University of Michigan
Students show support for Palestine
By Jane
Cutter
Ann Arbor, Mich.
Braving a snowstorm, 200 University of Michigan students
came out Dec. 7 to hear an eyewitness report on the uprising in
Palestine. International Action Center Co-director Sara
Flounders spoke to a packed auditorium on campus. She described
the IAC's recent fact-finding and humanitarian delegation to
the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
At the scheduled start of the meeting, the auditorium was
still occupied by a class taking an exam. Students waited in
the hall for half an hour for the meeting on Palestine to
start. No one complained; instead a mood of enthusiasm seemed
to build.
The meeting was sponsored by several groups, including the
campus chapter of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination
Committee, the Muslim Students Association, the Palestine
Committee, Arab Students Association, the Ambetana
multicultural student group and the IAC.
Nadim Hallal of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination
Committee chaired the meeting. While organizing the event,
Hallal said, he went to the executive board meetings of other
student organizations, especially groups representing students
of color. He made presentations about the struggle in Palestine
and invited students to attend the event.
Hallal's efforts clearly paid off. The audience was very
diverse: about half were Arab or Muslim students. The rest were
Black, Latino, Asian and white.
Israelis singled out
Palestinian delegate
Flounders emphasized the racist character of the Israeli
state. She shared an anecdote about how Randa Jamal, the one
Palestinian-American member of the delegation, was singled out
for harassment by Israeli security forces at Tel Aviv's
Ben-Gurion Airport while the white delegates were waved
through.
Flounders placed the new Intifada, or uprising, of the
Palestinian people in the context of the regional struggle
against imperialism. She emphasized that the U.S. rulers seek
to dominate the region militarily to maintain control of Middle
East oil profits. "The last thing the U.S. wants is peace," she
said.
A lively question-and-answer period followed. Many questions
focused on how best to build support for the Palestinian
people. One audience member, a Jewish man, compared the
struggle of the Palestinians to the struggle against apartheid
in South Africa. He called for a campaign to divest the
university from companies doing business with Israel.
One person suggested that the IAC demand that Palestinian
Authority President Yasser Arafat declare an independent
Palestinian state. Flounders replied that the IAC would
wholeheartedly support such a declaration. However, she pointed
out, it would be arrogant for activists in the U.S. to dictate
to the Palestinian people how to conduct their own
struggle.
Flounders also spent several days in the Detroit area, home
to the largest Arab community in the United States. She was
interviewed by WNZK's "Radio Salaam" and WAAM's "John Bacon
Show."
On Dec. 9 Flounders spoke in Dearborn at an event
co-sponsored by the Palestinian Right of Return Coalition
(Al-Awda), the Michigan Committee for Justice in Jerusalem and
the IAC. The Michigan Daily, Michigan Citizen and Arab American
Journal carried reports on the meeting.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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