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April 2015

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You’d think that the legal threat against Guilford College Hillel for hosting civil rights veterans in North Carolina came from some old white desegregationists. Nope– it was threatened by Hillel International, the Jewish organization based in Washington, D.C., because the veterans were speaking out Thursday night for Palestinian human rights.

Subhiya Abu Rahme, 60, propped up on her elbows and recounted her son’s last morning before the Israeli army killed him. Six years ago on April 17, 2009 Bassem Abu Rahme, 30, was shot in the chest with a tear gas canister in his West Bank hometown of Bil’in outside of Ramallah. The morning was a scorcher. Bassem went into the bathroom to cool off, musing, “I will shower or I will die.” Once clean and dressed, he walked to the garden behind the house. “I was working. He told me don’t tire yourself. It’s not good for you,” Subhiya said, relaying Bassem’s final words to her.

Palestine was too small to become the Jewish national home without harming the rights of non-Jews. The British and early Zionists understood this, and spoke of Palestine as a single state with perfect equality between Jew and Arab, the common home for two peoples. Is there hope for harmony and mutual respect even today?

Imagine stepping out of your house of worship and seeing a group of screaming, belligerent hecklers ripping apart your holy book – spitting on and stomping on the pages. Imagine being shouted down, and told your faith is a lie by a group of people flashing gaudy, hate-filled signs and matching tee-shirts. This has become the reality for worshippers at the Islamic Community Center of Tempe.