Mock Apartheid wall demonstration aims to educate Ohio State students on Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Melissa Prax
Fri, 07 Mar 2014 03:14:35 +0000
Campus, Photos, international, ohio state, osu

Volunteers with the Committee for Justice in Palestine, a student group at Ohio State, set up a mock Apartheid wall as part of a demonstration on the Oval March 5. Credit: Abdulrahman Al-Ruwaishan / Lantern photographer

An Israeli flag and a sign with a warning written in Hebrew, Arabic and English, meant to simulate the checkpoints that Palestinians deal with in the West Bank, were put up on a lamppost. The Committee for Justice in Palestine set up a mock Apartheid wall as part of a demonstration on the Oval March 6. Credit: Abdulrahman Al-Ruwaishan / Lantern photographer

The Committee for Justice in Palestine set up a mock Apartheid wall as part of a demonstration on the Oval March 6. Credit: Abdulrahman Al-Ruwaishan / Lantern photographer

The Committee for Justice in Palestine set up a mock Apartheid wall as part of a demonstration on the Oval March 6. Credit: Abdulrahman Al-Ruwaishan / Lantern photographer

Attendees gather around the wall and talk to students and volunteers. The Committee for Justice in Palestine set up a mock Apartheid wall as part of a demonstration on the Oval March 6. Credit: Abdulrahman Al-Ruwaishan / Lantern photographer

A large crowd gathers at the demonstration. The Committee for Justice in Palestine set up a mock Apartheid wall as part of a demonstration on the Oval March 6. Credit: Abdulrahman Al-Ruwaishan / Lantern photographer

An Israeli flag and a sign warning of a checkpoint ahead, meant to simulate the checkpoints with which Palestinians living in the West Bank deal, were set up near the demonstation.The Committee for Justice in Palestine set up a mock Apartheid wall as part of a demonstration on the Oval March 6. Credit: Abdulrahman Al-Ruwaishan / Lantern photographer

Belal Daoud, a graduate student in information systems and a board member of the Committee for Justice in Palestine, talks to a group of students at the demonstration. The Committee for Justice in Palestine set up a mock Apartheid wall as part of a demonstration on the Oval March 6. Credit: Abdulrahman Al-Ruwaishan / Lantern photographer

Brian Yeh, a volunteer for the Committee for Justice in Palestine, talks to Haley Swenson, a graduate student in women's, gender and sexuality studies. The Committee for Justice in Palestine set up a mock Apartheid wall as part of a demonstration on the Oval March 6. Credit: Abdulrahman Al-Ruwaishan / Lantern photographer

Michal Richter, a first-year in international studies and Spanish, poses with a blackboard at the demonstration. The Committee for Justice in Palestine set up a mock Apartheid wall as part of a demonstration on the Oval March 6. Credit: Abdulrahman Al-Ruwaishan / Lantern photographer

The Oval was the setting for a discussion on Palestinian rights Thursday.

The Committee for Justice in Palestine at Ohio State celebrated the 10th annual Israeli Apartheid week by setting up a mock Apartheid wall on the Oval.

The CJP at OSU has celebrated Apartheid week in the past, but this year the mock wall spanned nearly seven feet and included detailed paintings supporting the movement. About 50 people came and went while the wall was up, offering different opinions and asking questions.

Israeli Apartheid week aims to spread the word about “the nature of Israel as an apartheid system” and to promote Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaigns, according to its website.

An apartheid system racially segregates and politically and economically discriminates, like the former social system in South Africa, which separated those who were black or other another racial descent from white people.

There is a part-wall, part-fence, mostly located in the West Bank of Palestine, that the Israeli government made the decision to build in 2002. The government said the wall was necessary to prevent Palestinian suicide bombers from entering the country, but because Palestinian land was confiscated to build it, many Palestinians have been separated from their land and jobs.

Belal Daoud, a fifth-year in information systems and the publicity director of CPJ at OSU, said the mock wall at OSU was meant to be an educational tool.

“The best way to raise awareness is to show what we have to, or what Palestinians have to, deal with on a day-to-day basis,” Daoud said, referring to the separation the real wall creates.

Last week, the CPJ put about 2,000 mock eviction notices on some off-campus housing doors to further simulate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The notices said real eviction notices are “routinely given to Palestinian families living under the illegal Israeli occupation for no reason other than their ethnic background.”

Daoud said he hoped the wall would spark debate and give students the chance to see the differences in viewpoints.

“I would like people to see the different sides,” Daoud said. “We want to have conversation, you know, we want to exchange ideas.”

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is largely over land and religions and has been fought over for generations. Israel, Gaza and the West Bank were once called Palestine, but after a war in 1948, Palestine was divided and Jewish Israelis claimed some land for religious reasons.

Some students, like Michael Berkovich, a third-year in computer science and engineering who said he supports the Israeli side of the conflict, said there are better ways to create peace.

“It’s about conversation, and many of the organizers of the mock wall are radical,” Berkovich said. “What’s going to solve the problem is by being friends with those on both sides, not by offending.”

Lorette Alamir, a first-year in biology, said she has a close connection with Palestine.

“I just want there to be peace there because I go there (the West Bank) every summer and my grandparents live there,” Alamir said. “(Being pro-Palestinian is) just against injustice whether you are Arab or not.”

Daoud said he wants events for Israeli Apartheid week to happen every year at OSU.

“I’m hoping it’s going to be a tradition,” Daoud said. “I’m hoping that we’ll have the wall every year, we’ll have the mock eviction notices every year. I want people to almost expect it to happen.”