Spring Break
Group raises Israel, Palestine awareness
First events involve names of victims in conflict, film screening
Frank Pellegrino
Issue date: 4/23/09 Section: Campus News
The Society for Peace and Justice in Palestine (SPJP) held its first event of the year, 'A Day of Action,' on Tuesday.
During the day, group members wrote the names of people who have died throughout the conflict on the Campus Mall with the hopes of grabbing the attention of UW-Eau Claire students.
Established just a few months ago, SPJP was formed by students on campus who were particularly alarmed by Israel's strikes on Gaza, said senior Armon Tabrizi, the group's vice president.
Similar groups exist on many campuses, but the UW-Eau Claire SPJP is not affiliated with any national or international organization.
Jamie Browning, secretary of SPJP, said there is good reason for the lack of a larger entity.
"We didn't want to be a group that's signed up to any particular ideology or particular solution," Browning said. "We wanted people to be able to come to the group and not be agreeing to some other group's definition of what should be happening."
Tabrizi said he hopes there are a few things students came away with if they saw the display.
"The numbers and the disproportion (were a main goal)," Tabrizi said. "I think the visual of it and seeing the names does the most; you can't even see the end of the names if you stand on one side or the other."
Although the memorial was startling to see, Browning added that group members were only able to display about one-fifth of the total names.
Later Tuesday night, the group held a meeting in Schneider Hall where two short films were shown, followed by numerous discussions.
The first film, titled 'Is Peace of Reach?' was a 60 Minutes piece by Bob Simmons. The segment focused on the growing number of Israelis and Palestinians who feel a two-state solution in their region is impossible.
"I think it was one of the best assessments of the situation that I have seen, especially from American media," Tabrizi said.
Browning added they wanted to make sure what they chose was going to be mainstream and not lean towards a particular side of the conflict.
After a discussion and clarifying people's questions, the group followed up with an interview with Jimmy Carter from the Rachel Maddow Show. In the interview, Carter talked about how he thinks a peaceful solution is possible but must happen soon.
"We just want people to speak their views when it comes to this information," Tabrizi said. "Even on both sides … I think talking and information sharing is key."
During the day, group members wrote the names of people who have died throughout the conflict on the Campus Mall with the hopes of grabbing the attention of UW-Eau Claire students.
Established just a few months ago, SPJP was formed by students on campus who were particularly alarmed by Israel's strikes on Gaza, said senior Armon Tabrizi, the group's vice president.
Similar groups exist on many campuses, but the UW-Eau Claire SPJP is not affiliated with any national or international organization.
Jamie Browning, secretary of SPJP, said there is good reason for the lack of a larger entity.
"We didn't want to be a group that's signed up to any particular ideology or particular solution," Browning said. "We wanted people to be able to come to the group and not be agreeing to some other group's definition of what should be happening."
Tabrizi said he hopes there are a few things students came away with if they saw the display.
"The numbers and the disproportion (were a main goal)," Tabrizi said. "I think the visual of it and seeing the names does the most; you can't even see the end of the names if you stand on one side or the other."
Although the memorial was startling to see, Browning added that group members were only able to display about one-fifth of the total names.
Later Tuesday night, the group held a meeting in Schneider Hall where two short films were shown, followed by numerous discussions.
The first film, titled 'Is Peace of Reach?' was a 60 Minutes piece by Bob Simmons. The segment focused on the growing number of Israelis and Palestinians who feel a two-state solution in their region is impossible.
"I think it was one of the best assessments of the situation that I have seen, especially from American media," Tabrizi said.
Browning added they wanted to make sure what they chose was going to be mainstream and not lean towards a particular side of the conflict.
After a discussion and clarifying people's questions, the group followed up with an interview with Jimmy Carter from the Rachel Maddow Show. In the interview, Carter talked about how he thinks a peaceful solution is possible but must happen soon.
"We just want people to speak their views when it comes to this information," Tabrizi said. "Even on both sides … I think talking and information sharing is key."
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Reader
posted 4/25/09 @ 4:57 PM CST
If the Arabs put down their weapons, there would be no conflict.
I sure hope the kind of the inadvertent anti-Semitism that this group is the promoting in the name of tolerance and understanding doesn't continue. (Continued…)
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