[WA-News] Zionism makes a stand

[Jennifer Radloff]

'WCAR A Racist Conference'. 'Hate Literature at WCAR'.

The advocates of Zionism set up a stand at the international NGO Forum
against racism being held in Durban this week, arguing their case.

Palestine has been on the agenda of every forum, every meeting. Pictures of
the atrocities visited on Palestinians take up some of the most prominent
spaces in the cricket stadium where the forum is being held. Every second
person seems to wear some symbol of support for the Palestinian struggle.
And the Palestinians themselves are omnipresent.

The Jewish students who set up the table were under no illusions about the
reaction they would face. They were besieged by outraged Palestion
supporters who were appalled that they had the audacity to put forward
their case (as one of the event organisers muttered as he walked away from
the scene). For most of the day, the Jewish stand was surrounded by
security officers. These guards did not interfere in the proceedings, but
often stood between the proponents of each side of the argument.

I spoke to one of those on the stall, Ital Amir from the World Union of
Jewish Students. He had previously been speaking to a television
journalist, but was unable to speak coherently due to constant heckling
from Palestinian supporters. He defended Zionism, saying that Israel is the
only haven for Jews looking for shelter from the forces of anti-Semitism.
As far as he is concerned, anti-Zionism equates anti-Semitism.

"We are totally discriminated against, this is a result of many pro-Muslim
communities here and propaganda being made against Israel and against
America," he claimed.

There is truth in his claim. It was difficult for the Jewish voices to be
heard above the cries of 'Viva Palestine' building up around the stand. The
only time they managed to distribute T-shirts and posters freely was the
last morning of the conference, when the majority of NGO delegates were
either attending the opening of the official conference, or out on the
streets protesting about issues not being raised there.

But Ital seemed oblivious of the case against Zionism. The recent deaths of
Palestinian leaders in missile attacks were dismissed by the students as
the terrorists' just desserts. The plight of the Palestinian people, those
within and outside Israel, was ignored, or marginalised.

A Palestinian man, identified as Mustafa, spoke up at the thematic
discussion on Indigenous people later in the day. He lives in Israel and
described in detail the living conditions that he and his family have to
deal with. Electricity lines that stop at the end of the Jewish houses, 400
metres away from his own home. A dearth of schools and hospitals.
Discrimination in employment.

Mohamed Jarnah lives in the Occupied Territories. He spoke at a meeting
entitled 'Voices of Migrant Workers: Racism in Modern Slavery', bringing up
the difficulties faced by workers trying to find work in Israel, claiming
that 40 percent of the 650 men killed entering or leaving the Occupied
Territories were those working illegally in Israel, forced to run a barrage
of military posts to try and earn some money.

Yoav Bar, a Palestinian from an organisation called Sons of the Country
responded to the point of view put forward by Ital. "We have a lot of
solidarity from all nations and all ethnic minorities, they all support our
struggle as we support theirs," he said. "It is one struggle and everyone
is doing their part of the struggle."

His views on Zionism as racism were re-iterated by an anti-Zionist Jewish
group, Neturei Karta International. The group was much in demand, speeding
from one seminar or press conference to another. The heart of their
argument is that Judaism in its traditional form is fundamentally opposed
to the Zionist policies of Israel, that this denies the 'Divine Punishment
inherent in the Jewish people's exile'.

The Palestinian question has been embraced by this conference. But whether
a genuine solution can be found when the voices of one side of the conflict
-- aggressor or otherwise -- are being drowned out, remains to be seen.


Sonia Randhawa is a Malaysian journalist with Radiq Radio. She is a member
of the WCAR Women's Media Team of ISIS International-Manila.