The Problem with Israeli Apartheid Week

Having come across a recent article in The Boar in support of Israeli Apartheid Week, I felt compelled to write a response. Having visited Israel and the West Bank, I have seen with my own eyes that the conflation of the situation in Israel and the Palestinian Territories with apartheid is entirely false. It also has a profoundly negative effect on campus.

My opposition to IAW does not reflect a lack of sympathy for the suffering of Palestinians, though it is important to remember that trauma takes place on both sides of the conflict. Take the West Bank barrier for example. It was constructed as a response to the Second Intifada, in which over 1000 Israelis lost their lives due to terrorist attacks between 2000 and 2005. Since the construction of this barrier, the number of terror attacks against Israeli civilians has dropped by over 90 per cent – and it has also reduced Palestinian fatalities dramatically. Of course, it is undoubtedly problematic in its restricting of Palestinian civilians’ movement. However, in refusing to acknowledge the full functions of the security barrier, Israeli Apartheid Week presents a one-sided and intellectually simplistic narrative. Any balanced representation of the conflict should recognise that there are multiple narratives, each of which deserves a voice.

Through portraying the conflict in this way, Israeli Apartheid Week closes down dialogue, the only means by which we can end the conflict. It is aligned with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement, which advocates a total boycott of Israel, including its world-leading universities. Its staunchest supporters (including As’ad Abu Khalil and Ahmed Moor) have publicly stated that, ‘BDS does mean the end of the Jewish state.’ Any organisation which seeks to delegitimise the very existence of a sovereign state should not be promoted on campus.

As well as doing nothing to support peace, Israel Apartheid Week actively stigmatises Jewish students for whom Israel is a key component of their identity. True, not all Jews are Zionists. But for those that are – and I would not hesitate to say that this applies to the majority – Israel Apartheid Week makes those students feel ostracised on their own campus. It creates an atmosphere of division, resentment and, in extreme cases, hate. No minority should be made to feel unwelcome on campus. Israel Apartheid Week does exactly that.

My argument is not that you need to support Israeli government policy, nor that the Palestinian cause is an undeserving one. Rather, I argue that, as a student body, we should seek to oppose any movement which stigmatises a section of our community, does nothing to promote peace and completely ignores the reality and legitimacy of multiple narratives which equally deserve our consideration.