With their actions from January’s “Die-In” protest already behind them, Cal State Long Beach’s Muslim Student Association is now bringing their attention to the spoken word.
MSA is hosting an event titled “Genocide in Gaza? No Longer A Blind Eye Toward Crimes Against Humanity” from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. today at the Friendship Walk. Students are welcome to hear about five to 10 student speakers raise their concerns through speech and poetry about recent attacks on Gaza due to its conflict with Israel.
Students are also welcome to read posters hanging from trees surrounding Friendship Walk depicting the casualties in Gaza. Other displays set up across the lawn include small, white flags totaling the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli attacks, whose strong military offensive has resulted in the “genocide” of Gaza, according to MSA.
“We’re not doing this as a political or religious event,” said junior Ibrahim Elaffas, who is in charge of MSA’s public relations. “This crisis just [happened] last month, so we’re doing these events to raise awareness.”
While most students were enjoying their winter breaks catching up with old friends or traveling, students from MSA were planning events such as the “Die-In” and “Genocide in Gaza?” to promote Palestinian-Israeli awareness that would last throughout the spring 2009 semester.
Ideas about informing students about Gaza have been in the works since winter break, but the actual “Genocide in Gaza?” event was put together within the past two weeks.
Other efforts to raise awareness include a petition that asks CSULB for support in stopping attacks in Gaza on women and children, and a collection envelope with proceeds going to Islamic Relief, a recognized charity that funds aid to Gaza.
Clubs that have supported MSA’s petition include Women’s Studies Student Association, the History Club and The Center for Peace and Social Justice.
Members of MSA have also volunteered to give presentations with the posters from the outdoor display from Friendship Walk while they are not in use. They also pass around the petition and donation envelope during this time.
“We’ve raised a lot of awareness and collected over 300 signatures to condemn Israel for its aggression towards civilians in Gaza,” said junior Noor Salem, a member of MSA.
More events are being planned for later in the semester, including Palestine-Awareness Week, which in the past has compiled a huge wall of pictures and quotes about the occupation of Palestine.
“[We just want people] to have more of an unbiased view of what’s going on in Palestine,” Salem said.
Beach Hillel, a Jewish organization at CSULB, is having its own event, a fundraiser for the Southern California Food Bank, tomorrow by the LA5 quad.
Beach Hillel’s fundraising event was not planned as a counter event to MSA, though, “many of our students who are about Israel will be present,” Bookstein said.
At MSA’s January event Beach Hillel was present handing out opposing leaflets.
“[MSA’s] events are pretty angry,” said Rachel Bookstein, the executive director for Beach Hillel. “[At their last event] they were swearing at Jewish students and non-Jewish students that they assumed were Jewish.”
However, she said the event will definitely have an effect of Beach Hillel.
Bookstein also said that two students, Kyla Gore and Ashley Austin, were upset by the MSA’s previous event and have responded by writing to the CSULB administration.
Tiffany Rider contributed to this article.
J,
No, Hillel doesn’t try to provoke the MSA. It’s the other way around. Remember, they’re the ones initiating these events on campus. They’re the ones demonizing Israel and lying about it at every opportunity. At the die-in, the MSA was calling for the complete destruction of the State of Israel and shouting ‘dirty Jews’ at the supporters of Israel there. THAT is what I call provocative. We don’t get in your faces. YOU get in our faces. During the die-in, I was calmly talking to someone on the anti-Israel side when about 6-8 people on the MSA side angrily surrounded me and got in my face to argue with me. You say that the MSA didn’t say anything until people on the other side “said something” to you. I find it too hard to believe that anyone on the pro-Israel side said anything so bad as to justify calling them ‘dirty Jews’.
And just like the Palestinians in Gaza, no one wants to attack the MSA. Hamas is not engaging in self-defense. If you’re supposedly under attack by a military then firing rockets at civilians nowhere near those military forces is clearly not defending anyone from anything.
“If a group of people have been persecuted for over 2000 years then they must be doing something wrong”- Henry Kissinger on Jews
The funniest thing I read is “superior values of the Jews.” Jews have been discriminated against since beginning of time but everyone religion and nation, not just muslim and arab nations. And it doesn’t mean you have to take it out on Palestinians. The holocaust was not done by muslims nor arabs so why are they taking it out on the Palestinians.
And no parent needs to tell their children that it’s the Israeli’s are doing this to them bc they experience it for themselves. When they walk out of their home to go to school and they get bullied by an Israeli soldier, they experience it for themselves. When they try to go to the market and get stopped by Isreali soliders, they experience it themselves. When they have to wait in line for hours to cross a border surrounded by israeli soldiers in the middle of their village, they experience it for themselves.
And dont get me started about International law because Israel gets to do whatever illegal acts they want and nobody says anything. Maybe a raised eyebrow or a slap on the hand but they go back to doing the same thing. You have to be blind to not recognize the illegal occupation and genocide taking place. Israel needs to be stopped and you “supporter of Israel”s need to stop believing their lies.
The funniest thing I read is “superior values of the Jews.” Jews have been discriminated against since beginning of time but everyone religion and nation, not just muslim and arab nations. And it doesn’t mean you have to take it out on Palestinians. The holocaust was not done by muslims nor arabs so why are they taking it out on the Palestinians.
And no parent needs to tell their children that it’s the Israeli’s are doing this to them bc they experience it for themselves. When they walk out of their home to go to school and they get bullied by an Israeli soldier, they experience it for themselves. When they try to go to the market and get stopped by Isreali soliders, they experience it themselves. When they have to wait in line for hours to cross a border surrounded by israeli soldiers in the middle of their village, they experience it for themselves.
And dont get me started about International law because Israel gets to do whatever illegal crap they want and nobody says anything. Maybe a raised eyebrow or a slap on the hand but they go back to doing the same thing. You have to be blind to not recognize the illegal occupation and genocide taking place. Israel needs to be stopped and you “supporter of Israel”s need to stop believing their lies.
hmmm, maybe the police didn’t do anything bc nothing was really going on. the beach hillel tries to provoke supporters of the events by taking pictures and video and they get in our faces when trying to debate. We will have civilized debates but as soon as you get in our faces and raise your voice, i refuse to debate and i walk away. And stop this BS that you were frightened bc nobody screamed at you. I dont know why you’re trying to play the mercy card bc if you dont like it, walk away. Nobody is forcing you to stand there. And thats why the comment someone wrote in somethign else saying “they picked us out of the crowd and labeled us as jews” is also BS bc they had signs saying “proud jew” and nobody said anything to them until they said something to us. And just like palestinians in GAZA, we are gonna DEFEND ourselves.
I went to the MSA’s last event that Rachel Bookstein referred to in the article. I’m not Jewish and two male Muslim students started screaming at me. I had no idea what their problem with me was, but it sure scared the hell out of me. I really thought they were going to physically attack me. Three campus police were standing around 50 feet away watching with their arms crossed. The whole experience was ridiculous and frightening. That a woman should be treated that way in public on our campus is absurd. I now walk the long way around anything put on by the MSA.
I attended the event and much of it sure sounded political and religious to me. It was far from being ‘unbiased’ Salem.
Let me get this straight. Israel ‘allowed’ Gaza to hold free elections. When Hamas won, Israel decided that Palestinian neighborhoods within Gaza should be dissected and separated, and that all Palestinians traveling within Gaza had to have special license plates to drive the main roads, something not required of Israelis. Israel decided Palestinians must carry and show upon demand different ID cards, made them stand in long lines to enter and exit Gaza. Am I right so far. This sounds like former South African apartheid to me, but with fewer blacks. It sounds more like a giant prison system than someplace I’d like to raise children.
Jaber,
First off, Israel DOES allow basic necessities into Gaza. Hamas simply lies when it says that Israel hasn’t. The “blockade” of Gaza is the prevention of non-necessary goods from entering Gaza. It’s known as retorsion and is allowed under international law. Palestinian families are killed because the suicide bombings necessitate IDF military operations against the groups carrying out the suicide bombings. Stop the suicide bombings and the rocket attacks and then Israel will the Palestinians alone. Suicide bombings don’t “defend” any Palestinians think about it. If a suicide bomber kills Israeli civilians, the Israeli pilots and their jets are still there to blow up the people responsible for the suicide bombing, possibly killing more Palestinians in the process.
Your name,
By stating that you understand the reason Palestinian suicide bombers blow themselves up, you certainly ARE supporting their decision. You certainly CAN blame suicide bombers for their choice. Having family killed or houses destroyed is not the cause of suicide bombings. The real cause of suicide bombings is the anti-Israel and anti-semitic propaganda that Palestinians are constantly bombarded with in their schools, mosques and newspapers and on their TV and radio.
The fact that Muslims have been murdering Jews for over a thousand years proves that occupation has nothing to do with suicide bombings. In the year 1066, Muslims in Spain killed 4000 Jews in Granada all in one day despite the fact that the Jews were not occupying or persecuting them in any way. During the Holocaust, a whole lot more Jews suffered far more than the Palestinians have yet NOT A SINGLE ONE carried out a suicide bombing against German civilians. Why is there a discrepancy between the response of Jews in the Holocaust and Palestinians against the Israel? The answer is the superior values of the Jews. If the Palestinians would stop teaching their children to hate Jews and improve their moral values all around then there would be no more suicide bombings or rocket attacks against Israeli civilians. Then occupation would end.
If Israel removed the blockade in Gaza, allowed basic necessities like food and water to enter, took down the walls, stopped killing people’s innocent families (including women and children), allowed Palestinians to go to school and work without being harassed, let them live lives without a constant fear THEN maybe there would be no need for a DESPERATION act of suicide bombings. Hammas may as well be an extremist but it seems to me that they are doing whatever they can to survive and defend their families and neighbors when NOBODY else is standing up for them.
although we do not support these people’s decisions to blow themselves up, we do understand why they feel like they must do this….when you have nothing left in your life…your family is killed, your house is in crumbles..what is your natural response?…revenge…you want revenge from the people who ruined your life….you cannot blame these people for their choice. If the Israelis would stop persucting the Palestinians, there would be no reason for suicide bombers to even exist. If the Israelis would take down the Wall, Palestinians could lead a normal life. Israelis need to stop their horrific actions in order for there to be peace.
student,
No, YOU need to get YOUR facts straight. Hamas are the terrorists here, not the Israelis. Hamas is firing rockets at Israeli civilians. Firing rockets at civilians doesn’t help defend anyone. Think about it. The Israelis are defending themselves by striking back at the Hamas rocket launchers terrorists and the terrorists firing the rockets.
get your facts staright and stop believing everything the media tells you….zionists are the terrorists here, not the muslims who are trying to defend themselves
“[We just want people] to have more of an unbiased view of what’s going on in Palestine,” Salem said.
Wow, this is the overstatement of the millenium. An “unbiased” view coming from the Muslim Student Association? Sure.
I find it utterly comical that the Muslim Student Association is protesting against the imagined genocide in Gaza as if it actually has a problem with innocent people being killed in the first place. Every semester, the MSA invites an imam named Amir Abdel Malik to campus to rant against Israel. The first time he came, I heard him not only praise the suicide bombers killing Jews in Israel but also the suicide bombers killing his fellow Muslims in Iraq. Consistency isn’t the MSA’s strong point.
Yes, in general war is a crime against humanity, and yes, innocent civilians always die in war. But the real crime against humanity in this latest battle is Hamas executing dozens of Palestinians in the streets because they had a very slight inclination that they may be Israeli sympathizers. Such a joke. Religion perpetuates war. People launch wars based on religious beliefs that they don’t even know in their heart are accurate. Stop yourself and ask “Are my religious beliefs about God accurate? Or, are the Christians, Buddhist, Jews, Muslims, Scientologists, Pagans…etc…right?” You really have no more reason than anyone else to believe you religion is accurate. All religious people rely on 100 % blind faith. It’s such a joke.
All I know is if Canada launched rockets in the US for years on end we would attack them, too. But then Canada wouldn’t elect a known terrorist organization into any level of power.
Being Muslim has nothing to do with it. If Palestinians were Buddhist, Israel still would have attacked them for the same defensive reason.