A population of 2.3 million people, 47% of whom are children, are being relentlessly bombed, shot at, deprived of shelter and starved to death every day. Tens of thousands are dead, and our government is gleefully funding it. As this occurs, many here on our own soil at Trinity have decided they don’t really care.
Luckily, many others refuse to look away. In the face of massive institutional bias toward Israel and backlash against Palestinian advocacy across the United States, the Muslim Student Association (MSA) has been circulating a statement among student organizations on campus calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Palestinians in Gaza are being brutally killed and maimed by the tens of thousands by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Regarding the situation in Gaza, the United Nations humanitarian and relief coordinator Martin Griffiths said, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like this before. It’s complete and utter carnage.” Since then, the death toll has surpassed 25,000, with no end in sight.
For anyone of conscience in the privileged West, this should be impossible to ignore, but our own Student Government Association (SGA) demonstrated their profound lack of conscience two weeks ago.
On Jan. 31, the SGA meeting was quick and featured mostly trivial matters. However, at the very end of the meeting, President Nguyen stated that SGA would not be signing MSA’s ceasefire agreement. Instead, SGA would extend its “condolences” to those affected. While no vote was held, there was no major pushback against this decision either, as nobody spoke out against this beyond clarifying questions.
This utterly pathetic act of cowardice by Nguyen and SGA comes as no surprise to me given SGA’s connection to Trinity’s administration and Board of Trustees, although I feel obligated to say that Nguyen said SGA’s stance on the ceasefire does not reflect Trinity’s — even though I don’t believe him at all. That is because the spinelessness of Trinity’s administration was brought to my attention last December, when I attended the Personal Experiences with Palestinian Advocacy panel hosted by MSA.
During the event, MSA officers spoke about their experience planning out an event they had hosted a month earlier, a Palestine Teach-In intended to give attendees a better understanding of the conflict in the wake of Oct. 7. One would expect Trinity’s administration to be on board with it, but instead MSA was met with obstacles to the extent that it put the event in jeopardy.
However, when Nammie Ichilov, president of the Jewish Federation of San Antonio (and attendee of a massive pro-Israel demonstration in Washington D.C. in November which took place when Israel’s genocidal campaign was well underway) spoke at Trinity, there were no obstacles. Instead, the event was officially sponsored by Trinity, and President Vanessa Beasley’s special advisor for inclusive excellence personally moderated the event.
Additionally, when demonstrators at Trinity drew pro-Palestinian messages with chalk at the beginning of the semester, they were powerwashed within a day, with Student Affairs citing violations of Trinity’s Solicitation and Promotion Policy. Apparently, the messages were a problem because they undermined Trinity’s branding. If messages calling for an end to genocide are contrary to Trinity’s branding, Trinity needs a major rebrand..
SGA and Trinity’s administration have shown they are, at best, unwilling to take a stand on Israel’s genocide, and at worst, they have endorsed it. Our administration has actively worked to silence or suppress Palestinian advocacy while supporting people that proudly support the brutal Israeli regime.
Trinity calling for a ceasefire would send a powerful message of justice to students and other universities, empowering more people to speak up. Additionally, Trinity is an influential institution locally, so its voice would be huge considering efforts to get San Antonio’s city council to call for a ceasefire have stagnated. Notably, San Antonio’s mayor Ron Nirenberg, someone who has pushed back against calls for a ceasefire, is a Trinity alumnus who could be swayed by Trinity.
At this point, however, just calling for a ceasefire is insufficient, as the history of the conflict is filled with far more injustice than the current violence. Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestinians did not start last year, but in 1948, when Zionist forces slaughtered 13,000 Palestinians and expelled 750,000 more. This marks the beginning of the Israeli state, and it defines its core: it is a textbook example of a genocidal regime, settler colonialism and destruction of Indigenous society.
To be clear, I’m not placing the blame on civilians. People’s attitudes are shaped by the systems that govern them and by the threats they face, which explains the anti-Palestinian sentiment present in Israel. Palestinian resistance has life-threatening consequences for Israelis, but what many don’t understand is that violent resistance is the natural consequence of Israeli colonialism. Palestinians are one of the most oppressed peoples in the world, and condemnation of their violent resistance to said oppression rings hollow.
The real battle — beyond a ceasefire — is calling for the abolition of the Israeli regime in favor of one absent of racial, ethnic and religious oppression. Trinity’s failure to even call for an end to the razing of Gaza, much less anything beyond that, demonstrates a lack of understanding of justice by the administration.
So to Trinity University and SGA: Shame on you, and shame on anyone who fails to make their voice heard in the face of blatant imperialism and genocide. Failure to take the side of the oppressed constitutes support of the oppressor, and it is immediately and urgently necessary for Palestinians to have allies here in the most powerful nation in the world.
There are no two sides; there is no middle ground. Gaza needs the world, and every individual has the power to speak out on the side of justice. Don’t let history remember you as someone who stood idly by in the face of unspeakable atrocities. Trinity must be pushed to call for a ceasefire, as every single day could be any Palestinian’s last.
Kippi Engle • Feb 21, 2024 at 9:45 am
You are right! Please keep up the good work and spreading this message. So many people don’t even know the history, and if they did- I think they would have more compassion for the people of Gaza.
Michele Cooper • Feb 17, 2024 at 9:29 am
#JewsForPalestine say right on! Never again is for everyone.
Daniel Greenfeld • Feb 16, 2024 at 10:04 am
Worth noting that the Trinitonian does not allow links, so here are some search terms, most have their own wikipedia page that serve as good starting places, some of them verbatim below, roughly in order of appearance:
– History of Jews and Judiasm in the Land of Israel
– 3D Test of Antisemitism
– Balfour Declaration
-1929 Hebron Massacre
– Jewish land purchase in Palestine
– Hajj Amin al-Husayni meets with Hitler
– Pan-Arabism
– 1947-1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine (Big one, here–important historical content)
– Jewish Exodus from the Muslim World
– Hamas Officials Vow to Repeat Oct 7 Attacks
Daniel Greenfeld • Feb 16, 2024 at 9:51 am
While this isn’t how I’d like to spend my Friday mornings, there aren’t a lot of Jews out there, and there aren’t a lot of Trinity Alumni out there, and as one of the few at the center of this Venn-Diagram, I feel I need to correct the ignorance displayed in this opinion piece.
And that’s what it is, right?
An opinion piece?
A strong one, too.
Strong opinions based on ignorance are dangerous, and when they revolve around an absolute misunderstanding of Israel, its founding, motivations, and more, and revolve around Jews, this danger seems to escalate.
Before I get into the history lesson here, I do want to suggest that, in general, if one has studied history and finds themselves thinking, “Well, yes the Jews have been demonized in the past before, but….but time…this time they really are the bad guys!” at least a *small* red flag should pop up in one’s mind.
And yes–before anyone starts telling me that criticism of Israel is not antisemitic, yadda, yadda, yadda–if your opinions on reality are founded on antisemitism, correct that first, then we can audit which criticisms are and are not antisemitic.
There’s this population notion that non-Jews seem to try to explain to me that it’s antisemetic of me to assume that Jews support Israel, or that Israel is in some way Jewish.
Here’s the reality of the Jewish community’s thoughts on the matter:
Israel is the Jewish state. 80% of the citizens are Jewish, 20% are not, and Israel has no plans to turn that 80% into 100%, but Israel is a Jewish state. (more on that later).
Most Jews support Israel, and even those **highly critical** of Israel believe it **should exist.**
And, the Jewish community, who gets to define Zionism, essentially defines modern zionism as this: “I think Israel should exist. I do not think Israel should be abolished.”
The number of Jews who are not zionists, by the *Jewish definition of Zionism*, those that believe that Israel should not exist is *vanishingly small.*
Even with 16 million of us, you can still find 160,000 token Jews to represent this 1% opinion, but rest assured–most Jews believe Israel should exist.
So yes– we’re discussing Jews, not just Israel.
No, it is not antisemitic to conflate Israel with Jews.
It’s friggin’ Israel
And, if you don’t believe, spend some time in a Jewish community and see what they say. And no, of course, JVP does not count.
Curious as to why?
Spend some time in a Jewish community, see what they say.
The reason I’m getting into all this is because, before we get into the history here, I want to establish that people have a history of hatred and othering towards Jews. Hopefully this isn’t new information to anyone reading this, but, to the author, understanding that their interpretation of Israel lands at an intersection between ahistorical events and ingrained antisemitism is important.
Because what you will need to understand is that you and me are not arguing about whether Reality A is right or wrong.
You did not write a piece saying, “I think Reality A is horrible!” and I’m responding with, “I think Reality A is fine.”
You wrote a piece saying, “I think Reality A is horrible!” and I’m going to explain to you that reality is in fact Reality B, and your interpretation of history and current events is incorrect, and largely based on antisemitism.
I have a feeling it’ll get back to Israel’s founding, which is why you linked Al Jazeera’s article on the events of 1948.
Spoiler alert: “This conflict is so simple–here–read this Al Jazeera article on it,” is a bit of a microcosm of what’s going on here.
Let me present “another version” of history in what might be one of Ms. Frizzle’s (–Jew, by the way–) most ill-conceived, yet clearly important, magic school bus trips yet.
Beep beep.
First we go back to the 1920’s and 30’s where Jewish migration to British controlled Palestine starts ramping up in the 1920’s and 1930’s. This migration is mostly legal, feel free to read about the Balfour Declaration (and note that before your heart starts gleefully pounding to cry Colonialism, hold that thought because, boy, do the British not look back fondly on this decision. We’ll have to travel school bus to later in the 1940’s to get to that point though, so hold on.) Also, feel free to read up on legal land purchasing as well, and note the antisemitism among the reasons the previous owners of the region, the Ottoman Empire, didn’t let Jews move in.
Prior to this, when the Jews were a smaller percentage of people in Israel, the arabs of the region were content to simply progrom us from time to time.
Now that there were more however, this influx of Jews could not stand. Violence increases, Jewish militias form, and a back and forth begins to ramp. Ingrained antisemitism is prevalent in the region, and the arab leaders are so impressed with Europe’s particular brand of it, that they meet with Hitler.
There cannot be peace with Jews in the region, not only because of this ingrained antisemitism, but because of a concept called Pan-Arabism that was on the rise during this period. As with many of these concepts, even just the wikipedia page should be informative.
So– too many Jews in Palestine!
What are we going to do about it?
Well, the fighting ramps up.
And not just Jews vs. Arabs. Jews vs. Arabs vs. Brits, Jews & Brits vs. Arabs, Brits & Arabs vs. Jews.
What is called “British Mandate Palestine” starts to get too chaotic what Britain believes they can control, and they want out.
What follows are several suggested solutions of sharing the land. The Jews accept these, the arabs do not.
At this point, you might perhaps be asking yourself, “So what? Hatred of Jews aside, the people in a region were upset that people were immigrating to that region.” Except there is nothing unprecedented about this migration, there were plenty of land and resources to go around, and Israel was not chosen as the location for the Jews by British Colonialists throwing darts at globe–it’s our homeland, too.
So, then, the Jews come in and kick 750,000 arabs out of their homes right?
Oh, wait, no.
After rejecting every peace deal offered, the arabs in regional Palestine and the bordering regions decided to declare war on Israel:
This is the one that most people with your opinion never seem to know. It’s a great litmus test. You say, “Okay, that happened in 1948. What happened in 1947?” and they blink and say, “…What do you mean?” And I’ll say, “What prompted the displacement of 750,000 arabs?” “Uh, the arrival of the Jews?”
No– after being discontent with Jews in their land, after meeting with Hitler, after rejecting every peace deal offered, the arabs in the region declare war on Israel. Key words to google here are, “1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine.”
Please note the date of this war on November of 1947, rather than May of 1948.
It is only then, after losing this war, that the Israeli’s push those 750,000 arabs out of their homes.
Of course, I can only assume that you will follow your opinion piece on Israel with an equally passionate opinion piece defending the 900,000 Jews that were pushed from Muslim countries before, during, and after this time:
In the decades that follow, Palestinian leadership elects terrorist after terrorist, refusing every deal for a two state solution offered.
Colonialism and genocide are dangerous accusations.
It is no coincidence that the term genocide is being warped to be weaponized against the Jews. Can you, perhaps, think of a reason those who hate the Jews would want to devalue the term genocide?
And, of course the term colonialism is being used to describe the Jews in literally Israel, because against what other minority could this term be bent and broken to such ill-fitting and aggressive use.
However, let me be clear: For those 750,000 arabs expelled from their homes, the experience must have been tragic. For civilians in Gaza, the effects of this war against must also be tragic. War always causes the death of innocents, but surely Gaza, spearheaded by a terrorist organization that uses human shields, encourages martyrdom, and considers every innocent death a victory against Israel is causing unprecedented amounts of innocent deaths.
So– here’s what happened:
Hamas, an organization dedicated to the genocide of Jews worldwide, made it clear that they are a danger to innocents in Israel, by murdering and raping their way into the country. Then they made it clear that, if given the chance, they would repeat doing so at every opportunity.
Hamas has intercepted all aid meant for innocents, used pipes meant for water for rockets, kept Gaza in a miserable state, building tunnels under homes, stocking weapons in hospitals, launched rockets from schools, used UN funds to brainwash their children, and dedicating their entire existence to winning a war against Israel first and foremost on the only feasible front they can win it: Information.
That’s how you have someone like the writer of this article, with a loose, antisemitic (likely subconscious), ahistorical view, accusing the Jews of genocide and demanding the abolition of the Jewish state.
Oh, also, while you’re writing that opinion piece on the hundreds of thousands of Jews forced out of the arab world, perhaps you could write an opinion piece on the other countries you regularly call for to be abolished.
Oh….it’s only the Jewish one?
Weird.
The lack of scholarship is frustrating, especially combined with the passion exercised.
The ignorance and antisemitism (again, an antisemetic framing of past and current events is still antisemitism) are dangerous.
But to have all this, and write this article where you say, “it’s so simple! There’s just one side!” is a lack of self-awareness that boggles the mind.
There are 16 million Jews.
Don’t act surprised when antisemitic voices drown us out.
But if you want to accuse my people of a crime invented to describe the Holocaust, have some damn scholarly rigor before you do it.
Sincerely,
Daniel Greenfeld
Class of 2014
Zionist Jew