Copyright 2002 SOFTLINE INFORMATION, INC.
Ethnic NewsWatch
Cleveland Jewish News

October 18, 2002

SECTION: Vol. 86; No. 3; Pg. 16
SLI-ACC-NO: 0203CVDM 143 000061
LENGTH: 708 words

BODY:
A throng of students and adults, some waving banners, others draped in Israeli flags, gathered outside of the Michigan League at the University of Michigan on Oct. 12 singing "Am Yisrael Chai" and chanting "Divest from terror, divest from hate." The group of pro-Israel activists was protesting the event taking place inside the building: the Second National Student Conference on the Palestinian Solidarity Movement.

The first conference, held last year in Berkeley Calif., had become infamous for its antisemitic nature, and Jewish students on campus feared this year's version might be the same. The event featured at least one speaker, Sami Al-Arian, who was under FBI investigation for possible links to Al-Qaida and Islamic Jihad. The prospect of such a personality even being permitted on university grounds infuriated many students and even incited two upperclassmen, Richard Dorfman and Adi Neuman, to file suit against the university.

During the week prior to the event, the campus was abuzz. The Michigan Daily the university's student-run newspaper, featured front-page articles and opinion pieces on the event. Word of the conference spread into national news.

All the attention also facilitated a reaction from the university to ensure that the content of the speakers was not incendiary or inciting. But David Post, a senior at the University of Michigan, believes the attempt at diplomatic discourse did not detract from the anti-Israel nature of the conference.

"The main message of the conference was denial of Israel's right to exist and coming up with ways to bring about its destruction. Calling Zionism racism, promoting divestment from the Israeli economy, labeling Israel an apartheid state, and calling for the end of American aid to Israel are all just different formats for denying Israel's right to exist."

David Wolkinson, a first-year law student at Michigan, approached a conference participant to discuss Zionism. The individual retorted, "The only good Zionist is a dead Zionist." Five surrounding students who overheard the comment chuckled at the man's remarks.

Wolkinson and I attended the speech of the controversial Sami Al-Arian. He lambasted Israel's policy of "occupation" and denied any links to terrorist organizations.

Adam Shapiro, head of the International Solidarity Movement spoke. He showed video clips of destroyed houses in Jenin, blaming Israeli soldiers for excessive brutality but neglected to mention that Jenin had been a hotbed of terrorist activity. He talked about Israeli checkpoints and imposed curfews labeling such restrictions as "oppressive," but failed to mention the justifiable contexts in which they occurred.

For me, the most disturbing speaker was Ilan Papp, a professor at Haifa University and an Israeli Jew. He spoke eloquently and eruditely criticizing Israel for its "oppression" of the Palestinian people and pushing for the issue of divestment to become the "the international issue; the issue upon which all Palestinian activists around the world can focus to put pressure on Israel to end its occupation of Palestinian land."

While opposition to the conference was mild on Saturday, counter-activity erupted on Sunday. Students and adults, including Rabbi Avi Weiss, a prominent Jewish activist, attended a protest on central campus. The protest was followed by an event at the Michigan Student Union featuring John Loftus, prosecutor for the U.S. Department of Justice as the keynote speaker. Loftus aired a video supposedly confiscated from Al-Arian's home by the FBI which featured the Southern Florida University professor speaking at a conference and soliciting money for jihad. The crowd then marched to the conference venue and peacefully protested outside for nearly three hours.

Justin Weprin, a senior, stood among the protestors with an Israeli flag draped over his shoulders. "This was a great day for Jewish activism on campus," said Weprin. "Today I was proud to be Jewish."

David Shafran served as the American Greetings Intern at the CJN several summers ago. Article copyright the Cleveland Jewish News.

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