Maryland’s trial court has just ruled that Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) can host their Oct. 7 awareness event on our campus. But the question remains: should they? While I share SJP’s mission “to promote justice, human rights, and the right of self-determination for the Palestinian people,” I believe hosting this event on Oct. 7 contradicts their values.
According to court details, the “educational event” is intended “to teach the public regarding the genocidal bombing campaign in Gaza.” SJP reasons that since the campaign started that day, the Oct. 7 event is significant for education on the ongoing war. But Oct. 7 is also the day that Hamas militants invaded Israel and killed more than one thousand people– the deadliest attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust.
By choosing Oct. 7 as a significant date to bring awareness to the plight of Palestinians, SJP tries to legitimize the position that the cause of the recent bombing campaign was the Hamas invasion of Israel – meaning Israel would be acting in self-defense. However, in a “declaration of views,” @UMD_SJP on Instagram states that Israel’s right to defend itself collapses when viewed in the context of the events preceding Oct. 7. So which is it: was Israel’s ground invasion of Gaza an act of defense against Hamas’ Oct. 7 invasion, or is Oct. 7 irrelevant to the issue, in which case, why memorialize the suffering of Palestinians on a day known primarily for the slaughter of Israelis by Hamas? It seems more designed to provoke and inflame than educate and inform.
Furthermore, by hosting this event without the collaboration of UMD Hillel or the Jewish Student Union, they have isolated many Jewish students. It should seem contradictory that an organization that “condemns all acts of unlawful violence… committed by either side in the course of the conflict” would choose to selectively ignore what Hamas did and only “educate” people about the Israeli government. Oct. 7 at UMD will no longer be about Terps remembering lost lives.
Some may ask: “Why do you, someone neither Jewish nor Palestinian, feel the need to weigh in on this?” I speak out as a student who cares about the way that we have political disagreements, and the primary people who have been affected by SJP are the students on this campus. Last year, when I ran for President of the Student Government Association (SGA), SJP, along with other student organizations, released a blacklist* of all candidates. This list took this incredibly complicated issue and divided individuals’ perspectives on the conflict into two camps: those who “share our values in human rights” (green) and those who didn’t (red and yellow). They provide no criteria for grading candidates. Effectively, the green people are good—you should vote for them—and the red people are bad. SJP turned what could have been a discussion into a conflict.
This behavior and the decision to host the educational event on Oct. 7 reflect SJP’s Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions guidelines on anti-normalization. However, therein lies the issue. By refusing to talk to people with whom they disagree, SJP has left very little room for progress in their advocacy. They have also undermined their commitment to the first article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.” No organization can claim the mantle of human rights advocate while denying those same rights to others.
My plea to SJP is that they consider the effects this event on Oct. 7 will have on our campus and our ability to have a healthy discourse. I know many of the organizers and participants in SJP value human rights. So, treat each other in ways that promote brotherhood rather than undermine it.
*Editor’s Note: Mitzpeh has independently confirmed the existence of the described blacklist.
