Loading ...Cornell SJP Poetry Reading: Israel a ‘Racist, Exclusivist, Supremacist State’
Last Friday, Cornell’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter sponsored a poetry performance by Palestinian-American poet, Remi Kanazi. The performance was Kanazi’s third stop on his university tour in promotion of his recently published book Before the Next Bomb Drops.
As you might expect, Kanazi’s poetry performance was nothing more than a collection of angry rants against Israel and the United States.
Before Kanazi started reading his “poetry”, he spoke about his background. He complained about growing up in a mostly white town and said it was a “weird fucking experience”, without citing any sort of discrimination. He moved to New York City at an early age and described the city post-9/11 as filled with “so much racism”. His poetry readings turned out to be filled with the same kind of race-baiting.
“Every time I think of 9/11 / I see burning flesh / Dripping off the bones / Of Iraqi children in Fallujah.” – Remi Kanazi
Kanazi’s poetry and spoken-word performances are really just a litany of outrageous and categorically false accusations. One of his most startling remarks was referring to Israel as a “racist, exclusivist, supremacist state.” This could not be further from the truth. Israel’s Declaration of Independence made it clear that all citizens would have equal social and political rights regardless of religion, race, or sex. This holds true to the present day. Approximately 21% of Israeli citizens are Arabs who have the right to vote and hold public office.
Kamazi also claimed that Israel has over 500 checkpoints in the West Bank. The truth is that there is only 13 Israeli checkpoints, as noted by in the IDF Blog. Kamazi also claimed that these checkpoints were a form of oppression against Palestinians. In reality, Israeli checkpoints as well as Israel’s security fence along the West Bank only serve as an effective counter-terrorism measure. They have drastically reduced the frequency of terrorist attacks. Unfortunately, those twisted by Palestinian and Hamas propaganda think Israel is to blame for these terrorist attacks, so to them any measure taken by Israel to protect themselves from these attacks is yet another form of “oppression”.
One of the common themes in many of his poems was comparing the highly anti-semitic Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS) to the American Civil Rights Movement. When speaking about universities divesting from Israel he said, “This divestment bill, it’s divisive; the Montgomery Bus Boycott, divisive.” This comparison could not be further from the truth. The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a peaceful protest against racial segregation in America. The BDS movement, on the other hand, is a highly anti-semitic and racist movement as pointed out in the Jerusalem Post. The movement singles out the sole democracy in the Middle East for completely false or exaggerated transgressions and holds the Jewish state to an impossibly high moral standard. It calls Israel an apartheid state, although Israeli Arabs have full voting rights. While Israel is not perfect, its people have done a great job of protecting their civilians while safeguarding the rights of minorities and minimizing civilian casualties when responding to terrorist attacks emanating from the Palestinian territories.
“Just because the house is beautiful doesn’t mean the bones you built it on have fully decomposed.” – Remi Kanazi
Kanazi, as well as the entire BDS movement, never fail ignore the despotic regimes across the rest of the Middle East. All over the region save in Israel, women are treated as second-class citizens, gays are often put to death, and the freedom of speech is routinely violated. Israel is guilty of none of these human rights violations. This kind of ignorance and singling out of Israel can only be rooted in special detestation or hatred towards Jews and Israel.
One of the greatest aspects of democratic societies is the freedom of speech. Even though I vehemently disagree with Kanazi, his freedom must be protected like everyone else. In Israel, as well as here in America, this right will always be protected. If I expressed my pro-Israel views in much of the Muslim world, I would be punished severely to say the least. I am proud to stand with Israel and against oppression all over the world.
Source: www.thecornellreview.org