Whether they realize it or not, the UC Davis Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter admitted in a recent op-ed they don’t think Israel should exist as a nation.
UC Davis SJP wrote an op-ed for The California Aggie in response to an Aggies for Israel op-ed that accused SJP of leveling anti-Semitic invectives toward Jewish and pro-Israel students in March. SJP claimed in their op-ed they were merely protesting Israeli government policies.
“Palestinian houses are simultaneously being demolished, and Palestinians are being imprisoned, slaughtered and tortured,” UC Davis SJP wrote. “We demand to have our voices heard because the voices of Palestinians are being killed off one by one. We will continue with these efforts because we will not allow the victims of Israeli colonization to be forgotten on this campus.”
The op-ed proceeded to ramble on about how it was hypocritical for students to be pro-Israel and stand with progressive causes, even promulgating the falsehood that the Israeli government forcibly sterilizes African migrants. But SJP let the cat out of the bag in the op-ed’s concluding paragraph.
“It is an ideological fantasy to really believe that progress is possible so long as the state of Israel exists,” UC Davis SJP wrote. “Underlying this naive fantasy is the belief that a state that engages in racist laws, systematic killings and home demolitions can also function as a beacon of peace. The goal of Palestinian resistance is not to establish ‘love’ with those who are responsible for the suffering of the Palestinian people; it is to completely dismantle those forces at play. So continue to watch in ‘horror,’ because we are here to stay.”
In other words: UC Davis SJP doesn’t want any part of a two-state solution, they want Israel gone altogether.
Charline Delkhah, a recent UC Davis graduate who served as the president of Aggies for Israel, explained in a July 9 Aggie op-ed that Jewish and pro-Israel students felt intimidated by SJP’s actions on March 5:
“This year, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) held an event on the Quad sharing stories and poetry and showcasing Palestinian art, literature and clothing. Board members of Aggies for Israel (AFI) attended the event as bystanders and as students of the UC Davis community. Members of SJP decided to use the platform of the event to spew hate at those who showed up. Their ‘invite[s]’ for board members of Aggies of Israel to speak about how ‘they are able to defend a country of genocide and killing,’ were followed up by the yelling of ‘shame,’ (alluding to what was yelled at Jews during the Holocaust). As one may expect, our hearts started racing uncontrollably.
“The hate speech did not end there. A few minutes later, one of the speakers specifically singled me out, ‘invited’ me up again to speak and stated how AFI ‘is complicit’ and that we ‘lie and are hypocritical.’ This speaker continued by saying, ‘[We] are alone on this campus because [we] stand for racism, genocide and massacre,’ and that, ‘The UC Davis community stands for Palestinian people.’ He then turned the direction of the audience to my fellow board members with the intention of intimidating them and silencing their beliefs. In that moment we felt so alone, so scared, so unprotected and subjugated — as if no one cared for us or our protection on campus.”
Delkhah added that UC Davis SJP has been waging a campaign to oust student president Michael Gofman because he’s a pro-Israel activist. She also explained that the UC Davis administration hasn’t taken any action against the campus SJP chapter because of freedom of speech.
“Why are actions like hate speech, anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism going unnoticed?” Delkhah wrote. “Why are Jews and our safety not cared about by the administration? I, along with other members of the Jewish community, demand answers from the administration. We will no longer stay silent on these matters, especially when we do not feel safe on our own campus.”
