Problem is about oppression, not coexistence

Mahmood is a third-year business economics and international
development studies student. He is currently president of the
Muslim Students Association.

By Ghaith Mahmood

In the West Bank of occupied Palestine a young Palestinian boy
walks to school. He must first wade through a series of
checkpoints. Once he passes that, he must keep his wits to avoid
any Israeli settlers on the rampage, and after that, there is still
the potential of coming across Israeli sniper fire. Only after he
has navigated this daily obstacle course can he finally enter his
school, a school that has second-rate textbooks, second-rate
facilities and where he will receive a second-rate education in
relation to his Israeli neighbors.

When he goes home, he will find his mother depressed as usual,
crying for her two lost sons, killed by Israeli fire. His father is
sitting on the couch watching the television, unable to go to work
due to the 24-hour curfew laid down by the Israeli army as a
security measure to quell any uprisings.

I tell you this story about a young Palestinian boy as a
backdrop for our discussion. Too often, it is easy to lose track of
the actual people in all the political web-spinning and historical
fact debates that can occur when one discusses Zionism or the
nature of occupied Palestine.

In the past weeks, we have once again been privilege to witness
the now annual tradition of celebrations, demonstrations and
healthy dialogue sparked by the current situation in occupied
Palestine. At times, these have taken the form of tense debates.
Other times they came in the form of a silent protest or a table on
Bruin Walk set up with one goal in mind: to educate the general
public about the human rights violations occurring in occupied
Palestine and in the land known as Israel.

A new development, however, is the advent of a “Coalition
for Co-existence in the Middle East.” Participants set up a
tent under which cake was shared, flowers were passed and
“peace” was a word quick to jump off the tongues of
all. Also inside the tent, an Israeli flag and a Palestinian flag
hung side by side.

To those who passed by, it may have seemed like the situation
was finally solved once and for all. At last, these two groups
““ the Arabs and the Jews ““ would stop fighting and
start co-existing in peace. While I applaud the efforts of all
organizers to create a forum for increased dialogue and discussion,
I find the idea that the solution lies in a tent in which two sides
can co-exist shortsighted.

Let’s make one thing perfectly clear. What is happening in
occupied Palestine is not simply a conflict between two groups who
cannot get along. Referring to the problem as one of a mere
inability of two sides to co-exist trivializes the true issues at
hand.

Fact: Palestinian land is under daily seizure
and confiscation by the Israeli regime. Fact:
“Israeli Arabs” (or Palestinians who had the patience
to wait in line for 20 hours to gain citizenship in Israel) are
treated as second-class citizens in basically an apartheid
state.

Fact: 4.5 million Palestinians are now refugees
without a home as Israel refuses them the right to return to their
land.

Fact: Since the “intifada” began, numerous human
rights organizations, including BíTselem, an Israeli human
rights organization, as well as the United Nations have criticized
the Israeli government for the use of excessive force, especially
in dealing with Palestinian children.

The problem at hand is not the inability of the Arabs and the
Jews to live together peacefully. The problem is that the Israeli
government with its inherently racist Zionist ideology has
oppressed the Palestinian people and has forced them to live in an
apartheid state as second-class citizens.

This oppression is why Palestinians are now taking to the
streets to rise up against the Israeli regime, why the violence has
been widespread throughout occupied Palestine, and why the
demonstrations spill over to places as far away as our own
campus.

It is not the inability of Muslims, Christians and Jews to
co-exist that is the problem; the problem is that from its very
advent and to this day, Israel has been built on oppression, murder
and apartheid.

It is important to recognize this root problem, for now it
becomes a wider issue that all people can look at and think about
critically. If it was simply a plight between two groups who cannot
live together in peace, then all that we could do is watch idly and
shake our heads.

But the root of the problem is beyond this ““ the problem
is universal. As a people who highly value the ideals of justice
and equality, all of us have an obligation to speak up against
human rights violations, stand up against the unjust treatment of
Palestinians, and call out the Israeli government for its
oppressive measures.

The situation is not an internal issue that only those parties
directly involved have the ability to find a solution. For years,
Palestinian intellectuals as well as many other concerned parties
(including myself) have been calling for a global U.N. delegation
to come into the land and play a hand in assessing any acts of
oppression that may exist.

Recognizing the fact that the apartheid in South Africa only
ended once global pressure was high enough, the hope is that
similar worldwide pressure will stop the human rights violations
and excessive force committed by the Israeli regime. But, Israel
has consistently denied any global U.N. tribunal intervention into
their country, claiming that the conflict is internal.

It is important to recognize in looking at the “Coalition
for Co-Existence” that co-existence is not the problem
““ Israeli oppression is. No matter how much we say the word
peace and love, as long as the Israeli government commits acts of
oppression that go unchecked by the global community, and as long
as we do not take the time to educate ourselves as well as create
awareness for other people on the true nature of the conflict,
violence and human rights violations will continue to exist inside
occupied Palestine.