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The Student Newspaper of DePaul University

The DePaulia

The Student Newspaper of DePaul University

The DePaulia

The Student Newspaper of DePaul University

The DePaulia

Student groups unite to debate Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) partnered with the African Student Association (ASA) Thursday, April 4, in the Cortelyou Commons to create a “think-tank” surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Following the screening of Connie Field’s “The Bottom Line: How Boycott and Divestment Ended South African Apartheid,” an intimate crowd of students, recent graduates and activists joined SJP DePaul in a provocative debate on using the South African Apartheid Movement as a strategy for raising awareness about the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict and creating a peace treaty that will foster true liberation.

“We have to figure out a way to make Palestine local and make local issues relevant to Palestine,” said Joy Ellison, SJP DePaul graduate student. “We were hoping for this event to bring different people together to talk about the situation in Palestine in a different way and how our struggles relate to each other.”

With a central focus on American business conglomerates – JPMorgan Chase Bank, Shell Oil and General Motors – that used harsh working conditions and low wages to subjugate black South Africans, ASA Representative Sekordri Lewis adamantly expressed her concerns about the blatant disregard for human life.

“The Apartheid represented a fight against white or western supremacy,” said Lewis, a DePaul history major. “It’s shocking to see that the value of a dollar is held higher than the life of a human being. How far have we come as a human race that big corporations would destroy millions of people throughout the world? This can happen to you – your life can be ruined just because someone else wants to make a billion dollars off of it.”

Although participants questioned how the movement could be used to educate the public on the Middle Eastern duel over land control, Tarek Khalil, who graduated from John Marshall Law School in January, did not hesitate to provide solutions.

“The propaganda machine is more powerful with the Internet,” said Khalil. “They have to be more involved to make the public believe that what is going on between Israel and Palestine is something that can only be resolved between the two parties and the U.S. as an impartial mediator when, in fact, we have to internationalize the conflict. We need to take the U.S. out of the picture because it has never been a neutral mediator.”

As an American-Palestinian, Khalil routinely faces opposition on his views regarding the peace initiatives attempted by the American government.

“The difference between what happened in South Africa and what is happening to the Palestinians is that there is a fa?

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