top
Palestine
Palestine
Indybay
Indybay
Indybay
Regions
Indybay Regions North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area California United States International Americas Haiti Iraq Palestine Afghanistan
Topics
Newswire
Features
From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature

UC Santa Cruz Students Rally to Oppose Israeli Violence Against Gaza

by Alex Darocy
On November 27, approximately 75 UC Santa Cruz students attended a rally held at Quarry Plaza to speak out against the recent violence against Palestinians in Gaza by the state of Israel. Students described the recent attacks as an, "overwhelmingly one-sided aggression on the part of the Israeli state, supported centrally by the U.S. government, and part of a long, continuing history of Israel's oppression of Palestine."
gaza-rally-uc-santa-cruz-november-27-2012-1.jpg
Israel's recent aggression, which occurred over a seven day period, ended with the deaths of 5 Israelis and more than 140 Palestinians, with at least 26 children and more than 70 civilians among the Palestinian dead. Students pointed out that this reality is far from the picture that major U.S. media outlets present as, "a back-and-forth conflict between two comparable sides." Students opposed President Obama's declaration that Israel is exercising its, "right to defend itself," as well as the massive financial and military expenditures by the United States that enable Israel.

Two major points students hoped to communicate at the rally were that the treatment of Palestinians by the state of Israel is comparable to the conditions of those under other apartheid systems of rule, and that the largest refugee population in the world is currently comprised of Palestinians, with 1.1 million of the total 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza considered refugees.

Sara Smith, a former graduate student who is currently a TA at UCSC for a class on the Civil Rights movement, spoke at the rally, declaring, "I am Jewish and I stand with the people of Palestine. I am also a queer Jew...and I stand with the queer people of Palestine."

Smith asserted that as a Jew, it was almost her personal responsibility to defend the Palestinian people in their current struggles. "As Jews, we should stand with Palestinians as they resist the occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip," she said.

"As Jews our history should have taught us to stand with Palestinians as they resist a system of Israel apartheid, a system reminiscent in very clear and very concrete ways of South African apartheid, a system reminiscent of Jim Crow segregation in our own country."

Smith pointed out that as a Jew, she could visit Israel at any time she wanted to and claim citizenship, even though she has never been there before. "Because I was born Jewish, the Israeli state has given me the so called right of return.....Palestinian refugees have no such right."

Smith detailed how Palestinian refugees expelled from their lands in 1948 and 1967 currently make up the largest refugee population in the world, and that many are still living in poverty in refugee camps. She described Jewish settlers as "good colonizers" as they have settled on some of the best land, and have claimed access to water and other vital resources. She noted the giant wall that the state of Israel is building around the West Bank, and discussed how check points exist on segregated Jewish and Palestinian only roads, which has the effect of cutting off Palestinians from medical services. Overall, she said, Arabs have rights in only 35% of the West Bank.

"So Jews have obviously have had, historically, the right to resist anti-Semitism, but not at the expense of other people, not on the backs of Palestinians."

Smith concluded her remarks by stating that, "It is Our responsibility as Jews to take inspiration from our own history of resisting discrimination to stand with the people of Palestine as they resist occupation and apartheid. As Jews in the U.S. we must not be blinded by the lies of our own government, by an allegiance to a Jewish state that was founded on the backs on another people."

The rally began with the acknowledgement that the land that it was being held on was occupied Ohlone land, and the event was described as having been organized by a "group of concerned students," with involvement by the UCSC student organization Students against U.S. Imperialism.

Approximately 6-12 students expressing support for the state of Israel also were present at the rally. They stood quietly at the periphery of the event, and several of them held signs with messages such as, "Israel Left Gaza in 2005," "Peace Takes Two," and "We're Ready to Talk Anytime."

The Palestinian supporters did not appear to communicate with those supporting Israel during the rally, though there was at least one brief and heated argument between several students before the rally began.


Alex Darocy
http://alexdarocy.blogspot.com/
§Sara Smith Speaks at Rally
by Alex Darocy
Copy the code below to embed this movie into a web page:
To view this video on youtube, see:
http://youtu.be/lxILSGAJ15E
§
by Alex Darocy
gaza-rally-uc-santa-cruz-november-27-2012-3.jpg
§
by Alex Darocy
gaza-rally-uc-santa-cruz-november-27-2012-4.jpg
§Palestinian Loss of Land 1946-2009
by Alex Darocy
palestinian-loss-of-land-gaza-rally-uc-santa-cruz-november-27-2012-5.jpg
§
by Alex Darocy
gaza-rally-uc-santa-cruz-november-27-2012-6.jpg
§
by Alex Darocy
gaza-rally-uc-santa-cruz-november-27-2012-7.jpg
§Solidarity with Gaza
by Alex Darocy
gaza-rally-uc-santa-cruz-november-27-2012-8.jpg
§Santa Cruz Says NO! to Israeli Occupation
by Alex Darocy
gaza-rally-uc-santa-cruz-november-27-2012-9.jpg
§Weaponry
by Alex Darocy
gaza-rally-uc-santa-cruz-november-27-2012-10.jpg
§Quarry Plaza, UC Santa Cruz
by Alex Darocy
gaza-rally-uc-santa-cruz-quarry-plaza-november-27-2012-11.jpg
Add Your Comments

Comments (Hide Comments)
by Observer
One sided? Did they miss the part about the hundreds of rockets fired from Gaza both before and during the conflict? That Israel is able to shoot down most of them does not place any less responsibility on Hamas for firing them.
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!

Donate

$110.00 donated
in the past month

Get Involved

If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.

Publish

Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.

IMC Network