64 Comments
Looking for a little activism to go with your lunch next Monday or Tuesday? A group claiming the name “The Columbia Community Stands With Gaza” has announced a series of pro-Gaza events to take place next week.
The events include a protest, a speak out, and a series of candlelight vigils (three types of events often called the “Activist Trinity”). The protest and speak out will start at noon on Monday on Low Plaza and Tuesday at the sundial, respectively, while the vigils will be held at sundial in the early evening throughout the week. For the protest, the announcement encourages students to make different kinds of posters, giving examples like “Columbia Students Stand with Gaza,” “Jewish Students Stand with Gaza,” “People of Color Stand with Gaza,” and “Queers Stand with Gaza.” Though there just may be a pattern in those examples, Bwog recommends against “White People Stand With Gaza” or “Ewoks Stand With Gaza.”
And since Columbia is known for its rational discussion of all things Palestinian and Israeli, we’re confident this’ll go just as swimmingly. Absolutely confident.
UPDATE: Bwog has been informed that the Monday protest coincides with a “Rally of Solidarity and Peace for Israel,” taking place at the same time on Monday at the sundial. Organizers tell Bwog that that the rally was scheduled before the “Columbia Community Stands With Gaza” events were announced. Should be fun.
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64 Comments
@the truth check out this link:
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v31/n02/sieg01_.html
it details the amazing campaign of lies and deceit Israel has pursued in the media, trying to cloud the facts and pass itself off as the victim.
@yes! yeah but its fun?
@yes! this issue will totally be solved over the internets!! OMFG world peace! Calm down people you aren’t going to convince the other side by writing an impassioned comment on bwog.
@Just... impose an embargo on Israel.
@check this out “There was fire, and so much white smoke,” she says. “The missile melted my children. My daughter-in-law melted in front of my eyes.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7848768.stm
@Well Before trusting any Palestinian “sources”, I recommend watching Pallywood
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_B1H-1opys
@Hmm, that's funny ‘cuz the Red Cross–the organization that has gutlessly refused to demand that Hamas produce some evidence of Gilad Shalit’s whereabouts and safety (read: not friends of Israel)–confirmed the legality of Israel’s use of white phosphorus.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090114/ap_on_re_eu/eu_red_cross_white_phosphorus_2
@Former Army Medic From the Israeli side:
I think the assault was a smart political move. 1) It brings the issue to the forefront of American Foreign Policy 2) It greatly increases the likelihood of an internationally brokered and administered border between Gaza and Egypt, in order to prevent more weapons from Iran and Syria being smuggled into the territory 3) It demonstrates to Hamas that Israel is willing to retaliate, which it failed to do since the 2005 withdrawal.
Don’t people remember when Hamas brutally suppressed Fatah in Gaza? Over a 117 palestinians died at the hands of other palestinians. Hamas is the target, they are uncompromising and not willing to pursue peace, Fatah is.
From the Palestinian side:
It was a humanitarian crisis even before the assault began. Unemployment for males between the ages of 18-35 is consistently over 50%. The palestinians have suffered innumerable injustices at the hands of the Israelis AND the arab nations, who are only willing to provide aid when it is politically convenient and in the form of military weapons.
How do we achieve peace? First, get rid of Hamas. Easier said than done. It must take the second pillar: a regional diplomatic push led by the United States with the aims of a) establishing an internationally monitored border between Egypt and Gaza b) support Fatah politically c) rebuild the crumbling infrastructure in Gaza and the West Bank, providing food and medical services, education and utilities. This is conditional with the understanding that Hamas would not be the ones administering this aid.
These will hopefully set the conditions for a lasting peace agreement. Admittedly, I am biased towards Israel. However, having seen the aftermaths of a missile attack in real life: the dead bodies, sifting through the mangle of rubble and human remains (you never get a sense of how heavy that rubble is…), seeing in the eyes of parents as they look at you, that your government and your “ideas” are the reason their child didn’t come home from Madrassa that day, is heart-wrenching.
Whatever. What do I know? You can begin posting responses on how I am an inhuman baby killer now.
@is "their" no end to your ignorance of English? And no beginning to your comprehension of sarcasm?
@democratically elected? Fine. If they democratically elected a known terrorist organization, they should all be wiped out, and Israel’s current response is grossly insufficient.
You want them to not drop bombs? You want them to not do anything. Fine. YOU go in there and YOU assassinate the terrorists hiding in elementary schools, and YOU safely uncover and destroy the hundreds of weapons storehouses strategically placed beneath mosques, schools and hospitals. And then, YOU can return to your home in Israel and YOU can pray to god every night that YOU won’t wake up to the sound of a “shitty Qasam” killing YOUR mother or YOUR father. You think I’M fucking ridiculous? YOU sympathize with terrorists and their supporters, you piece of human filth.
@wow now you want to wipe out an entire civilization? aahhh is their no end to your cruelty…
@... “Fine. If they democratically elected a known terrorist organization, they should all be wiped out, and Israel’s current response is grossly insufficient.”
Sounds like you are calling for a Palestinian holocaust…
I wonder what your sick mind would consider “sufficient.” Probably some sort of final solution.
@great just what this conversation needed: another idiot who neither understands sarcasm nor possesses basic reading comprehension.
@Anonymous I think the truly horrible part about this is that those of us who realize both sides are terribly wrong are going to have to deal with both groups of people hating us.
Monday is going to be hilarious.
@Anonymous Oh, and just one more comment about humanitarian aid. Every day, Israel ceased operations for a few hours (beginning at 1:00) to allow aid into Gaza to help the victims, and despite the ceasefire in place during those hours, Hamas continued to fire instead of stopping to care for their own people. Just know that Israel would not have gone in and would have left Gaza to be governed by itself if Hamas did not continuously send rockets into Israel with the intent to destroy it.
@white house ever heard of the israel lobby? if the president has to go kiss the asses of AIPAC, then so do the senate and house…that doesn’t make it right
@Anonymous So then ignore the support, even if it has fair grounds in that the democratic country of Israel is America’s best and most reliable thread to the Middle East. The rest of the argument is still untainted.
@not really the evidence on human shields is mixed. Even if they had human shields, doesn’t mean you go shoot the shield, especially if the shield is a child. Using white phosphorus in an area you know to be crowded with civilians is inhuman. Israel has other options available to it, and it’s not a coincidence that this attack happened just as Bush was about to leave office. Attacking a clearly demarcated UN humanitarian compound is basically an act of terrorism, since it is a civilian area (don’t tell me this was a hamas outpost too). If Israel is really prosecuting Hamas responsibly, why restrict humanitarian access to Palestine and restrict journalists’ access to the region?
And for what? 13 deaths with those shitty ass Qasams? Please. PTSD my ass. What about the continual lack of food, energy and medical support targeted at CIVILIANS by the Israeli blockade? Israel played right into Hamas’ hands in this war. The deaths of sons, brothers, mothers, wives, etc. will only further radicalize the population during an important election year for Palestine. The terrorist infrastructure of Hamas is still intact. I agree that Hamas is an inhuman terrorist organization and should be eliminated. But not like this; you have played right into their hands and damaged Israel’s standing in the world.
@Anonymous It seems that you are undermining the suffering of the citizens of Sderot who have lived under constant rocket fire for eight years now, waking up every day to a “red alert” and not being able to do anything alone, not even shower, without someone else to stay outside in case of an alarm. Schools were hit, people were hit, WITH THE INTENT TO KILL INNOCENT CIVILIANS!!! Israel went into Gaza to take out those Hamas members to protect its own citizens. And how else could Israel destroy Hamas but by going into Gaza? It’s extremely difficult for a militia to destroy many individual actors, as America has come to learn in Iraq and Afghanistan. Unfortunately for Israel, that is a daily reality.
Monday is gonna be a party!!!
@get some perspective Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have become refugees, evicted from their homes. Food, water, and medical supplies have been cut by Israel and Gaza is under siege. A majority of Israelis live in prosperity, nay are aggressively evicting Palestinians from their homes and establishing illegal settlements. And you’re talking about PTSD in one Israeli town? Reality check buddy.
@yeah I also have a big problem when people live in prosperity. Clearly the fact that they invest in schools and bomb shelters and their citizens is pretty morally repudiating – nay, only a step away from government withdrawals from Gaza, forced evacuation of west bank settlements (aggressively evicting Jews from their homes?)…
@simple perspective No country needs to allow any agency, democratically elected or not, to continue to govern or exist after engaging in attacks of any form on its citizens, and no country that I’m aware of would. The existence, moreover, of autonomous government in the West Bank and Gaza is an expression of goodwill on Israel’s part, and the result of “peace” negotiations conducted in Oslo, and is, as such, conditioned upon “peace.”
@wow again “an expression of goodwill on Israel’s part”
yes.. herding people into a small amount of land after theyve been stripped of their homes is “an expression of goodwill”.. ha! just keep trying to explain the abuse of palestinian peoples in positive terms.. i’m sure it’ll become the truth if you say it enough! ;)
@arghh “A majority of Israelis live in prosperity, nay are aggressively evicting Palestinians from their homes and establishing illegal settlements”…wooaa…and…woaa…that has to be the most god awful pile of horsecrap I ever read on Bwog and that is saying something.
You have quite evidently never ever ever been to Israel, seen a settlement, a settler, read any sort of legal document about settlements, glanced at any remotely trustworthy statistical information…. I could go on. But I think it will suffice to say that this incessant repetition about vast egregious settlement occupation expansion is just ignorant morons trying to grasp on to any morsel of an argument they may have for supporting an entity like Hamas over a democratic state.
Seriously, this is tiresome. And anyone who has ever stepped foot in any of these places would just laugh.
@... THEORY: israel’s overreaction was intentional and was designed to test whether US support and backing remains unequivocal under a new whitehouse.
@Theory No shit.
@Ok... So while #31 and the Iranian clerics are the only ones who actually believe that bullshit “occupation” narrative, i think its important to note that Israel WITHDREW from Gaza in 2005.
The reason Israel blockaded the strip was because it was taken over by terrorists. These arguments that are being made by the pro-Hamas side are so hypocritical. After 9/11 did we “negotiate” with Al Quaeda, or give a shit what happened to civilians when we carpet bombed Afghanistan?
@rabble rabble support Palestine? Then you support the Iranian clerics, the terrorists, and are an anti-semitic nazi!
@bullshit while israel withdrew from gaza, it occupied even more of west bank and built even more settlements there. do u know hamas was democratically elected. i like how u are just happy to settle for calling them terrorists so that you don’t have to acknowledge them. if hamas kills civilians, israel kills even more. when hamas shoots rockets, it shoots them at the homes they were kicked out of. and as for your statement ‘give a shit what happened to civilians when we carpet bombed Afghanistan’…i like how you are happy killing civilians. what kind of monster are you?
i don’t like hamas, but i don’t like israel either because if hamas is a terrorist, then israel is a bigger one.
@i stand by the jews their god can do powerful fucking things. when another god drowns the egyptian army in the red sea. when another god does that, i’ll think of switching. go yahweh!
@what is idiotic is that this is “so controversial”. israel is a powerful country with tremendous military might and yet it continues to occupy, blockade and subjugate the 100% native palestinian population.
apartheid should not be controversial.
@this is idiotic what is the freaking point of dividing the campus over something that is so controversial? many people, myself included, don’t even know enough of the issue to have a right to affiliate with either party. to rouse up numbers through the use of skewed facts (and its undeniable that both parties skew their facts) is a misdirected act. i understand discussion circles and attempts to understand the situation. and i very much understand vigils to remember those who have lost their lives and the overall sick situation in gaza/israel, but i don’t understand why this needs to be a protest..
@hey the facebook event is gone. interesting.
@Check It Dirty pimp/slum-lord forces young girl to prostitute herself. In order to keep the city clean and orderly, the cops decide to kill the pimp, knowing full well that the girl may get killed in the encounter. Allegedly, the coward used her as a human shield; so the police force decided to take the risk of shooting her to get a shot at the pimp.
@will will there be shoes thrown?
@grammarnazi What the hell does this even mean? Has grammar gone out the window along with substantial content, Bwog?
“Organizers tell Bwog that that the rally was scheduled “Columbia Community Stands With Gaza” events were announced.”
@Spin Master it’s hilarious that the day after the Israel group publishes a rally, another pops up at the same time and claims that it was planned first…
there isn’t even a group sponsoring this gaza rally – seems a little strange that nobody is willing to stand up and take accountability for their actions
@truly a spin actually, its not one group but a coalition of groups and individuals on campus who are organizing the protest. the pro-israel rally is being organized by just one group, lionPAC, which (shockingly) represents the interests of the terrorist israel regime that kicks people of their land, shuts them in a prison called gaza, then starves and bombs them.
the protest on the other hand is being organized by people who still have some humanity left in them.
@Are you joking me? Is it humane to use suicide bombers and rockets to kill innocent civilians?
If you can name me one instance in the last 10 years when Israel blew up a school or a bus or a hospital with the express intention of killing as many civilians as possible, then i will agree with what you say.
Problem is you won’t be able to find such an example, because Israel is not like the terrorists you are supporting.
@israeli retard how about people who play the number game?
@Columbia Alum How about, “people with a conscience stand with gaza” or “1,300 to 13, People who can do math stand with gaza”?
@i thought about replying to you about just how wrong that statement is, but then I realized that if you’re writing about the math, you would be too retarded to understand anyway.
Please stop tarnishing my alma mater’s name by saying you are an alum.
@indicative... your completely insubstantial response epitome of the zionist facade: ‘its not as simple as it seems, its too complicated for you understand, ignore the seemingly horrendous travesties israel continues to commit’
@indicative of nothing Seriously, who the fuck uses terms like “zionist facade” other than Middle-Eastern despots? You’re comments are oh so incisive, you goat.
@haha the irony…
@another one You want to talk about my “Zionist facade” when your morality still revolves around Hammurabi’s eye-for-an-eye mentality?
So it would be OK if Israel killed 13 Palestinians? If they killed 5 would that be a subdued response? But 20 would be too many? Perhaps Israelis should crowd more women and children in areas frequently hit by rockets, so they would have more justification to attack? After all, this is what Hamas does when Israel CALLS AHEAD to tell them where they will be dropping bombs with surgical precision.
Your ignorance sickens me.
@wooowwww wow.. israel “calls head to tell them where they will be dropping bombs with surgical precision”!! how noble! how humanitarian! although they could just.. not drop bombs, you know, especially since so many innocent civilians are there!
it’s fucking ridiculous how you call someone else ignorant and then make statements like that. but i guess you are okay with people dying, even if its hundreds of innocent people and children, as long as they are not israeli. excellent double standards! i hope that you will never have to experience watching people you know and love die violent deaths, or everyone around you destroyed by bombs or tanks, just keep living in your fantasy world where israel is innocent and those gazans deserve whats coming, and then call anyone who tries to disagree with you “ignorant”! :) nice going :)
@Anonymous What you need to understand is that Gaza was not simply bombing the homes of Israelis living in Gaza (which it has done from the 1970’s until the Disengagement in 2005), it was bombing random homes in proper Israel. After years of trauma and terror (ever heard of Sderot, where 94% of kids suffer from PTSD from daily rockets), Israel reacted to a very crowded area (probably about 2 million, although it is uncertain). Israel warns building occupants far ahead of time to evacuate, and whether they do or not is their choice. It is extremely difficult to attack Hamas (whose goal is to destroy Israel) when they use children and other human beings as shields ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TejVJWSTTpY ), but Israel tried its best to attack them without causing too much harm. I, too, am not that happy about the phosphorous that was used (although it is okay by international law), and I mourn those innocent children who were killed in the fire. Still, the comments about how inhumane Israel is are simply not backed. Gaza did not get what it deserved, but Israel has a right to protect itself and to destroy the terrorists wishing to destroy it (and America, too). The Senate backs Israel 98-0 and the House 390-5. I hope peace is reached soon so this can all stop…
@hmm Settlers stand with…er IN gaza-we want your land, too!
@Columbia Law School is being occupied by the American Mock Trial Association for the weekend. VIVA LA REV
@sigh FLAME WAR!!!
@clearly, Zionists stand with Gaza!
@so wait the gaza supporters will be on the steps….and the israel supports will be on the sundial…
oh my monday will be a fun day
@wow... so much hate and wrong with this response thread already. I’m worried to see how the protests will go down.
@Don't worry... The comments are vicious here, but I wouldn’t be so worried about any major eruptions when these two groups clash. Internet anonymity has a way of making people instantly and amazingly more ready to say what they want to say.
@How about Terrorists Stand With Gaza? At least there’s truth and sense in that one.
@... so bwog, does your joke subtly imply that white people don’t stand with gaza?
@Maybe White phosphorous stands with gaza?
@... Correction: “Israel stands with white phosphorous”
@actually: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090114/ap_on_re_eu/eu_red_cross_white_phosphorus_2
@Awk Turtle People in wheelchairs… never mind
@Hilarious “Queers Stand with Gaza”? What a pathetic joke. You’d be killed for being queer in any Muslim country.
@there are too many things to list that are wrong with that statement.
@This is good. It is sad to see so much violence in the World.