Anti-Zionist pamphlet insulting

In the past month or so, increasing attention has been given to
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Jewish-Muslim dynamics on
campus: Alan Dershowitz, Harvard law professor and author of
“The Case for Israel,” spoke at Royce Hall, with
pro-Palestinian protesters standing just outside the door. Shortly
afterward, the Daily Bruin wrote a two-part, front-page article on
Jewish-Muslim dialogue groups on campus “”mdash; that is, if UCLA
needs one, and why, unlike other schools, one does not exist here
(“Does open discussion really exist at UCLA?,” News,
Nov. 3).

These two things in particular inspired me to explore the
possibility of a dialogue group on campus, and I started to have
conversations with members of Arab and Muslim groups on campus.

It was during these conversations that I was handed a glossy,
16-page pamphlet entitled “Zionism: The Forgotten
Apartheid.” This pamphlet was compiled and published in 2001
by members of UCLA’s Al-Talib staff and UC Irvine’s
Alkalima newsmagazine. A copy of the second edition contained the
disclaimer that the pamphlet in no way reflected the views of the
Associated Students of UCLA Communication Board, Al-Talib or
UCLA.

Despite this disclaimer, the fact remains that the pamphlet was
published, and a member of the 2003 Al-Talib staff had no qualms
about handing a copy to me. Arguments made in this publication are
anti-Semitic and are echoed in claims made by members of Al-Talib
and the UCLA Muslim Student Association “”mdash; and continue to
this day in the form of public statements and writings, including
claims that Zionism is colonialism and the delegitimation of
Israel’s existence.

The 2001 pamphlet is full of outrageous lies, such as “The
Zionists have been oppressing, torturing, killing, and ethnically
cleansing Christians, Muslims, blacks, whites and any other color
or ethnicity you can think of,” and is reminiscent of
historical anti-Semitic propaganda (such as Hitler’s
“Mein Kampf”, or the famous forgery, “The
Protocols of the Elders of Zion”) that has propagated the
persecution of Jews for centuries. The pamphlet wishes to
“expose Zionism, its evils and its effects,” and even
denies the legitimacy of Israel as a Jewish state, referring to
Israel in the text consistently in scare quotes, such as “the
illegitimate Zionist entity we know today as
“˜Israel.'”

To add insult to injury, the pamphlet highlights two
“resistance movements against Zionist aggression” whose
“humanitarian assistance is available to the entire
population, regardless of religious denomination, or even
religion,” and whose “funds and efforts are directed
toward assisting the populace.”

These two organizations are identified in the pamphlet as,
surprise surprise, Hizbullah and Hamas. Sound familiar? I should
hope, so. These two organizations are on the U.S.
government’s list of terrorist groups and are described by
Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., in the Jewish World Review as having
“a history of hating and killing Americans.” In the
same article, Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., added that
“Hamas, Hizbullah … are all anti-U.S. entities and all have
hatred for our values and they are targeting U.S.
citizens.”

Hizbullah is responsible for numbers of kidnappings and bombings
of Israeli and Jewish targets worldwide, and Hamas has claimed
responsibility for many car and suicide bombings, kidnappings and
other violence in Israel. These organizations deliberately target
innocent civilians with the intent to kill as many people as
possible, and members of our own academic community at UCLA
celebrated their “humanitarian” accomplishments.

I have always considered myself a Zionist. My mother was a
Zionist, active in Zionist youth groups, supporting the existence
of a Jewish homeland in the Jewish community in Costa Rica where
she grew up. My grandfather was a Zionist, having fought in the War
of Independence for the State of Israel in 1948. My
great-grandparents were Zionists who left Russia in the early part
of the 1900s after a series of pogroms, for the land of Israel,
their historic homeland.

I never thought the self-determination of the Jewish people for
sovereignty over their historic birthplace, homeland and only holy
religious site would be considered racist. Racy, maybe; racist, I
don’t think so.

Israel is a colorful country with citizens of nearly every
religious faith, place of origin and ethnic group. There are black
Jews from Ethiopia, Middle-Eastern Jews from Iran, Iraq, Yemen and
other Arab states, Christians, international businessmen and women,
and Muslims and non-Muslim Arabs, such as Bedouins and Druze.

Being a democratic country, efforts in Israel are made to treat
all its citizens equally under the law, including its Arab citizens
in Israel proper, who serve in the Israeli army, receive the same
education as Israeli Jews, and even have representatives in
Israel’s parliament, the Knesset. Although a Jewish state,
Israel has two official languages, Hebrew and Arabic.

Not only are the statements and claims within the pamphlet
incorrect and unsubstantiated, they are the exact type of hate
literature that promotes stereotypes, breeds violence, and
ultimately leads to support of organizations that encourage
terrorism.

As Jewish and Muslim student groups on campus make efforts to
come together for the establishment of a dialogue group, the people
responsible for this anti-Semitic publication should reflect on the
morality of their actions.

Vayntrub is the Religious Chair of UCLA Hillel, Features
Editor of Ha’Am newsmagazine, and an intern at the
Anti-Defamation League. Her views are her own.