conclude that an Israeli life is worth
more than an African life? Africa’s population is
disappearing at a devastating rate right before our eyes while we
turn our heads. At what costs are we, as Americans, willing to
support this supposed democracy? This system benefits Israeli Jews
to the detriment of not just Palestinians but Americans who demand
accountability from their government.
Bruins for Israel condemned the Middle East for being a land of
“extremism and intolerance.” Following a state blindly,
regardless of its human rights violations, sounds pretty extreme
and intolerant. Rather than promoting circular propagandistic
notions of supposed “democracy, peace and
negotiations,” I propose the Bruins for Israel and all UCLA
students instead think critically about human rights, displacement
and the horrifying realities of the Israeli occupation of the
Palestinian people.