Early Sunday evening, I noticed that a large wall had been erected outside of the DUC that blared “ISRAEL IS AN APARTHEID STATE,” in big, block letters. Along with fact sheets documenting alleged incidents of Israeli apartheid, there were messages to “free Palestine” and a “frequently asked questions” section allaying concerns that any of this might be anti-Semitic. Several hours later, the wall had been stripped down to its frame in an apparent act of vandalism.
Apartheid — when talked about in regards to Israel — is a highly inflammatory subject. On the one hand, it inspires feelings of indignation and outrage in those who understand Israel as a democratic state in the Middle East. On the other, pro-Palestinian activists use the term in an attempt to describe the breadth of what they consider to be Israel’s illegal occupation of and activities in Palestinian lands. Israel is compared to apartheid South Africa, in which the country’s black citizens were systematically discriminated against on the basis of their race. Even today, many parts of South Africa experience a sort of de facto apartheid; the poorest neighborhoods are almost exclusively black, and both the country’s political structures and individual communities are still very much racially charged. Thus, for understandable reasons, many pro-Israel individuals are upset by what they perceive to be a cavalier and misguided use of the term.
My purpose in writing this article is not to weigh in on the political debate vis-à-vis the Arab-Israeli conflict. I hardly feel qualified to offer opinions on such a weighty and emotionally charged subject. What I have been most struck by — both in the days since the erection of the wall in honor of national “Israel Apartheid Week,” as well as through the rest of my time at Emory — is the lack of substantive dialogue conducted between student groups.
Author Salman Rushdie delivered a lecture at Emory last weekend in which he expounded upon the threats to freedom in the 21st century. What struck me most about his speech was this statement: “Freedom of speech begins where the views of others you hate are permissible. If you don’t support this right, then you don’t believe in free speech.” I find his point to be particularly relevant in the context of the recent events of the apartheid wall’s erection, vandalism and subsequent rebuilding.
On a campus like Emory, where freedom of expression is ostensibly the right of every student — no matter how virulently others may disagree with a specific stance — the vandalism of the wall is a threat to that expression. “Censoring” the wall will not make the views expressed by those who erected it disappear. Vandalizing property in the name of offense is not and will never be an appropriate or effective means of protest to views seen as unpleasant or aggressive. Even if the wall seems misinformed, hyperbolic or outright incendiary, it must be allowed to stand. Democracy is permitting others to say what you think unsayable, or what you disagree with or what you do not want to hear. According to Rushdie, the greatest danger to free expression in America lies within the walls of the academy. That sentiment has certainly proven true this week, where it seems as if all anyone seems to be doing is shouting over the other to drown them out.
Inclusive, uncomfortable dialogue is the only way we can ever hope to build relationships with others who we see as opposed to us in every way. The events of this week haven’t been dialogue; they have been rhetoric. And it is in our discourse that we often undermine the very causes for which we seek to advocate. There is a difference between freedom of speech and distinction of opinion. There is a difference between engaging in constructive dialogue and shouting into thin air simply to drown out the voices of those we’d rather not hear.
In the past, people have written articles about Emory’s need to create more space for pro-Palestinian voices. I have seen articles to counter the claim that pro-Palestinian voices don’t have equal space. I am arguing that we need more space for expression, in whatever form that expression may manifest. We need student leaders engaged in dialogue, willing to have uncomfortable conversations and willing to forge uncomfortable friendships. We need Emory to be a place where Israel apartheid walls and Israel celebrations can exist simultaneously, where students are free to choose to attend one or both events, and from which they can leave having learned something they didn’t know before.
Kate Moran is a College senior from St. Michaels, Maryland.
Beautiful article, Kate.
As I see it the problem is that Muslims are really not very good when it comes to open and honest dialogue. Time after time (at Oslo, Camp David, and elsewhere) Israel made major concessions to Arafat and then Abbas only to be met with silence. It is increasingly clear that Palestinians are not interested in peace, they are interested in having everything their way, including controlling Israel with their (the Palestinians) larger population base.
And this is not unlike what we are seeing wherever Muslim populations border non-Muslim areas. Be it in Sudan a few decades ago where Muslims committed genocide against the Animists of Sudan, or in Nigeria today where Muslims are committing ethnic cleansing of Nigerian Christians, or the never ending dispute between Muslims and the Hindus of Kashmir; it is clear Muslims do not fully embrace the good neighbor policy.
One of Islam’s core tenets is the belief that Muslims are superior to infidels and that infidels must be subjugated. Maybe we are over thinking this Middle East conflict and the whole thing boils down to these core Islamic tenets.
Kudos to you Kate. This line is salient: “We need Emory to be a place where Israel apartheid walls and Israel celebrations can exist simultaneously, where students are free to choose to attend one or both events, and from which they can leave having learned something they didn’t know before.” 100% agree.
As you can see below, Arafat takes exception to this by further promoting a hateful narrative that generalizes against minority groups like Arabs, Muslims and their faiths (Palestinians being both adherents of Islam and Christianity).
Arafat attacks in this way in order to promote a warped narrative of hate toward Muslims and Islam in particular which adds to the climate of fear and hate such that some nutjob can act on his hateful narrative to deal with this “threat”. It’s the equivalent of 1930s Germany rhetoric that generalizes and demonizes a people so that they are sufficiently devalued and dehumanized.
For a preview of what will follow:
1) Arafat will insult those who refute his narrative by invoking that they are “tards”, “liberals”, “apologists” and the like
2) Arafat will state his narrative as “fact” and all others as “opinion”
3) Arafat will randomly toss in derogatory remarks, quotes and snippits about Islam that show his level of understanding and interpretation is the same as extremists, which is to say, simply ignorant and invalid
4) Arafat will quote random historical figures who malign Muslims and Islam, as a “proof”, while failing to recognize many figures have said hateful things about people throughout history, including Jews, blacks, gays, Hispanics, Catholics, etc, etc
5) Arafat will dodge every discussion point by posting tangential responses
6) Arafat fails to adhere to honest dialogue and is an ideologue promoting a hateful narrative
7) Arafat will employ false equivalency and retreat after having sufficiently warped a Disqus threat to allow him to post his hate
8) Arafat will accuse opponents of the tactics he demonstrates repeatedly
You have a right to spout your bigotry and hypocrisy. We have a right to call you out on it.
#alllivesmatter
So Kate you believe it would be OK to create a wall advocating rape because Emory should be a place where both rapists and those who oppose rape can exist simultaneously?
After all this wall was a call to genocide against Jews and what you are saying is those who advocate the killing of millions of Jews in Israel should have an equal place in the Emory community.