I look for cracks in the wall, and here is one. The Albuquerque Journal has published a column by Danya Mustafa responding forcefully to local Jewish groups’ efforts to prevent Ali Abunimah from speaking at the University of New Mexico this weekend. Mustafa is a freshman who leads a coalition at the school; her column was co-signed by Margaret Leicester, a UNM graduate student, and Richard Forer, a community activist.
What I find notable about this column is that it appeared, a good sign that Americans are starting to have this conversation, and also that it is so unapologetic. It reminds me a little of this recent LRB piece by Karma Nabulsi on the Palestinian “revolution” that grants honor to ideas that were once largely confined to the Arab world but that are now at last entering leftwing parlance in the U.S. and Europe. The fascinating thing about the struggle for Palestinian rights is that most of its advocates are not radical in spirit. They are basically liberals, in a tradition that goes back to our civil rights movement and the abolitionists. Some day their efforts will be regarded as an obvious choice. Columns like this suggest that the ball is finally moving down the field.
Mustafa:
Federation and Hillel authors write: “Abunimah is a representative of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, a global movement intent on destroying Israel and her credibility in the world… according to the Anti-Defamation League, ‘BDS is about the three ‘D’s: Demonization, Delegitimization, and applying a Double Standard.’ This movement is disinterested in peace, the exchange of ideas or legitimate dialogue…. This is all anti-Semitism in its clearest, most noxious form”
Who is guilty of the three D’s? Not once has Hillel or the Jewish Federation engaged the Coalition for Peace and Justice in the Middle East in public dialogue about this issue. Instead, their supporters write nasty letters to the editor and on Internet blogs attacking campus and community members critical of Israeli policies. They employ character assassination and ad hominem attacks to stifle dialogue and constructive debate.
In contrast, the coalition is bringing Ali Abunimah to our campus in order to unite all sides of the Israel-Palestine issue through dialogue about peaceful resolutions to this ongoing conflict…
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions is a nonviolent movement that advocates the boycott, divestment and sanctioning of a country that for too long has been violating international law and dispossessing the Palestinian people of their land, their civil rights and, for so many, their lives…
[T]he coalition invites federation and Hillel members to step out from behind their self-imposed separation wall and dialogue with us publicly.
The Jewish Federation and Hillel might not agree with our invitation to Ali Abunimah, but know this: Abunimah’s talk, “From New Mexico to Palestine: The Global Struggle for Human Rights and Equality” (nothing outrageous or out of the ordinary reflected in this title), will go forward as planned. We will not back down and we will not give in to your misleading ways. The coalition will not let one letter or a million letters get in the way of this event.
