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Israel on Campus event draws protesters
February 2, 2012
By
Julian Uzielli
A cultural event in the University Community Centre atrium organized by Israel on Campus was interrupted yesterday by a protest condemning Israel.
At 1:30 p.m., a group of approximately 25 people with their mouths covered by duct tape and carried signs into the atrium and stood silently in front of the IOC display, facing the gathering crowd of onlookers. Their signs carried pro-Palestinian slogans such as “Occupy Wall Street, not Palestine” and “You can’t sugar coat apartheid.”
No campus club took credit for organizing the protest, though members of Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights and the Occupy London movement took part.
Soon after the protest began, a group of IOC supporters stood in front of the protestors, waving Israeli flags and singing the Israeli national anthem in Hebrew.
The demonstration lasted for about 45 minutes before the group marched silently through the UCC food court and then dispersed. Though tempers flared on both sides, the protest remained peaceful.
Walid Abudaia, a fourth-year accounting student who took part in the protest, explained the aim of the demonstration was to show “the true face of Israel.”
“The true face of Israel is apartheid. The true face of Israel is occupation,” he said.
Members of IOC denied the claim and said they would not be deterred. “We will continue to be proud supporters of Israel, and proud Western students,” Sara Gurza, president of IOC, said.
Because the protest occurred in the public space of the UCC atrium, it technically was not breaking any rules, Andrew Forgione, president of the University Students’ Council, explained. However, he was frustrated the protestors had not given advance notice to the USC, as the IOC organizers had.
“They can have an entire day in the atrium if they want to protest—we’ll give it to them. It’s just disrespectful to do it on the exact same day that Israel on Campus does it, or any other group does it. And I think that’s a pretty common feeling among all groups on campus.”
Many IOC supporters expressed disappointment the protestors had covered their mouths, viewing the act as a sign that the protestors did not want to talk.
“We would love to engage them in conversation and see what their views are, talk. This is what the peace process is all about—talking,” Aubrey Chapnick, a third-year business student and an organizer of the IOC event, said. “By taping up their mouths, they’re telling us they don’t want to talk. That’s counterproductive.”
Sumbal Sabah, who was moved to participate in the protest after visiting Gaza last summer, explained the lack of dialogue was part of the message. “They say they believe in dialogue, and yet they forgot to include the fact that they occupy Palestinian indigenous land,” she said. “Dialogue can’t happen if they can’t acknowledge the apartheid wall that rips through villages.”
But Jordan Magidson, vice-president campus affairs for IOC, said dialogue was the only way forward. “If you don’t have a dialogue, where’s progress? We want progress on both sides, and I truly believe that the only way to achieve that is through dialogue. There is no other way,” he said.
“The negotiations are going to be left between the politicians in Israel and Palestine to work out solutions. But I think if we can work together and deliver a message that we want peace, we want real peace, that’s something positive.”
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Julian is a News Editor and is currently in his third year of an Honours Specialization in Media, Information and Technoculture. Twitter: @JulianAtGazette 
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