The kind of celebration for Israel Independence Day that
happened Monday in Bruin Plaza probably would not have happened six
years ago.
Before the second intifada began in September 2000, the
celebration of Israel Independence Day was an event run primarily
through Hillel. In 1998, for the 50th anniversary of the state of
Israel, students listened to speeches, sang and lit candles to
celebrate. The ceremony closed with a prayer for peace. There were
no protesters.
The second intifada changed things. Now, Israel Independence Day
has become a week of events celebrating Israeli history, culture
and politics. It is sponsored by a coalition of student groups and
the Israel Consulate General in Los Angeles. Students come decked
in the blue and white of Israeli flags. With the exception of this
year, pro-Palestinian demonstrators have shown up every year.
Just as the second intifada reshaped the social and political
landscape of Israel-Palestine, so did it reshape the way Israel is
presented on campus. During Israel Independence Week, when students
are reminded of the existence of Israel, the presentation is most
visible.
Megan Michaels, the 2000-2001 president of Bruins for Israel,
said that after the second intifada, Israel Independence Day
“took on a greater significance.” Before the second
intifada, she said, it was “smaller … very celebratory and
not political.”
Organizers say the events for Israel Independence Day have
always celebrated Israel divorced from politics, on par with the
United States’ Fourth of July. And many Jews and Muslims say
the overall importance of the day has not changed since the second
intifada.
But the presentation and nuances of the celebration of Israeli
independence ““ which for some will always have political
implications ““ have changed.
“Before the intifada, there was basically nothing,”
said Justin Levi, director of media relations for the Israel
Consulate General and former president of the Jewish Student
Union.
“¢bull; “¢bull; “¢bull;
The cause of the second intifada has been disputed. Palestinians
say it was a spontaneous demonstration against then-Israeli
opposition leader Ariel Sharon’s Sept. 28, 2000 visit to the
Temple Mount in Jerusalem, a holy site to both Jews and
Muslims.
Many Israelis dispute that claim, saying intelligence reports
have indicated the uprising was in the works for years.
A combination of factors, including the breakdown of peace talks
at Camp David in the summer of 2000 and Palestinian frustration
over the stalled Oslo Accords, helped propel the second intifada
along.
Over the last three-and-a-half years, it has claimed over 870
Israeli and 2,880 Palestinian lives, according to the Middle East
Policy Council. It has influenced politics in a volatile Middle
Eastern region and sparked tensions between Jews and Muslims around
the world.
The second intifada had an immediate impact at UCLA. Muslim
students began wearing green armbands to show their solidarity with
the Palestinians. On Oct. 25, 2000, students held a teach-in at
Meyerhoff Park against Israeli oppression of Palestinians as part
of a “National Day of Outrage.”
Israel Independence Day has usually been a contentious day for
Jewish and Muslim students, and the celebratory rally has been
marked by protests in the past.
But the second intifada changed the way Israel Independence Day
was celebrated. In the same year the second intifada began,
organizers decided to expand celebrations to cover the entire week
with events and presentations. The Israel Consulate General began
providing material for Israel Independence Day. Bruins for Israel,
now the largest pro-Israel group on campus, was also formed that
year.
Maya Zutler, the first president and one of the founders of
Bruins for Israel, said the creation of the group and the decision
to expand Israel Independence Day celebrations was not directly
correlated with the beginning of the second intifada.
Zutler said the decision came about because of concern over the
perceived rise in anti-Zionist ““ some said anti-Semitic
““ presentations, pamphlets, opinion articles and speakers on
campus as a result of the second intifada.
“We felt there was a need for concern that people were
getting only one side of the story,” Zutler said.
Anti-Israel sentiments existed before the second intifada, but
Israel advocacy groups noted a spike in such sentiments after
September 2000 and the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001,
especially in California, said Wayne Firestone, director of the
Israel on Campus Coalition. They included a Berkeley conference
that urged divestment from Israel and the distribution of
inflammatory anti-Israel flyers at San Francisco State
University.
“There was an intifada on campus,” said Ross
Neihaus, the current president of Bruins for Israel.
“There was a war launched against us in the Middle East
and on campus, and we really had to defend ourselves.”
At UCLA in spring 2001, the Undergraduate Students Association
Council voted 10-0 not to consider a resolution that condemned the
Israeli government’s violation of Palestinians’ human
rights.
The resolution, sponsored by the Muslim Student Association,
also requested that USAC “condemn political Zionism as a form
of racism and racial discrimination.” During the meeting, 80
students, most of whom were Jewish, Muslim or Arab, crowded the
room to watch a confrontation emblematic of the newly flared
tensions on campus.
These sorts of occurrences contributed to the surge in Israel
Independence Day activities and pride for Israel, similar to the
way support for Israel in the United States surged during the wars
in Israel in 1967 and 1973.
But some see a darker side to the increase in Israel
advocacy.
Ghaith Mahmood, the 2000-2001 president of the Muslim Student
Association, said he felt Israel Independence Day celebrations
became “ultra-patriotic” after the second intifada
began, “to the point where it was almost silly to say
“˜our state has no problems.'”
“We’re seeing a lot more of that,
unfortunately,” he said.
Mohammad Mertaban, the 2002-2003 Muslim Student Association
president who participated in silent protests during Israel
Independence Day, said he questions the motives of groups who
vocally celebrate Israel in today’s political climate, even
when dissenters show up to protest.
“Especially when they see us out there, they make it a
point to emphatically celebrate,” he said.
“It became more: “˜We’re doing this in spite of
you,'” he said.
Mahmood helped organize pro-Palestine protests for Israel
Independence Day and assisted with the draft of the USAC
resolution. He echoes the sentiment expressed by Muslims and
Palestine supporters for 56 years.
“You cannot celebrate the independence of Israel without
acknowledging the injustice and brutality exercised against the
Palestinian people,” he said.
The intense advocacy of Israel Independence Week, coupled with
weeks like Palestine Awareness Week two weeks ago, has further
polarized the two sides of the Israel-Palestine conflict and
diminished the prospect of formal dialogue.
“The intifada has done nothing to advance the cause of
Jewish-Muslim dialogue,” said David Myers, a professor of
Jewish history. “It has really entrenched the mainstream of
both communities behind battle lines, behind very tall
psychological walls.”
The now-diminished prospects of dialogue are a change from the
times of the Oslo Peace Accords, when a peaceful solution to the
Israel-Palestine conflict seemed within reach and Jewish and Muslim
communities were more open with one another.
“That paradigm of dialogue and conversation has been
replaced by advocacy and a paradigm based more on perceived
hostility,” Myers said.
“¢bull; “¢bull; “¢bull;
What happens on campus about the Israel-Palestine conflict is
inextricably linked to events in the Middle East. Current Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is working on a “unilateral
disengagement” plan, which would essentially extract Israel
from Palestinian affairs. How that will be reflected on campus
remains to be seen.
Some believe the tensions of the second intifada have bled off,
leaving the two sides tired and looking for peace, which this
year’s theme for Israel Independence Week, “Show the
Love,” is meant to reflect. Others are not so sure.
Monday’s event in Bruin Plaza marked the fourth year
Israel Independence Day has been celebrated on campus since the
second intifada began. For one day, many members of the Jewish
community set aside their differences to celebrate that they have a
nation. Israeli flags swirled and spun in the square as people
danced before a stage adorned in blue and white.
On the outskirts, a knot of people wearing Palestinian colors
stood, arms crossed, and watched the celebrations in silence.