Israeli Apartheid Week poster defaced with pro-Israel and pro-Palestine graffiti

These past few days erupted controversy in response to the Israeli-Apartheid Week bulletin installed by the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) in the ICC building. Commemorated by over 55 universities in over 19 countries each year, the Israeli-Apartheid Week is a series of events, lectures, and rallies that draw light upon Israeli-Palestinian clashes inflicted by the Israeli West Bank barrier. Typically, these events claim to raise awareness for Palestinians by protesting the injustices thrust upon Arabs in Palestine, and brainstorming possible solutions that could serve as an end to the physical and psychological occupation of Palestinian children, women and men. In previous years, the response to such events at Georgetown has been equally fierce and polarized.

Despite that, SJP has continued to hold such events in hope “to frame the modern Israeli state, the Zionist project, the Palestinian experience, all of it, in the context of the different structural controls that have existed since the opening of the century, and I think it helps people understand where Palestinians are coming from.” (Leila Shebaro, SJP President (SFS’15). In 2015, the Israeli Apartheid event list at Georgetown included “a Monday screening of “Roadmap to Apartheid,” a documentary film produced by a Jewish Israeli and a white South African. Students participated in a protest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Tuesday speech to the United States Congress. Wednesday featured a screening of “The Promise,” a film series that compares current Israel to 1940s Palestine.”

This year, though, the SJP has installed a bulletin board in the ICC building, facing the SFS dean offices to symbolize apartheid. On the board were pinned headlines of articles, short articles, awareness flyers, Palestinian death tolls, statistics, facts, quotations, the Palestinian flag, symbols of peace, and Arabic phrases (which translate to “freedom” “peace” and “freedom for Palestine”). As a response to these pinnings, many scribbled over the article headlines, allegedly corrected some of the statements, and drew the star of David over phrases like “men + women for others” as a means to freedom of expression.

Some of the commentaries were so fierce that they carried out as conversations on the bulletin between supporters of either party. For instance, as the photos reveal, someone has written, “Palestinians are trained to hate Israelis from birth. They are adept at playing the “victim” narrative.” In response to that, another person wrote, “and Israeli teenagers are trained to kill Palestinian children. Go to Gaza!”  Other criticism included the editing of original posts on the bulletin. For example, “Congress, stop subsidizing oppression” became, “UN, stop subsidizing Palestinian oppression of their own people.” One person (who does not clarify which party they identify with) recited the following quote written by author Lakesha Ruise: “If the TRUTH offends you, you are probably on the wrong side of it.”

Not only did this bulletin cause quite the scene in actuality, it also stirred conflict on social media. Those opposing the apartheid week are posting an official Georgetown Israel Alliance flyer that says, “I stand with Israel.” Others in support of the movement are posting photos of the bulletin and reflective videos. Some of them, as a symbol of solidarity, are wearing the Kuffiyah to school; a scarf particular to Palestinian culture.

GIA board member Eli Pollock (SFS’19) told The Tab: “We want to work with SJP but they have a policy against working with us so it isn’t possible. We’ve reached out to SJP this year to work together, and were rejected. It is important to highlight that we are willing to work with SJP but they are unwilling to work with us.”

SJP also responded. In a statement Vice President Omar Kanjwal (SFS’17) told The Tab: “The Georgetown SJP adheres to a policy to not cosponsor events with GIA and J Street because of our firm belief that these two organizations actively contribute to the legitimization of apartheid and occupation. Were we to work with these two groups, this would be a direct violation of calls on Palestinian youth and youth across the globe in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle to bring about a new approach to the decades long conflict. Dialogue is most constructive when the guise of equality is lifted, and when one side has a monopoly on power in the situation then dialogue that doesn’t explicitly address the roots and drivers of injustice only serves to further strengthen their stance. This conflict is one of a colonizing power versus a colonized people, and groups that fail to recognize this modern day colonialism unfortunately, often times unintentionally, advance it.”

Normally, people react differently to Israeli Apartheid Week events as some choose to remain silent. However, it does seem that this year, people are finding it difficult to simply “walk by.”