Upon reading the article in the Aggie about the act of vandalism, I was greatly saddened to hear that people responded so negatively. In my opinion, this was not a message of hate, but a message of peace: The peaceful coexistence between Jews and Muslims, Israelis and Arabs, which people often forget should be the endpoint of the Middle East conflict.
When I first saw the unaltered mural on campus, I was horrified. Here, on a mural supposedly showing off Davis’ commitment to diversity was a symbol that, among other things, represents the murder and genocide of millions of innocent Jews and the ethnic cleansing of Judea. The bird, to me, seemed to aspire to a Jew-free Palestine, where Jews are not allowed to live or visit, which the current Palestinian leadership is, unfortunately, trying to create. In the light of the past year’s hate crimes against Jews and Israelis across the UC system, I felt this was in bad taste. Worse, I was deeply offended that a mural supposedly celebrating the diversity of the campus didn’t have a single symbol of Judaism anywhere. Jews are a minority in UC Davis, and we come in all races and colors. To leave the victims of hate crimes both in California and abroad throughout history off a mural that’s supposed to celebrate minorities seemed like an atrocity. I felt when looking at the mural, as I did when the hate crimes occurred, and as I do now, that Jews and Israelis are not welcome on campus, nor in the world the architects of this mural envision.
To me, the vandalism serves two purposes. The first is to “take back the paint,” so to speak, and show that Jews on this campus should not fear for their lives as we did in the spring, but can know that we have some power and that someone on the campus is willing to fight for our rights at a time when it is fashionable not to do so. The second is to make an offensive mural less offensive.
Consider if the vandal had more artistic skill, and was able to seamlessly integrate the symbol of Israel with the symbol of Palestine, so that the casual observer assumed the two were meant to be together. Wouldn’t that be beautiful? An Israeli-Palestinian-Peace bird, soaring upward and forward and taking both peoples to a bright new future where the hatred and the one-sided arguments that defined the 2009-2010 UC year were no longer in fashion. The tag was not a symbol of hate. It erased one, and made it a symbol of partnership. A two-state-solution, representing UC Davis’ commitment to peace, to freedom of expression and the continuing presence of Israeli students on a campus that, so far, has made no efforts to hide its disdain for them and views of them as secondary citizens. The mural now truly represents all of Davis’ minorities, including the one race that has suffered the most on this particular campus.
The best way to respond to this is not to blindly hate the change and certainly not to compare it to the hate crimes of last year (comparing Israel to Nazis is anti-Semitic, inaccurate, offensive and a common trick used to promote hatred against Jews and Israelis on campuses and in foreign nations). Rather, the campus should address the motives for the action: why did the vandal resort to covert action instead of openly stating his or her grievance? Why do Jews on campus feel too intimidated to speak up? Should we be proud that we held a week of anti-Israel activities on campus immediately following the arson of our Hillel in 2001? If the campus sees this as a hate crime instead of a glaring sign of how Jews and Israelis on this campus feel threatened, oppressed and unprotected despite the weak efforts of the campus to end hate, then it is doing itself a disservice. Perhaps the campus should ask itself why Jews (and gays, for that matter!) were left out of a mural promoting diversity and minorities, when hate crimes against these minority groups have surged in past years.
Vandalism, in any form, is always a crime, but I think this was a crime of love, and a sincere wish for peace. I’m sorry to see Students for Justice in Palestine pervert this message of cooperation into a supposed attack, and hope we see this as an opportunity for reconciliation and apology for past wrongs, not as an excuse for propaganda and a furtherance of bad blood.
Matan Shelomi is a graduate student in entomology.
This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever read. Pointing out the truth about the atrocities the state of Israel has committed is neither anti-Semitic or racist. It is simply the truth whether you choose to accept it or not. We seek justice for the Palestinian people whether Christian, Muslim, or Jewish. This is not an issue of race or religion, its simply an issue of truth against untruth. Get with the program and stop spewing ridiculous propaganda.
@mash…no need to get upset 🙂 speaking for myself, there was no racism in my comment. i stated my interpretation of history. your definition of “neutral book on the mideast” may differ from mine, and i respect your right to an opinion.
also, i am not questioning your right to be afraid on campus. it’s unfortunate that anybody on campus would feel unsafe because the campus should always be a place where all students should be able to live and learn in peace.
with respect to superimposing the star of david on the palestinian flag…you’d be in a better moral position to say that if you were open to it working both ways. once you’re ok with the palestinaian flag having being displayed on israeli murals, then you can talk.
also, you’re making it out to be a religious issue by saying that israel existed before palestine and before islam. the mural made no depiction of anything islamic, so for you to bring religion into the argument is irrelevant. bear in mind that christian arabs associate with palestine the same way muslim arabs do.
No one is trying to erase jews from palestine…no ones even mentioned that. You however are trying to erase Palestinians or since you don’t like that term, indigenous SEMITES from their rightful land and replace them with european born jews. And stop playing the victim as there is no reason for you to feel threatened on campus and if you truly did feel threatened you wouldn’t be posting on newspapers such as the aggie rather you would be keeping a low profile or have complained to the police about an incident that made you feel threatened. I’m going to go out on a limb and say you haven’t.
Dear Matan:
With all due respect, give me a fcuking break. This act of vandalism has absolutely no room for justification. Had the dove been originally painted in blue and white, and a vandal had put Palestinian symbols on it, no one including yourself would have remotely seen it as a symbol of peace. Your article is a classic case of oppressive propaganda. To argue otherwise is an insult to the intelligence that has given you the power to speak such lies. As for the fact that you feel threatened on campus, this does not in any way justify the vandalism that took place. This article is the only one I have seen in this newspaper that justifies the acts of criminals. I shouldn’t be surprised, however, that it comes from a Zionist like you.
You see? These comments are exactly the kind of hateful statements I’m talking about.
You have no right to tell me whether or not I should feel threatened on this campus. The fact is I DO!
Read any neutral history book on the mideast, like one of the History for Dummies books. It will state clearly that Jews lived in the Holy Land long before the term “Palestine” came into use, millennia before Islam. You can’t just erase that.
As for why the star of david was in the center of the bird: if you superimpose the Israel and Palestinian flags over each other, that’s exactly how it would look. I try to make a statement asking for cooperation and peace in the Aggie, and it’s immediately turned into an excuse for propaganda. Stop constantly spouting bile and bullshit and try to work together with us! Israel is never going away, so either work to make peace and look forward or keep your racist comments to yourselves.
with all due respect, as the author is entitled to his opinion, this article is objectively incorrect.
the author makes several factual mistakes which can be attributed to his blatant opposition to the fair treatment of palestinians. at no point in time, was palestine ever “jew free”, the same way it was never “christian free”, as the indigenous people of the land (not the russains and europeans who claim “birth right”) have maintained religious institutions of all faiths for generations. ethnic cleansing of the land was perpetrated by zionist immigrants against arabs. it is these same zionist settlers who continued to be “horrified” by the presence of palestine.
on a more direct note, this mural was dedicated effectively to 3rd world countries. Israel is most certainly not a 3rd world country. Therefor, Israel/the star of david, has no place on the mural.
For the author to get offended, “horrified” even, conveys his view that any palestinian symbol that isn’t tagged with the star of david is offensive. He is plainly cut from the same cloth as those whose “crimes of love” as settlers who destroy palestinian homes in the occupied territory and plant the israeli flag as a symbol of domination as if saying “you have no right to exist without being under our control.”
This sentiment and this article are insulting to the intelligence of any fair minded person.
You being a graduate student should be a lot smarter than to even think this B.S. This act of vandalism is similar to when street gangs “tag” their logo or gang name on a wall or fence or overpass. To indicate their ownership of that particular area. To show others that this is their area. That was the vandals point, it wasn’t because he wants to show the coexistence of Jews and Palestinians. And this problem isn’t religious and being Jewish isn’t an ethnicity. If the issue was Muslims and Jews, then history has proved many times that those two religions have coexisted and continue to coexist. The issue is between israelis and the zionist movement and Palestinians and their struggle for a peaceful life where they aren’t terrorized by a state where racisim and hate are still present.
“crime of love”
just like in Jenin, Sabra and Shatila, Qana….
First off, I am appalled the Aggie would print this complete and utter racist piece.
“…represents the murder and genocide of millions of innocent Jews and the ethnic cleansing of Judea. The bird, to me, seemed to aspire to a Jew-free Palestine, where Jews are not allowed to live or visit, which the current Palestinian leadership is, unfortunately, trying to create.”
The bird represents that no matter how hard israelis try to extinguish the Palestinian population, it will never happen. No matter how many daily massacres israelis create upon the Palestinian population, it will never cease.
“Jews feared for their lives?” The self victimization really needs to stop. There was no reason for Jews to FEAR anything on the Davis campus. Really? Come on, no one actually buys this BS.
israelis walk everyday on the land that is soaked with the Palestinian blood they shed in order to be there.
Aggie, please don’t eve print this israeli propaganda ever again.
I am just gonna make a few points on what you presented here:
1.”The bird, to me, seemed to aspire to a Jew-free Palestine”. This statement is 100%. A Free Palestine means a country where Jews, Christians, and muslims live together in peace just like they did before the zoinist movement started.
2. I agree that the mural should have something to represent jews, but what is a jew? by definition, it is a person who believes in judiasm. So you can not really have something symbolizing a religion on the mural because that would open the doors for every releigion to demand the presence of their symbols on the mural. So may be if you say, we should have something historical about jews then yes i support your idea.
3. “The second is to make an offensive mural less offensive.” How are you making the mural less offending?? why in the heart of the palestinian flag? I could interpert this in a different way. So I would say the person intended to deliver a message to palestinians that we occupy your life wherever you go. There is something also worth mentioning here. Jewish settlers brand the star of david on homes they attack and property they destroy. A Person who has ever lived in palestine/israel would exactly know what it means when something gets branded by the star of david. In context of the conflict the star of david does not mean judiasm but rather it is a message like ” your house/property is next on the destroy list”.
4. “Wouldn’t that be beautiful? An Israeli-Palestinian-Peace bird” that would be beutiful but do you really think the vandal inteded to deliver that message????? If he/she wanted to deliver that message, then he would have actually came to officials, the painter, and the palestinian comunity to ask for their opinion. What one thinks is beutiful is not what another think is. And we have to respect that. again this is very naive.
Finally, I may find myself disagreeing with most of the points you made here, but I respect your opinion. My opinion is that the person who did this intended to intimidate the palestinian community on campus. I am by no means against the symbol because it represets judiasm or jewish people, but the symbol has different meanings in terms of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict.