“You are a security risk to the State of Israel! Get on your knees!” the green trench coat-clad actor yelled, impersonating an Israeli army soldier detaining a Palestinian civilian at a West Bank military checkpoint.
Aiming his cardboard-cutout assault rifle at the red-checkered scarf adorning his fellow thespian’s head, he continued to scream.
“Get on your knees! You are in detention! You have no rights here!”
Such was the scene yesterday afternoon in the EMU Amphitheater as the newly formed student group Students for Palestinian Liberation erected an “EMU West Bank Checkpoint” to show the “harsh realities of being Palestinian and living under Israeli military occupation.”
Behind the feuding demonstrators, SPL members erected an “Apartheid Wall” made of picket signs plastered with death toll statistics from the ongoing Israeli–Palestinian conflict. One poster board entitled “Israeli Siege on Gaza” described Operation Cast Lead, a 22-day armed conflict during the winter of 2008-09 that used air strikes and rocket attacks to leave 1,417 Palestinians and 13 Israelis dead.
SPL member Ben Jones handed out fliers at the demonstration, hoping to show University students the conditions under which Palestinians must live during their ongoing struggle for liberation.
“We are raising awareness to the plight of Palestinians in Israeli-occupied Palestine,” Jones said. “It’s informative, but there is also an engagement aspect to it. (We are trying to) reform some of their own opinions.”
Jones added that media depictions of the contentious situation are largely one-sided in Israel’s favor.
“When one missile flies from the West Bank into (Israel), it is an act of terrorism,” Jones said. “But when Israel kills over 1,000 Palestinians in Operation Cast Lead, it’s a ‘security operation.’”
As Jones engaged shocked and curious passers-by, SPL members continued their spectacle.
“These people are security risks to the State of Israel! They are terrorists!” another actor hotly announced to a growing crowd. “Keep moving folks! As long as you are not a terrorist, you have nothing to worry about.”
An SPL member who chose not to be identified said she thinks most University students are ignorant of the conflict.
“It is something that most students at the University of Oregon aren’t aware of,” she said. “It they were aware, then they would be more aware of where they shop (and) where they spend money. If we were aware, we would probably do something about it.”
SPL is hosting an open forum today regarding Palestinian liberation, justice and human rights efforts at 6 p.m. in 142 Straub Hall.
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