International Solidarity Movement members Sebastian Raul and Magan Wiles presented a speech to raise awareness about the human rights abuses occurring in Palestine in the Busch Student Center Nov. 29.
Attendees included older advocates from the St. Louis area and members of Saint Louis University Solidarity With Palestine: an organization dedicated to nonviolent resistance in support of Palestine liberation.
“Israel engages in the seizure of thousands of Palestinians’ land and those things cannot be justified to appeal for security,” Raul said. “Israel is the initial aggressive actor in many human rights abuses that lead to violence.”
Raul, a graduate of Washington University in t. Louis, addressed the issue of property theft within Palestine. In 1946, Palestinians controlled nearly all of the land within Israel. Over time, though, the Israeli government has taken over the Palestinian land by force, and now controls nearly 90 percent of Israel. Raul said that American privilege could be used in a positive way for human rights.
“I thought I’d like to take proactive movements rather than just sympathize,” Raul said. “If you’re actually, physically there, you can use your body to stop the injustices.”
Wiles, a SLU alumnus, spoke about the “safety” checkpoints within the country. Although the officers managing the checkpoints were inspecting for possible suicide bombers, they often harassed men by making them lift up their shirt and pants, and women by making them take off their hijab.
“I asked myself over and over again: how can they [the Israelis] do this to people?” Wiles said. “The answer is simple: fear.”
Since its inception in 2003, SLU Solidarity With Palestine has been active in the struggle for justice, addressing issues ranging from the freedom and self-determination of the Palestinian people to an end to all forms of terrorism and discrimination directed at Palestinians and Arabs.
The SLU organization also encourages students to take a more active role in learning about current problems in the Middle East and getting involved in human rights organizations.
For those interested in SLU Solidarity for Palestine, the group meets Thursdays at 5:00 p.m. in Ritter Hall 124.
“I have never known anything about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict before,” junior Sandhya Mudumbi said. “I just wanted to hear about the foreign problems first-hand from someone who had been there, and this has caused me to ask more questions.”
Wiles said that supporting human rights is a moral issue, and that domestic action needs to be taken to resist worldwide injustice.
“I don’t do it because I have hope; I do it because I know it’s the right thing to do,” Wiles said. “It’s not just a Palestinian struggle; it’s a struggle in general about the injustice and oppression, and it affects us every day.”