Throughout Palestine Awareness Week, which starts Tuesday, several student groups will educate the UCLA community about the conflict occurring in Palestine and how it affects all ethnic groups.
The long-running territorial dispute between Arabs and Israelis over Palestine resulted in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, which followed the creation of the state of Israel.
More than 500 Palestinian villages and towns were destroyed in the conflict, and thousands of Palestinians became refugees, said Bayan Abu-Sneineh, one of the main coordinators of the event.
Today, many Palestinians cannot see their families because borders divide them, and they suffer daily humiliation from patrolling soldiers, said Ursula Barghouth, one of the leaders for Students For Justice in Palestine. She added that their homes are also still victims of destruction, and many Christians, Jews and Muslims are dying.
“This is not an issue for particular race or religion. This is not Muslims against Jews or Arabs against Israelis,” said Hana Khan, a member of the Muslim Student Association. “This is a crime against humanity. It’s a humanitarian crisis, and we shouldn’t let it divide us.”
Publicizing that this is a humanitarian crisis affecting everyone influenced the planning and involvement of this year’s week, as many diverse ethnic and religious groups, such as the Muslim Student Association and the United Arab Society are also helping out.
With heavy fighting occurring in the Gaza Strip as recently as 2009, all the groups are strongly motivated to bring awareness to UCLA students from the Palestinian perspective, said Hamzah Baig, member of Students For Justice In Palestine.
“In America, if you look at CNN or Fox News, they don’t show what the Middle East news would show,” Abu-Sneineh said. “They don’t exactly show the Palestinian side, they’re not going to show people being held at gunpoint at checkpoints.”
The event this year is structured so students can learn more about the conflict and understand what they can do specifically to get involved and help.
Early in the week, during the day, student groups will perform skits depicting true stories from people who live in Palestine who have suffered in the crisis. There will also be night events where speakers will further discuss the humanitarian issue and what can be done about it.
Some of the prime speakers will discuss if the situation in Palestine parallels South African apartheid. There will also be a showing of an award-winning film hosted by the United Arab Society about the struggle that immigrant Palestinian families face in America.
The concluding event of the week on Thursday is a solidarity march across campus, where various student organizations will explain what the Palestinian struggle means to them and how other students can help.
“A lot of people do not know the facts about what’s happening in Palestine, and this is a way to educate them about what’s really going on,” Barghouth said. “We want people to know that there is something that can be done; we just need more support in order to get this done.”
The students involved this year also want other students to walk away from the event learning that there are student groups, professors, written research and outside events at UCLA that can help them to further understand this issue and explain how they can become involved.
“Once you get the awareness out, we have a lot of resources available at UCLA because it’s a research university,” Khan said. “We want to stimulate people to learn about this conflict and hopefully stand in solidarity with these oppressed people.”