Tayseer Nazmi And The OM With Jameel Salhoot: Denounced Amira Hass' Ejection
عمان وسكرامنتو: استنكر مؤسس حركة إبداع بشدة واقعة طرد الصحفية اليسارية الإسرائيلية المناهضة للإحتلال عميرة هاس من جامعة بير زيت الفلسطينية يوم أمس وبالمثل أصدر المكتب التنفيذي للحركة في سكرامنتو بكاليفورنيا بيانا شديد اللهجة أدان به الغباء الفلسطيني وعدم معرفة الطلاب والأكاديميين في الضفة لتاريخ هذه المناضلة المشرف في الدفاع عن الحقوق الفلسطينية ومناهضة الإحتلال. وفيما يلي مقالة الكاتب الفلسطيني جميل السلحوت حول الواقعة المشينة والمسيئة لتاريخ النضال الفلسطيني:
دفاعا عن قضيتنا وليس عن عميرة هاسّ
When a Haaretz journalist was asked to
leave a Palestinian university
An isolated incident snowballed into a wide debate whether Birzeit
students' right to a safe space where Israelis are not allowed should apply to
leftists, as well.
The German Rosa Luxemburg Foundation and The Center for Development
Studies (CDS) at Birzeit University organized a conference entitled,
"Alternatives to Neo-Liberal Development in the Occupied Palestinian
Territories – Critical Perspectives."
During the first presentation on Tuesday, two lecturers from the CDS
approached me within ten minutes of each other, asking me to step outside,
saying that they needed to talk to me. I asked them to wait until the break,
but after they asked me a third time, I stepped out of the conference hall.
"Am I not allowed to be here?" I asked, half-kidding, but one of the
lecturers answered that there was a problem.
When I registered at the entrance of the conference I wrote next to my
name the institution I belong to, Haaretz. For the past two decades, the
lecturer said, there has been a law at Birzeit stipulating that Israelis
(Jewish Israelis, that is) are not allowed on the university grounds. The
students manning the conference registration desk saw that I had written
"Haaretz," realized I was an Israeli, and ran to tell the university
authorities. The security department in turn went to the conference organizers,
the lecturer said. She and her colleagues were afraid, she told me, that
students would break into the conference hall in protest over my presence.
From where we were standing in the entrance hall, I didn't see a throng
of students approaching in order to oust me, the representative of the 'Zionist
entity.' But when friends and acquaintances (including lecturers) telephoned
afterward to find out what had happened, I then understood that the rumor going
around was that students had attacked me. And so, for the sake of truth, this
is not what happened. What did happen was that two lecturers demanded that I
leave. So I left.
One of the lecturers explained that it is important for students to have
a safe space where (Jewish) Israelis are not entitled to enter; that while the
law is problematic, this was not the time or place to discuss amending it; and
that, just as she could ask to treat me differently as an exception to the
rule, another lecturer might ask for the same preferential treatment for Yossi
Beilin, Israel's former justice minister who is known as one of the architects
of both the Oslo Accords and Geneva Initiative and the initiator of the Taglit
Zionist project. She also told me that Professor Ilan Pappe, author of the book
'The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine,' among others, had been invited to deliver
a lecture at Birzeit, but owing to the law, gave the talk off campus. The other
lecturer told me that if I didn't write "Haaretz" in the registration
form, I would have been able to stay. Still, another faculty member who I have
known for 40 years walked past and said: "This is for your own protection
[from the students]." And I was at that moment reminded of the image that
Israelis commonly have of Palestinians: irrational hotheads. A Palestinian
citizen of Israel who came to the conference left out of disgust, in her words,
at my ouster.
In the meantime, Katja Hermann, director of the Rosa Luxemburg
Foundation's Regional Office in the Occupied Territories, was told about the
complication. Despite her appreciation of the importance of preserving a safe
space for Palestinian students, much like feminists have created women-only
spaces, she failed to understand why it is impossible to explain to protesting
students ("who I don't even see," she noted) that this puritanism
misses the mark. I am regularly invited to events organized by
"Rosa," as the foundation is fondly nicknamed. The shocked Hermann
then said that had she known about the law at Birzeit, and the decision to
exclude me from the conference's audience, she wouldn't have agreed to hold the
event within the university walls.
In the past twenty years, I have entered Birzeit University dozens of
times, and have been an audience member at various academic conferences there.
I have also interviewed faculty members both on and off campus. A year ago, an economics
lecturer refused an interview, telling me, "It's not personal. But you
know what the rules are." I didn't know there was a rule against being
interviewed by Haaretz.
It is well known that the university doesn't employ Israeli Jews as
academic staff, even from anti-Zionist left-wing circles. In 1998, my
application to an Arabic course for foreigners was rejected. (A sarcastic
friend, Iyad from Gaza, said back then: "With your Gazan accent, how can
they accept you?") But I was never told that there was a university law
against my very presence, as an Israeli Jew, on Birzeit's campus. The claim
that the law applies to me because I am representing an Israeli institution is a
shaky one: Palestinian citizens of Israel who teach at Israeli universities are
not subject to the same policy. If I had known about the existence of such a
law, I wouldn't have come to the conference. I have other places to invest my
subversive energies.
I am writing about this incident precisely because I did not take it
personally. I do not take personally the fact that some faculty members were
hiding behind hypothesized angry students and a law that many others seem to be
unaware of. In my opinion, it would have been more dignified to tell me
explicitly: We do not differentiate between those who support the occupation
and those who are against it, between those who report on policies to forcibly
evict the Bedouin or those who carry out that policy; for us, there is only one
place for every Israeli Jew - outside.
At the final session of the conference on Wednesday, a lecturer from
another department asked to discuss the fact that I had been kicked out, and
the issue of banning left-wing Israeli Jews in general. The lecturer and
others, who weren't present at the time of the incident, were shocked and
expressed their protest, I was told. When it was announced that I was asked to
leave, "for my own protection," a number of people left the hall in
anger. Meanwhile, a storm erupted on Facebook. Acquaintances have since called
me to apologize. The owner of my local grocery store apologized "in the
name of the Palestinian people."
Meanwhile, the university published a statement Saturday saying:
"The administration has nothing against the presence of the journalist
Hass. The university as a national institution differentiates between friends
and enemies of the Palestinian people… and works with every person or
institution that is against the occupation."
I understand the emotional need of Palestinians to create a safe space
that is off limits to citizens of the state that denies them their rights and
has been robbing them of their land. As a leftist, however, I question the
anti-colonialist logic of boycotting left-wing Israeli Jewish activists. In any
case, such leftists do not seek kosher certificates while opposing the
occupation and striving to put an end to the Jewish regime of privileges.
جميل السلحوت
أثارت قضية طرد الصحفية الاسرائيلية عميرة هسّ من جامعة بير زيت ردود فعل واسعة، خصوصا وأن تلك الصحفية معادية للاحتلال الاسرائيلي، ولسياسات الحكومات الاسرائيلية المتعاقبة العدوانية، وهذا ليس جديدا عليها، فهي منذ مارست عملها الصحفي وهذا نهجها، وقد خاطرت بحياتها واقتحمت أماكن خطيرة لتكتب عن جرائم الاحتلال وتفضحها، وهناك صحفي اسرائيلي آخر هو جدعون ليفي يعمل الشيء نفسه، وقد ترجمت الصحافة العربية آلاف المقالات والتقارير الصحفية التي كتبها هذان الصحفيان، وأعتقد أن اسميهما معروفان للمهتمين ولمن يقرأون الصحف، ويفترض أن يكون طلبة الجامعات من هؤلاء القراء.
ولمن ساهم أو حرَض على طرد عميره هس من جامعة بير زيت نقول: اذا كانت السبب هو حملها للجنسية الاسرائيلية، فكل فلسطينيي داخل الخط الأخضر يحملونها لواقع يعيشونة، وسبق لكثيرين منهم أن دخلوا الجامعة وحاضروا فيها، وفي مقدمتهم أعضاء كنيست عرب، واذا كان سببهم أنها يهودية! فهل عداؤنا هو مع اليهود، لكونهم يهود، أم أن عداءنا مع الاحتلال، ومن يدعمه ويساهم فيه حتى لو كان عربيا؟ فالصراع ليس بين العرب واليهود كيهود، وانما مع الفكر الصهيوني الاحتلالي العدواني التوسعي. وقد عاش اليهود بين العرب بمن فيهم الفلسطينيون كمواطنين لهم كافة الحقوق قبل نشوء الصهيونية في القرن التاسع عشر، وقبل قيام دولة اسرائيل في العام 1948، بل ان اليهود الذين اضطهدوا في أوروبا خرجوا مع العرب عند خروجهم من الأندلس"اسبانيا" عام 1492، واستقروا في البلدان العربية والاسلامية خصوصا في المغرب، وقد أنتجوا ثقافة يهودية في هذه البلدان، وهي جزء من الثقافة العربية. وقد استطاعت الصهيونية تضليلهم وتهجيرهم الى فلسطين، ليكونوا رعايا في دولة اسرائيل وساهمت أنظمة عربية في هذا التهجير، وبعض اليهود تمّ تهجيرهم عنوة ورغما عن ارادتهم من الدول العربية وخصوصا العراق، حيث وصلوا مطار اللد في رحلات مباشرة من مطار بغداد بعد قيام دولة اسرائيل.
وفي صراعنا مع الاحتلال وعدوانية اسرائيل دعونا نتساءل: هل نحن مع تغذية الفكر الصهيوني ودعمه، أم أننا مع الوقوف ضده وتحجيمه؟ وهل نعادي السامريين في نابلس أم نعتبرهم مواطنين فلسطينيين؟ وهل انتبهنا الى أن الرئيس الفلسطيني الراحل ياسر عرفات قد أعطاهم مقعدا في المجلس التشريعي الفلسطيني؟
واذا ما وُجد يهود معادون للصهيونية وللاحتلال فهل نحن معهم أم ضدهم؟ وهل لدينا القدرة على التمييز بين العدوّ والصديق؟ وهل يعلم طاردو عميرة هس من جامعة بير زيت أنها وأمثالها ممن يحملون فكرها مضطهدون في اسرائيل؟ وهل يتذكرون المحامية اليهودية الشيوعية فليتسيا لانجر التي دافعت عن الأسرى الفلسطينيين كمناضلين من أجل الحرية، وأن الرئيس محمود عبّاس منحها أعلى وسام فلسطيني تكريما لنضالاتها ودفاعها عن الحق الفلسطيني؟
واذا كان سبب طرد عميرة هسّ من جامعة بير زيت هو الخوف من التطبيع، فدعونا نناقش الموضوع. فصطلح"التطبيع" يردّده كثيرون دون فهم لمعناه، والتطبيع مأخوذ من الطبيعة، وطبيعة الأشياء هي سجيتها، وما فُطرت عليه، فهل يُمكن أن تكون علاقات طبيعية بين الجلاد والضحية؟ أو بين المحتل والواقع تحت الاحتلال؟ أو بين القامع والمقموع؟ وهل هناك تفريق بين العلاقات الطبيعية وبين العلاقات التي تمليها الضرورة القصوى؟ سبق وأن كتب وحاضر مثقفون عرب-ومنهم فلسطينيون- بأنهم لن يدخلوا فلسطين ما دامت تحت الاحتلال، لأنهم لا يريدون ختم جوازات سفرهم على الحدود بخاتم اسرائيلي كما يفعل الفلسطينيون المقيمون على تراب فلسطين! فهل تناسى هؤلاء بأن فلسطين محتلة، وأن الفلسطينيين الذين يعضون على تراب وطنهم ضحايا لهذا الاحتلال؟ وأن لا بديل لهم عن الخروج عبر المعابر الحدودية التي تسيطر عليها اسرائيل؟ وهل يتذكر "هؤلاء المنظّرون" بأنه قد مضى على احتلال الضفة الغربية بجوهرتها القدس، وقطاع غزة أكثر من سبعة وأربعين عاما؟ وهل يعلمون بأن أكثر من اربعة ملايين ونصف المليون فلسطيني يعيشون في هذه الأراضي؟ سقط منهم آلاف الشهداء وعشرات آلاف الجرحى الى درجة الإعاقة الجسدية، وأن أكثر من ثمانمائة ألف منهم قد تعرضوا للإعتقال والتعذيب والأسر لفترات متفاوتة؟
وهل الدفاع عن الحقوق أمام مغتصبها جريمة"تطبيعية"؟ وهل استقطاب مناصري حقوقنا في التحرر والاستقلال من الطرف الآخر أمر مطلوب أم خيانة؟ وللتذكير فقط فقد التقى عام 1986 كتاب وفنانون وأكاديميون فلسطينيون مع نظراء لهم اسرائيليين، ووقعوا على مسودة اتفاقية سلام تنص على انسحاب المحتلين من الأراضي العربية المحتلة عام 1967 بالكامل، واقامة دولة فلسطينة عاصمتها القدس، وايجاد حل عادل لمشكلة اللاجئين الفلسطينيين كما نصت عليه قرارات الشرعية الدولية، فهل استطاعت أي دولة عربية أو جهة سياسية الوصول الى هكذا اتفاقية؟ وهل استقطاب الاسرائيليين الذين وقعوا عليها ومن هم على شاكلتهم يصب في مصلحة القضية الفلسطينية أم "تطبيع" يصب في خانة الخيانة لها؟
وهل نتذكّر بأن واحدا من أسباب الانسحاب الأمريكي من فيتنام عام 1976 كان موقف الشعب الأمريكي من تلك الحرب؟
فهل نتـقي الله في أنفسنا وفي قضيتنا وفي حقوق شعبنا؟ أم أننا مضبوعون على رأي حكمتنا الشعبية المبنية على خرافة تقول"بأن الضبع يضبع ضحيته البشرية فتنقاد خلفه الى جحره كي يفترسها، ولا تفيق لنفسها إلا بعد أن يصطدم رأسها بسقف جحر الضبع، فتسيل دماؤها وعندها تفيق....لكن دماءنا سالت بغزارة فهل نتعظ؟ أم أننا سنبقى مضبوعين الى ما لا نهاية؟
The real lesson of Amira Hass' ejection from a Palestinian university
How Palestinian universities like Birzeit are intellectually straitjacketing their students.
I’m not an Israeli, so even though I’ve been reporting on Birzeit University near Ramallah for more than 15 years, I didn’t know until my colleagueAmira Hass was asked to leave the campus last week that the university operates a ban on Israelis.
Well, not all Israelis, as Amira explains. Just “Jewish Israelis.”
The ban probably makes sense to most Palestinians, but it’s a disgrace and should be repealed.
The Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, which organized the conference from which Amira was ejected, denounced her expulsion as “discrimination” and expressed its solidarity with her. In a statement, the university said it had “no objection to the presence of the reporter Hass” but felt justified “as a national institution to distinguish between friends of the Palestinian people and its enemies.”
On Tuesday, the university issued a tougher statement, regretting the “lamentable incident” excluding Amira and clarifying that it welcomes “supporters of the Palestinian struggle and opponents of the Israeli occupation of Palestine, regardless of nationality, religion, ethnicity, or creed. Hence, Hass, who has consistently condemned the Israeli occupation, evinced support for Palestinian rights, and helped expose the discriminatory policies of occupation and its flagrant violations of these rights, is always welcome on our campus.”
So not all Jewish Israelis, then. Not the good ones.
The ban is not just immoral and racist, it’s symptomatic of the crushing failure of the Palestinian higher education system to fulfill its role as the engine powering the Palestinian future because of its stifling obsession with the Palestinian past.
I've reported from Birzeit dozens of times for The Chronicle of Higher Education and other media. I've reported the random arrests and administrative detention of their students and lecturers, often in the middle on the night, by the IDF. I’ve reported how many of those students and lecturers have been held for months, even years, without a fair trial, sometimes without even being told the crimes of which they are suspected.
In 2009, for example, there were 83 Birzeit students incarcerated in Israeli jails, of whom 39 were convicted of various terror-related charges, 32 were awaiting trial, nine were in “administrative detention” and three were undergoing interrogation following their arrest. Birzeit accounts for more than half of all the 1,000 Palestinian students arrested by Israel since the start of the Second Intifada in 2000, including at least three of its student council heads who were arrested and held for months on end.
Clearly, some of these students were also engaged in dangerous terrorist activity, but the majority appears to have been innocent of any real crime.
Nor is Birzeit alone in feeling the crushing weight of Israel’s occupation interfering daily with its studies and students. Just about every Palestinian university in the West Bank has stories of nighttime IDF raids, campus teargas attacks and random arrests and intimidation.
So I am well aware of the pressures that distinguish university life at Birzeit from Berkeley or Brooklyn College.
But much of the trouble there has little to do with Israel or the occupation. I have also reported the political intimidation and violence doled out by some Birzeit students to their political opponents. I met the Islamist student who led the stone-throwing rioters who injured the visiting French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin and chased him off campus in February 2000. The British Consul-General Sir Vincent Feane had to beat a similar retreat in 2013.
In 2007, university classes were suspended and students evacuated from the campus after Ahmad Jarrar, a student supporter of the ruling Fatah party, was assaulted in his dormitory room, apparently by four men from the Marxist PFLP. Jarrar was treated at a hospital for severe injuries suffered as he was apparently being tortured. The assailants used charcoal to burn Jarrar’s face and hammered nails into his feet. Fatah gunmen arrived soon after, threatening to kill PFLP supporters.
Earlier this year, I broke the story of a Palestinian student trip to Auschwitz organized by a professor at Al-Quds University who has since resigned over the fallout it caused. Two Birzeit students were due to go on that trip. They pulled out at the last moment after heavy pressure from the university.
This obsession with politics, although understandable, does a considerable disservice to the students who rely on Birzeit and the other Palestinian universities to help them create a better future for themselves – and for the Palestinian people.
Birzeit, ironically, was actually founded by the Israelis. The dictatorial Jordanian regime would never sanction an independent university in the West Bank. It soon became the intellectual powerhouse of Palestinian resistance against the Israeli occupation.
But it has failed to mature into a new, post-revolutionary role and become the engine of emerging Palestinian statehood.
One small example illustrates the problem. Despite enormous efforts by international companies, Arab entrepreneurs and a small number of Israeli and Jewish investors, the Palestinians are failing to produce a viable high-tech sector. While thousands of Israeli twenty-somethings are developing world-class technology with little more than a Wi-Fi connection and a laptop, their Palestinian counterparts have precious little to show. Apologists argue that it’s because of Israel’s refusal to allow a Palestinian 3G network, but that’s not true. Sure, the lack of 3G is another disgrace, which should be fixed, but it affects domestic consumers, not developers. Tech development uses Wi-Fi, not 3G, and is aimed at the international market, not the local one.
The main reason for the under-development of Palestinian high-tech is the poor education on offer from universities like Birzeit. One of the few successful tech start-ups in Ramallah was founded by an East Jerusalem Palestinian who studied at a Hebrew-speaking Israeli school and then at an Israeli university. His business is expanding fast, but he cannot find enough skilled Palestinian graduates to hire.
It’s a complaint I hear repeatedly when I’m reporting on Palestinian graduates. High grades in exams are achieved by parroting the lecturers’ ideas, not by challenging them. The universities are simply not teaching their students the independent critical thinking skills needed in today’s world. Their educational system is mired in the past.
If Birzeit and the other Palestinian universities spent less effort intellectually straitjacketing their students, and more time teaching them how to think critically and independently, the Palestinian future would
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