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Monday, August 13, 2007

 

Ragged Little Boys and Keys Scare San Francisco Zionists



Wanna know how to scare a Zionist?
Show them a picture of a ragged little refugee boy or an old woman holding a key to her property.
This seems to have sent San Francisco advocates for a Jews privileged and Jews preferred Palestine into a tizzy and unfortunately San Francico State University's General Union of Palestine Students gave in to Zionist pressure after a two year battle to scrap Naji Al Ali's famous ten year old refugee Handala holding a key as part of an Edward Said mural.
Shame on the students. Better to scrap the mural altogether than to foolishly compromise with those who have stolen Palestine. Now you let them hijack enduring symbols of Palestinian justice and give them their own twisted definitions?
My letter to SFGUPS:
Dear Members of SFGUPS:

I strongly disagree with the compromise you've reached with the Jewish community which means that Handala with the house key is excluded from the mural. Evidently, in order to appease the Zionists, GUPS has foolishly agreed to a mural which is useless since the heart and soul of Palestine, the sacred and inalienable right to return, symbolized by Handala holding a key, will not be depicted on the mural. Instead of compromising, I wish that GUPS had carefully explained that the Palestinians' right of return is part of international law, as stated in Article 13, Section 2, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

It pains me to see young Palestinians so quick to compromise on human rights in order to have the opportunity to attend concerts with their oppressors (“The last couple of years, our Israel Coalition has been putting out feelers all the time, inviting them to all the concerts we’ve had on campus. And they’ve been coming, which they hadn’t in the past.”),

http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/33201/format/html/displaystory.html

A reminder about Handala from Naji Al Ali:

http://www.handala.org/naji.html

"I am Handala from the Ain Al-Helwa camp. I give my word of honor that I'll remain loyal to the cause..."

How telling really that the Zionists are so frightened of the symbol of a barefoot, ragged child, and how ashamed I am that Handala, a symbol of all vulnerable refugees, is so easily disregarded by his own people. A great coup for Zionist propaganda and Jewish supremacists and an opportunity lost for Palestine.

Please consider further these words of Handala's creator and ask yourselves if your compromise is really a victory or a cowardly concession:

"The character of Handala was a sort of icon that protected my soul from falling whenever I felt sluggish or I was ignoring my duty. That child was like a splash of fresh water on my forehead, bringing me to attention and keeping me from error and loss. He was the arrow of the compass, pointing steadily towards Palestine."


Comments:
i like this idea, we should all get these keys.
 
You're right, Um Khalil, this is pretty sad. Thanks for the update on this story. I wonder what GUPS has to say for themselves and I wonder how Corrigan was able to get away with this clear state censorship.
 
Dear Um Khalil,
Please email me as soon as possible, so I may interview you about this mural. I am writing a news story about the modified mural for SFSU's newspaper.

Thank You,
Juliet Blalack
juliet_s_blalack@hotmail.com
 
i cant believe they did that- i had no idea. frankly, i am shocked that they would do such a thing- after all this is a form of censorship. let me know if you get a response from them...
 
Zionists are now trying to suppress Joel Kovel and Pluto Press books. See "UMichigan Press Caves, Protects Zionism"
 
Handala Banned Again
http://vfpdissident.blogspot.com/2007/10/handala-banned-again.html
http://tinyurl.com/2cynfk
 
As a current and active member of GUPS at SF State, I would like to say that this, we did not actually care to "appease the Zionists." After pushing for two years to get this mural up, the President of SFSU let us know that it would not go up with Handala or the key because people at the school and in the community found it offensive. We explained the symbols until we were all blue in the face, but considering the great amount of financial donations to SFSU made by the Zionist organizations, Corrigan would not allow it and as we were told by our lawyers that he had full and final say in what was allowed to be put up in the school. Considering most of the active members were graduating, there was a good chance that it would never go up and the Zionists would have succeeded in stoping any mural. Please don't waste your time attacking friends while we are making an effort and so many others stand idle. Please feel free to email me any responses as I do not subscribe to this blog. hassanaburish@yahoo.com
 
One more thing that I had wanted to mention, the last Israeli event/concert was ended prematurely because we hung signs and some stood right in front of the stage with large banners that read things like "Israelis celebrate while Palestinian men, women, and children are being slaughtered in Gaza." so don't be so quick to make assumptions.
-Hassan
 
Hassan wrote, " ... we were told by our lawyers that he had full and final say in what was allowed to be put up in the school."

How could this be? It seems like this is a clear cut violation of the First Amendent. What lawyer gave this advice? Did you contact the ACLU and NGL?
 
I meant the NLG i.e. National lawyers Guild.
 
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