The Tides Are Changing in Palestine and Israel
May 11, 2010
Day Two of Israeli Apartheid Week at UC Irvine.
As I sit on the steps, marked by flagpoles, waiting for the seminar to begin, I notice a group of people parading with their props towards this event. I notice that they are carrying American and Israeli flags as well as a yellow flag with the type, "Don't Tread On Me," in black and a graphic drawing of a curled up rattlesnake on it. Some of these people are wearing white t-shirts with, "United Against Terror," printed on it. They are also carrying posters with the picture of the 9/11 disaster; and, on these posters, "Americans Will Never Forget," is typed on it. As they walk by the billboards demonstration set-up of the Israeli/Palestine wall, many of these people took lots of photographs. By now, there is a large crowd accumulated for this outdoor seminar. I watch this group moving along in the crowd, and I notice their posters. One poster has, "Stop Bringing Hate To Our Community." One nervous-looking woman turns to me and says, "This is all lies," and she continues to take some snapshots of the billboard props used for the demonstration. After a male student introduces the seminar topic and reads a short scripture about Prophet Abraham, a man with the hostile group yells out, "Kiss my ass," toward the podium.
The guest speaker, Dr. Norman Finkelstein, is introduced to the audience before he walks up to the podium. He has a PHD from Princeton University. The hostile group booed him as he stood at the podium, getting ready to speak at the seminar.
He speaks about how to end the Palestine/Israel conflict in order to live in a peaceful and productive life there. He mentions the international law as well as there are four issues for peace. These issues have to do with Borders, Settlements, Refugees, and East Jerusalem, and they tend to be complicated. The first step is to decide on the legal status of the settlement, to whom East Jerusalem belongs to, and on negotiable ways to resolve the question of how to help the many Palestinians who were driven out from their homes.
Furthermore, the World Court or International Court of Justice discussed the legal status of the wall that Israel put up, which includes the location of the wall as well as if the settlements were legal or not. Since the borders cannot be changed by force, all of the judges agreed that Israel's position is not legal, or even credible.
During Question and Answer session at the end of the seminar, some people with the hostile group asked questions about terrorism. Dr. Finkelstein talks about the Israeli soldiers dumping white phosphorus all over populated areas in Gaza, and this substance can reach up to 1500 degrees Fahrenheit. These soldiers regarded their work as similar to children's games, like playing "Playstation" or using a "magnifying glass to burn ants."