Partner for peace

This week the members of the Columbia Palestine Forum actively protested the celebration of Israel Independence Day, or Yom Ha’atzmaut, by initiating a series of events and activities centered on observing what many in the Arab world call “Nakba,” or the “catastrophe” associated with the establishment of the State of Israel. All groups and organizations enjoy the right to hold protests, demonstrate ideas, and express opinions. But to initiate a reactive campaign based on demonizing one side is simply unproductive and enormously offensive. Instead of focusing mainly on celebrating Palestinian identity or culture, the central objective of “Nakba” is to undermine the legitimacy of the Jewish state and assault Israel’s right to exist. The Columbia community has little to learn—either about the Israeli-Arab conflict or about the Palestinian people themselves—from this polarizing and non-constructive display.

The Columbia Palestine Forum had the unique opportunity, along with its co-sponsors of this week’s events, to promote an environment for open discussion on how best to assist the Palestinian people, especially in the pursuit of peace. Yet they have instead made their events a stage for anti-Israel rhetoric and even more aggressive calls for divestment from Israel. Israel was born out of war, out of battle between a small number of Jewish immigrants and five full Arab armies. Only by defeating those armies did the State of Israel achieve its freedom and independence, and afterwards began the process of achieving peace. In choosing Israel’s Independence Day for their campaign, the forum has sent the message to Columbia students that nothing exists in the Middle East besides war, and that Israelis and Palestinians have no identity free from this conflict. It is hardly a coincidence, then, that the forum does not call for a peaceful resolution based on mutual respect or even dialogue between the two sides. Nowhere does the Columbia Palestine Forum condemn the terrorist actions of Hamas, which indiscriminately kills both Israeli and Palestinian civilians daily. The group does not mention, even remotely, the past attempts by Israel to reach a peace accord with the Palestinians. They simply aren’t interested in toleration.

The Israeli government, since its inception in 1948, has worked time and again to seek a peaceful solution to the conflict in the Middle East. Every single war that Israel has ever fought has been purely out of its sole desire to survive. In 1967, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon all engaged Israel in an effort to reconcile their failure to destroy the Jewish state in 1948. In 1973 on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year, Egypt and Syria attacked Israel in defiance of a set ceasefire. In 1979, after three deadly wars, Egypt and Israel were able to make peace. In 1994, after almost a half century of fighting, Jordan and Israel made peace. In order to reach consensus and come to an agreement to end the vicious cycle of war, Israel needs strong, willing partners for peace. Israel found those partners in Anwar Sadat of Egypt and King Hussein of Jordan. In 2000, Yasser Arafat, the leader of the Palestinian Authority, was given that same opportunity to be a partner for peace and rejected it. Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan stated afterwards that what Arafat had done was a crime against the Palestinian people.

What the Columbia Palestine Forum is doing is perpetuating that same injustice of the people it is trying to represent and support. The organization maintains the status quo and disregards an extraordinary opportunity to engage in civilized discussion, choosing in its place isolation and bitterness. We pray for the day when Israelis and Palestinians can all share in the festivities and celebrations of both Yom Ha’atzmaut and a Palestinian Independence Day. But when campus groups such as the Columbia Palestine Forum propagate a campaign of negativity and one-sidedness, it paints an unjust picture of Israelis and Palestinians, and it performs no service for the Columbia community. Hopefully in the future, the Columbia Palestine Forum will present a more valuable and accurate portrayal of the Middle East.

The author is a Columbia School of General Studies and List College first-year. He is the Director of Public Relations for LionPAC.