Why Israeli Apartheid Week matters

[su_dropcap style=”simple” size=”5″]I[/su_dropcap]Israeli Apartheid Week is happening right now.
For those not in the know, it’s that special time of year where everyone comes together in a show of solidarity and education regarding “Israel as an apartheid system and to build Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions campaigns as part of a growing global BDS movement,” as described by its website.
I can see where some of you might take offense with this, especially at York, a school with high diversity and a very polarized, hyper-political student body, as well as a rough history with anti-apartheid movements on campus. The revocation of Students Against Israeli Apartheid’s club status comes to mind, especially if SAIA is to be believed.
It’s a world conflict that seems to have no end and is now so entrenched, anyone could have a valid reason for picking a side. While the conflict has no end, it’s worth noting Israeli Apartheid Week is important, not necessarily for what it’s promoting, but for what it symbolizes: the open discourse of ideas, and the allowance to promote and speak your voice to the world.
[su_pullquote] It’s a world conflict that seems to have no end and is now so entrenched, anyone could have a valid reason for picking a side. While the conflict has no end, it’s worth noting Israeli Apartheid Week is important, not necessarily for what it’s promoting, but for what it symbolizes: the open discourse of ideas, and the allowance to promote and speak your voice to the world.[/su_pullquote]
Every once in a while, we have someone coming into the office who wants us to publish an a piece of writing that is extremely divisive.
There’s always a debate about whether or not we should publish it. Sometimes, it is well presented, not overtly angry, and articulate, but we disagree with everything it stands for at its core. We toy with the idea of running these pieces, and more often than not, I feel we should because not running them will mean we might have missed an opportunity to do the most important thing: create
a dialogue.
It’s easy to dismiss Israeli Apartheid Week, to deflect and avoid ideas you don’t want to approach, particularly those that speak to you on a level of emotion and history that is inherent to your being, and the conflict in Palestine is nothing if not ingrained in the blood of those who really champion the cause either way.
But this is an opportunity for people on both sides of the debate to open up a conversation about the conflict, without the knee-jerk name calling and the vicious repartee that sometimes happens when you put two people on opposite ends of one of the globe’s most complex issues in the same room together.
The solution to the conflict might have no end, but it’s also worth noting the solution starts with you. Baby steps lead to bigger ones, and as far as the conflict goes, just having a conversation is the smallest step you could take.
So take it.
Abul Malik
Arts Editor