Demonstrations where volunteers are stopped, searched and questioned were hosted by the Muslim Student’s Association and Students for Justice in Palestine to simulate the real-life struggles Palestinians are currently facing, because of the border regulations, through mock checkpoints.
Palestine Awareness Week, which is a yearly event, brings an “apartheid wall” to campus as a representation of the wall put up by Israel to separate Israelis from Palestinians.
“This conflict has existed since the birth of Israel,” said Aliyah Shaikh, former board member and active member of the MSA.
Both sides of the wall are covered with information about Palestine and the laws enforced on them by Israel. The event, led by MSA and Students for Justice in Palestine, is also providing lectures and discussions in the evenings this week exploring and explaining the conflict.
In the past, since there are no cameras facing the open area in front of the bookstore the organizers would have to sleep on campus to guard the wall because people would vandalize it at night, Alghweir said.
The purpose of the wall is to represent the wall that surrounds the Palestinians.
Currently, the Palestinians are confined to the Gaza Strip and West Bank and must go through a checkpoint to leave and return to Palestine, Shaikh said.
The separation between Israel and Palestine hinders all aspects of the Palestinians’ lives, such as attending school and receiving medical care, according to Shaikh.
“This is not humane,” Shaikh said. “People’s human rights are being violated.”
The MSA and SJP create mock checkpoints where some students dress like Israeli soldiers and others dress like Palestinians to create a visual experience of going through a checkpoint. Some Palestinian students became emotional when they were reminded of the trauma they’d been through while going through the real checkpoints, Shaikh said.
Emad Alghweir, vice-president of MSA, traveled around Israel, went through different checkpoints and witnessed the hardships the people there are experiencing. Because he was an American, he was able to pass through the checkpoints with ease.
“The majority of the Palestinian people are living in this suppressed environment,” Alghweir said.
He said he saw people trying to get through the checkpoint so they could receive medical attention, but the Israeli soldiers stopped them and made them wait.
“I was like, ‘Wow.’ ” Alghweir said. “Just because I have this piece of paper, I’m better than him?”
Though most students went up and read the information on the wall or watched the mock checkpoint demonstrations, others weren’t so peaceful. According to Alghweir, there have been two instances this week where people came to argue with the organizers.
On Tuesday on student came up to the PAW organizers and argued with them, to try and get a reaction, said Alghweir. But the organizers remained calm and the student left frustrated.
They said things such as “Palestinians are rapists” and, “Why don’t they just leave,” Alghweir said. He said it appeared to him as if they were just trying to get a reaction, but everyone just remained calm.
“I love the Long Beach community and I know there is a lot of open-minded people here who will understand what’s right and what’s wrong,” said Alghweir. “They will speak up about it.”
For more information on Palestine Awareness Week and the times and locations of the lectures, visit SJP’s Facebook page.