SJP’s Palestine Awareness Week seeks to educate students
A member of in Student for Justice in Palestine informs students about Palestine politics and culture. (Daily Bruin file photo)
By Zachary Micheli
Nov. 3, 2014 12:58 a.m.
Students for Justice in Palestine hopes to inform students about Palestinian politics and culture this week through film screenings, lectures and the construction of what it calls the “Mock Apartheid Wall” in Bruin Plaza.
Omar Zahzah, president of SJP, said he thinks this year’s Palestine Awareness Week, an annual event, will have a new significance because of the most recent outbreak of violence in Israel and the Gaza Strip over the summer.
In Westwood, thousands of people protested against both Israel’s air strikes and against Hamas throughout the summer, with numerous UCLA students attending the rallies. About 1,880 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, and about 70 Israelis were killed in the recent conflict, according to the New York Times.
SJP’s primary goals are to support activism in Palestine and educate students about the United State’s role in the conflict, including its effect on Palestine, said Zahzah, a graduate student in comparative literature.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict includes the regional dispute over the occupation of the West Bank by the Israeli military and the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, among other issues. The mock apartheid wall is meant to symbolize the controversial barrier along the West Bank territory.
Zahzah said SJP members want students to learn about more than just Palestine’s political situation during the week, but also its history and culture.
“This event is about the cultural and the political colliding,” he said.
On Tuesday, group members will put up a mock apartheid wall in Bruin Plaza, covered in historical notes about Palestine. Zahzah said he hopes the wall will serve as a visual representation of the conditions faced by Palestinians living in Israel.
SJP will also host a screening and discussion of the film “Roadmap to Apartheid.” The documentary examines the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and compares it to apartheid in South Africa, according to the film’s website.
The organization will host a lecture on Thursday titled “From Despair to Hope: The Crisis in Palestine and Student Responsibility.” The lecture will be lead by Sherene Seikaly, an assistant professor of Middle East history at UC Santa Barbara, and Nasser Barghouti, president of the San Diego chapter of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination league.
Compiled by Zachary Micheli, Bruin contributor.
