Written by Holly Kilroy and Jessie Levene for the Alternative Information Center (AIC)
Amid much pomp and great expectations came a symposium this Monday, the 27^th of August, with Martin Luther King III, entitled, “Realizing the Dream in the Middle East.” At the Hebrew University’s campus on Mount Scopus, people packed into the overflowing auditorium, patiently awaiting some words of wisdom from the son of the revered civil rights leader.
However, what followed was hugely disappointing. In three hours of talking, all bar one of the speakers managed to skillfully avoid even the mention of the Palestinians. What may have been an inspiring speech from Dr. King in other circumstances, was painfully off-target as he stood in the eye of the storm of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and failed even to acknowledge it. Surrounded by an abundance of relevant Palestinian examples, he drew only on cases of Black and Hispanic discrimination, and spoke mostly about denouncing violence.
The only speaker to address the omnipresent issue was Maram Masarwi, a Palestinian-Israeli member of the Hebrew University staff, who asked, “Where is the Arab Martin Luther King Jr.?” But even this speech skirted the issues, focusing mainly on improving the participation of women in politics.
The speeches were concluded with another faculty member, Eldad J. Pardo’s talk on “Love of Life in Iran: King’s Message of Truth and Love versus the Cult of Martyrdom,” in which he claimed we must bring an end to the Arab “Culture of Death.”
Throughout the symposium, the audience was treated to renditions of the song “Jerusalem of Gold,” an Arabic love song, and last but not least, “Amazing Grace.” While the singer made a point of mentioning the apolitical nature of the Arabic song, she failed to mention the intensely political history of “Jerusalem of Gold.” The song itself was written by Naomi Shemer in early 1967, which, through its grieving of the Old City’s “emptiness,” denies even the existence of the Arabs who lived there. Following the 1967 War and the occupation of East Jerusalem, a new verse was added which triumphantly celebrates Israel’s capture of the Old City, in particular, the return of Judaism to the Temple Mount. The choice of this particular song, which is subject to much political scrutiny, implicitly reveals the political mindset of the organizers, the Hebrew University.
The location of this symposium on peace in the Middle East was hypocritical itself—the Hebrew University has expanded into Palestinian territories and surrounds Palestinian houses with its campus buildings. (For further evidence of discriminatory action by the Hebrew University, see the AIC report, /The Case for Academic Boycott Against Israel <http://www.alternativenews.org/news/english/the-case-for-academic-boycott-against-israel-20070823.html>/).
Furthermore, there was a glaring shortage of Palestinian attendees at the symposium. Were they invited? Were they denied entry into Jerusalem without previously attaining an elusive permit? Alternatively, were they simply denied access to the university grounds without a police-issued “Certificate of Integrity,” because they were Arab, as have so many before?
Thankfully, following the conclusion of speeches and songs, the floor was opened to questions. The majority of these questions were critical of the symposium’s avoidance of the Palestinian issue, with many cutting comments regarding Palestinian human rights and several invitations to Mr. King to visit the West Bank.
However, the resultant reports of the event in the next day’s newspapers were wholly positive, failing to mention either its lack of relevance to the Middle East or the audience’s scathing criticisms.
In conclusion, unless the Hebrew University reverses its discriminatory policies and actions, “the Dream in the Middle East” will never be realized, and this symposium will have been nothing more than a photo-op and PR victory.