Israeli-Palestinian conflict should encourage criticism

Despite my previous awareness and interest in the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it wasn’t until this
year’s revival of Students for Justice in Palestine that I
became an active member and officer of this on-campus
organization.

Like many members of our organization, I am not Arab, I am not
Muslim, I am not from the Middle East, I am not Jewish ““ I am
half Japanese, half white. So why should I care?

Besides the obvious crises ““ disputes about access to
vital water supplies for the West Bank, the restriction of
international aid to Palestinians, the lack of internal and
international mobility, the economic hardships of the occupation,
the decline in quality of life ““ innocent people are dying
throughout the area.

For all humanitarian purposes, this is a conflict in which
neither Palestinians nor Israelis are benefiting. Families are
mourning on both sides of the security fence.

Some may say more people are dying in Sudan, that Tibet is
occupied too, or that the AIDS epidemic in Africa is worse. Why
should I care about Palestine?

For starters, lack of media coverage provides us with illusions
as to the severity of the humanitarian crisis in Palestine.

Since the second Intifada began in 2000, Israeli human rights
organization B’Tselem reports that 5,061 Palestinian and 815
Israeli civilians have been killed from direct armed conflict.

Palestinians make up the largest refugee population in the
world, with over 4.2 million persons registered with UN Relief and
Works Agency alone.

Media attention is only directed at the Palestinian cause when
highlighting the actions of extremist groups. To represent all
Palestinians as suicide bombers is like representing all white
Christian Americans as the Ku Klux Klan, or representing all Jews
as part of the violent Israeli settler movement.

So it is understandable that in America we may find ourselves
ignorant of the situation in Israel. But this is no reason to stop
searching, or divert our attention to sexier humanitarian and
political crises.

Most shocking to discover is that the United States gives Israel
more continuous aid than any other country.

From 1949 to 1997, $84 billion of U.S. aid went to Israel,
according to the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.

This fact alone compelled me to dig deeper, to find out what my
money was supporting. U.S. involvement in Israel means that our tax
dollars are directly affecting the lives of Palestinians under the
occupation.

This means we are contributing to the unrest in the Middle East
““ from the Palestinian children injured and killed by the
Israeli Defense Force to the suicide bombings that indiscriminately
take innocent Jewish, Muslim and Arab lives.

Upon learning this, many internationals, Americans, Israelis,
Jews, rabbis and even IDF soldiers have joined the cause to bring
stability to the region and justice to the Palestinians.

Students for Justice in Palestine’s members are testimony
enough to the diversity of active supporters of the Palestinian
cause. However, many Palestinian sympathizers, even Jews, keep
quiet for fear of being labeled anti-Semitic.

My public advocacy for Palestinians has frequently earned me
this label. But disagreeing with Israeli policies does not make me
anti-Semitic.

I do not think it is anti-Semitic to question the actions of a
government. Many Americans and most of my fellow university
colleagues openly criticize the U.S. government’s
policies.

This does not make us anti-American. We are simply concerned
citizens.

No one should have to live in fear of exercising the democratic
right to question, seek knowledge and be well-informed before and
during the decision-making processes.

The Palestinian cause is no different than previous and ongoing
social justice issues in which one group is being occupied or
oppressed by another: Ireland, Tibet, South Africa or the U.S.
Civil rights movement, to name a few.

Although the Israeli-Palestinian conflict may seem distant and
without hope, we must heed the warning of Martin Luther King Jr.:
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice
everywhere.”

Cantrell is a fourth-year international development studies
student.