For some in pro-Palestinian circles, “Zionist” is a fairly all-encompassing word.
Instead of labeling something as racist, fascist, colonialist, elitist, nationalist, chauvinist or imperialist they can sum it up with “Zionist.” That was the consensus this weekend at San Francisco State University, where Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition held its fourth annual international convention over the weekend.
“Racism, tribalism, all the ‘isms’ we’re fighting, you cannot exclude Zionism from. If struggling against Zionism isn’t at the core of defining yourself as a progressive, then you’re not. You cannot be progressive if you’re not fighting fascism and Nazism. It’s a package. You can’t be selective in this,” said Michel Shehadeh, one of the keynote speakers at the July 14-16 convention.
Fellow speaker Lamis Jamal Deek added, “There can never be a place for Zionism in the Arab world … Zionism will never be allowed to exist peacefully among the people. Today we again demand the end of the Zionist presence in the Arab world.”
Any talk of a two-state solution was dead on arrival with the 150 to 200 convention attendees, who place Palestinian right of return as a central and non-negotiable tenet of their ethos (one attendee referred to Palestinians who apologize for terror and would compromise on the right of return as “house slaves”).
Israel (or, in the parlance of the conference-goers, the “Zionist entity”) was described as “the last bastion of genocidal racism” and an outpost of imperialism. The rapidly escalating war and scenes of devastation on the ever-present CNN broadcast served as fodder for Shehadeh’s belief that Israel exists largely to keep the Lockheed-Martins of the world humming along.
In addition to taking in speeches, event attendees participated in workshops and smaller panel discussions — one of which featured members of other nationalist movements aligned with the Palestinian cause, including an organization working for an autonomous black homeland in the American South.
A workshop on Israeli divestment highlighted efforts at American universities to pull investments away from companies doing business in the Jewish state as well as academic or material boycotts of Israeli professionals or goods.
Repeated failures for boycotts or divestiture petitions to take hold (including local efforts at U.C. Berkeley or the Rainbow Grocery Coop in San Francisco) were chalked up, again and again, to “Well-funded Zionist opposition” or even “violent Zionist opposition.”
The participants decided to make recommendations to Al-Awda’s decision-making body that “days of action” be held on April 9 (Deir Yassin Day) and November 29 (National Divestment Day), a yet-to-be determined large target for divestment be chosen (probably Israel Bonds or Caterpillar) and a list of Arab-owned grocery stores boycotting Israeli goods be compiled on Al-Awda’s Web site.
“In the Arab community, there is a drive to get store owners not to distribute Israeli commodities. If that store de-shelves Israeli products, they can put up some sort of decal indicating they don’t trade in blood money,” said event moderator Eyad Kishawi.
At a panel on media coverage of the Middle East, the hosts — photographer and filmmaker George Azar and television producer Jamal Dajani — had many of the same laments their fiercely pro-Israel counterparts have voiced about major media coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Azar, who covered the Lebanon War and resides much of the time in Gaza, lamented the “parachute journalism” of correspondents espousing expert views “from the rooftop of the Hilton in Tel Aviv while trying to give you the perspective of the people on the ground in Gaza.” He also spoke of the subtle influence of semantics: Just as pro-Israel activists will go ballistic about the term “militant” being used instead of “terrorist,” Azar chided members of the media for playing along with the Israelis and employing the term “kidnapped” instead of “captured” to describe abducted Israeli soldiers.
Azar said that media correspondents he accompanies as a photojournalist really do read their letters and worry about what letter-writers will pick apart. He encouraged the pro-Palestinian audience to write concise, polite letters. He described Israel’s public-relations ability — widely derided in pro-Israel circles — as effective and said the reverse about Palestinian capabilities (again countering pro-Israel positions).
The event concluded Sunday, July 16 with Kishawi claiming a political victory for it even occurring at SFSU (the school’s General Union of Palestinian Students was an event co-sponsor), where he claimed “enemy forces” have been making life difficult for pro-Palestinian students.
SFSU’s GUPS has long been attempting to win clearance for a mural of Edward Said at the school’s student center and Kishawi feared SFSU President Robert Corrigan would reject the mural’s current design because of the influence exerted by “racist, chauvinist people.”
Yitzhak Santis, the Jewish Community Relations Council’s director of Middle Eastern Affairs attended the weekend conference and predicted a conflict over the mural in the weeks and months to come.
He said he doesn’t object to a mural celebrating Palestinian culture but, as is, the mural would “celebrate a culture of violence and what they call resistance. If you look at the skyline of Jerusalem, there’s a mosque and a church, but no synagogue. It’s exclusionary.”
Santis expressed hope for a compromise, but compromise was not a word held in high regard by conference-goers.
“You have chosen the right goal in right of return. It is a noble goal and worthy goal,” said Shehadeh.
“Stick with it and remember: No compromise for right of return, no compromise in the fight against Zionism, no compromise in fighting for justice and peace no matter how long it takes. We have generations and generations.”
J. staff writer Dan Pine contributed to this report.