A Palestinian’s plea with the American University students

“I’m a proud Palestinian who grew up in the Shu’fat refugee camp in Jerusalem. I live in East Jerusalem with my family, and want nothing more in this world than to see my children inherit a just and peaceful world. That’s why seeing violent protestors purporting to speak in my name chanting on campuses or burning the American flag in protests across America over the last year made me very, very angry”, wrote Bassem Eid US News.

Bassem says that “the fools who chant the slogan “from the river to the sea,” a slogan which we Palestinians understand is a call for denying the right to exist of the world’s only Jewish state, aren’t just channeling the antisemitism of Hamas and Fatah, the two leading Palestinian political parties and movements. They’re also ignoring a much more basic fact: If you ask any of my Palestinian neighbors if they’d rather live under the corrupt Palestinian Authority or murderous Hamas or under Israeli sovereignty, an overwhelming majority of us would choose Israel”.

The Palestinian Authority significantly curbs freedom of speech and association, arrests and tortures political opponents, and fosters a culture of violence and disregard for human and civil rights. Under the Palestinian Authority, a shocking 59% of married women and girls are victims of domestic violence and abuse, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. Same-sex relationships are outlawed and met with brutal repression. None of those things is true in Israel, elaborates Bassem.

Bassem pertubs that “It’s impossible to overstate how detrimental and demoralizing it is for Palestinian civilians when American and European activists and politicians rally in support of Palestinian militant groups. It was Hamas that instigated the heinous and deadly attacks of last Oct. 7, and Hamas knew very well that their action would trigger retaliation by Israel that has led to the deaths of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinian civilians”.

Not that you’d know this if you consulted many of the American college students or faculty protesting on our behalf, or some U.S. politicians and political pundits. U.S. universities and advocacy groups that profess to be passionate about human rights should be denouncing Hamas, the terrorist group that oppresses us Palestinians and has perpetrated rapes, murders and kidnappings en masse.

Instead, earlier this year at many of the finest universities in the U.S., student protesters disrupted classes and commencements, intimidated peers and, at the University of Michigan, some even distributed a leaflet calling for “death to America.” Some groups who are encouraging the protests are anything but peace-minded; American Muslims for Palestine, the sponsor of Students for Justice in Palestine, is accused of funding Hamas and other terrorist organizations, according to years-long investigations by Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Bassem futher elaborates.

“If you want to truly support Palestinians, reject terrorists and help us elevate new leaders who will do the hard work toward real and sustainable peace”,  Bassem concluded.

Courtesy: US News