Starting today, Students for Justice in Palestine will be hosting a weeklong series of events aimed at bringing human rights issues concerning many Palestinians to the forefront.
The event, titled Live Free: Palestine Awareness Week, includes a culture day, charity banquet and discussion of political issues such as education and what Randa Wabhe, copresident of Students for Justice in Palestine, called “apartheid” issues.
Wabhe said these events are aimed at demonstrating that Palestinians in the Middle East are living without basic rights and freedoms.
Norah Sarsour, an initiated access coordinator for the Muslim Student Association, said she hopes the event will help students understand the daily challenges of Palestinian life.
“A lot of people aren’t offered the opportunity to understand what’s going on and hear the perspectives of the Palestinian people. We want to offer that voice to the Palestinian people and give people the perspective that’s been lacking in the (United States),” Sarsour said.
Live Free: Palestine Awareness Week will include a cultural day in Bruin Plaza today, complete with traditional Palestinian food, dancing and art.
On Tuesday, members of Students for Justice in Palestine will hold an event where they will discuss their perspective on the creation and effect of Israel’s security fence, which surrounds Israeli territory in an attempt to protect the country against terrorist attacks.
And on Wednesday, the group plans to take a critical look at the existing Palestinian education system.
Sarsour said she believes focusing on Palestinian culture and daily life is essential and will ensure that questions of human rights do not become overly politicized.
“Without emphasizing culture, Palestinians become dehumanized and it just becomes a political conversation. We’re trying to put a human space (to it),” Sarsour said.
Both Wahbe and Sarsour said they hope the event will help students recognize the importance of freedom in the Middle East.
Though Wahbe said that Live Free: Palestine Awareness Week is not meant to cast pro-Israel groups in a negative light, Leeron Morad, president of Bruins for Israel, said he believes the week’s events are not concentrated on finding a peaceful solution to existing conflicts.
“We believe in the right of Jews to live in a free and secure Israel and in the rights of Palestinians to live in a free and secure Palestine,” Morad said.
“This week of events put on by Students for Justice in Palestine does not contribute to the solution. To the contrary, this week which they call “˜live free’ is a manipulative way … to reach out and demonize the state of Israel.”
Morad said he is particularly concerned with Tuesday’s event, which will be a discussion of the separation fence.
Mislabeling the fence as an “apartheid wall” and failing to recognize the decrease in suicide bombings as a result of the structure is a sign that organizers of the event are only looking to cast Israel in a negative light, Morad said.
“They call Israel an apartheid state ““ how is that not attacking Israel? That’s ridiculous,” he said.
Though some students are concerned that Live Free: Palestine Awareness Week will not help find a solution to the violence in the Middle East, Sarsour said the event is about helping UCLA students realize that the everyday freedoms they take for granted are not universal.
“The reason the week is entitled “˜Live Free’ is that Palestinians don’t have the essential attributes that constitute a free life,” Sarsour said.
“We’re trying to point out that there are certain things obstructing their ability to live free.”