 Hello, my name is Bob Scheibel. I am the chair of the organization main voices for Palestinian rights The mission of MVP are is to support the Palestinians in all of their non-violent efforts to achieve their rights and their dignity as human beings. I am Pleased to say that MVP are Uses its Energy primarily to educate the people of Maine about this effort We are very pleased to welcome to Maine our guest on today's program Nora barrels Friedman Nora has come here to talk and To further educate us which is part of our mission Nora is the author of this book in our power US students organized for justice in Palestine Nora traveled across this country Meeting with many different students on college campuses to find out about their efforts in Forming the various chapters of students for justice in Palestine. I Want to tell you a few things about Nora Nora is a journalist. She is an editor She's a radio broadcaster, and she's a musician and she's a mother Nora has worked for the Historic or does work for a historic Pacifica radio network, which is the oldest Audience supported public radio station in America, so it has a long and honored history and Nora has worked there For some years for eight years She was the senior producer and co-host of a program called flash points and This was an investigative news magazine broadcast which was beginning to cover the Conflict in Israel in Palestine and for eight years Nora made several different trips a year Into Gaza into the West Bank where she was reporting on the ground About events there, so she's been there some 20 or 30 times and she knows her way around Nora is currently an associate editor of the electronic intifada Which is an award-winning and widely read and acclaimed news agency For people who follow the Israel Palestine Conflict they know electric intifada is one of the most reliable and professional sources of on-the-ground information She Produces a regular electronic intifada podcast and she contributes Investigative stories and blogs for electronic intifada. She also has written for numerous print Publications by the way for our listeners who may not know the word intifada. That means rising up or shaking off and The Palestinians have had two Intifadas though. There's electronic intifada. She also has contributed stories for Al Jazeera English for truth-out left-turn magazine Nora today lives in Oakland, California with her husband who is an educator and a writer and a teenage daughter So Nora welcome to Maine. Welcome to Portland. Thank you so much Bob. Let me Begin by asking you What led you to decide to write this book how did that come about so I've been a journalist covering Palestine issues for 13 years But in the last maybe five six years I've been focusing more and more on Solidarity efforts here in the US. I used to as he mentioned I used to go to Palestine two or three times a year and and cover on-the-ground reports about human rights abuses and and Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation but It was becoming more and more clear to me as a reporter that that it's also important to to really figure out how solidarity movements around the world are also organizing and specifically in the US, you know, I I you know, I live in the Bay Area and around 2010 Berkeley was one of the kind of these main focus points of of student activism where students were Really self-organizing into these incredibly powerful coalitions working with local communities and local activism groups to to really campaign for Palestinian rights and so I started covering it just because it was something that was Really exciting that was happening in my local community and then those stories kind of led to following the trail of student activism around the country so This book is kind of a culmination of a lot of the reporting that I've been doing over the last You know few years, but also really trying to to put this help put these students on the map when it comes to Solidarity organizing because they don't exactly get a lot of mainstream media coverage do they not at all Yeah, and you know like in the great traditions of civil rights and social justice movements You know the students are at the forefront of organizing They're really, you know, they're the ones who are making the most noise and and being not heard Wasn't that true of the South African? Yeah, I think it was Hampshire College. That's right in New England first student organization 79 They're a first one of the first in this particular effort BDS effort That's right There were the first college in the States in 1979 to implement divestment against apartheid South Africa and 30 years later in 2009 Hampshire College again became the first college to implement divestment against Israeli apartheid so it's really That's kind of a very Yeah, and so students are really rising up around the country and and they're forming these incredibly powerful Groups called Students for Justice in Palestine chapters They're they're linking up with other local community struggles and they're growing this campaign Day by day. It's it's really what tell me I Think they've run into some obstacles haven't they through some headwinds. Can you tell us some about that? Yeah, well it's it's not easy to campaign for Palestine rights for Palestinian rights and There's a very strong resistance to campaigning for Palestine By outside Israel aligned political organizations who are really trying to censor speech critical of Israeli policies and are trying to brand this movement of solidarity as one of Antisemitism which is of course absurd and there are many many Jews and Israelis involved in Palestine solidarity organizing and You know that that that attempt to to conflate criticism of Israeli policies with Antisemitism is really a very desperate attempt to try and shut down I think you would agree with this. I think that's getting More and more transparent. It is isn't it? It is when they first started doing this Maybe some people in the thing and these people are really anti-Semite. Yeah It's more and more Jewish students and Jewish leaders are coming out that efforts getting more and more transparent It is and it really goes to show, you know, how they you know, Israel aligned organizations can't debate the facts So they're resorting to these very troubling pernicious tactics to try and and censor speech critical of Israel. So, you know despite that Students are are running up against these sort of obstacles where administrations are under pressure by Israel aligned organizations to stop student activism on Palestine issues. So students are actually having to Really negotiate with university administrations They're having to run through these bureaucratic obstacles where administrations would rather there not be direct action or events That that talk about Palestine on on campus Which is a violation of the First Amendment? Students have a right to assembly. They have a right to organize. They have a right to free speech Especially on college campuses where academic freedom is you know, it's something that's very Deer and precious to one would think that administrators would be a little more attuned to that, right? University campuses and there are some great attorneys working on this issue who are reminding university Administrations that there is no Palestine exception to the policy of free speech and academic inquiry There's also no Palestine exception To the right to organize in the right to hold divestment resolution hearings where students are demanding that their administration pull tuition dollars away from portfolio investments in companies that do business with Israel's occupation and that's part of the BDS yeah boycott divestment and sanctions Yeah, well, glad you said that goes for our viewers who made it do not know what BDS stands for and it was the same kind of Movement BDS as was successful. That's right with South Africa. That's right. So a lot of lessons Learned from the anti-partite movement in South Africa are being employed once again 30 years later here on college campuses There's many similarities between, you know, what's happening in Palestine and what happened in South Africa, but it's thought but there's also a lot of differences and so really using the you know The lessons learned from history is really important, but it's also you know a very Serious situation in Palestine and and students are Are able to really organize around the central tenets of boycott divestment and sanctions which Demands that that international communities that international civil society that world leaders Isolate Israel because of its human rights abuses and violations of Palestinian rights economically culturally politically academically You know just just as was done to partied South Africa And and it all has to do with really the grassroots power of activism where students civil society activists human rights advocates are all Pulling together and becoming part of this global movement To hold Israel accountable because our international community world leaders won't yet. Yeah. Yeah, yeah And I think that's an important part. Yeah, you know, I have From time to time heard people who are Opposed to this movement Say oh You can't compare the Israeli apartheid to the South Africa and that they were different and there when they say this They don't go into much detail, but they seem to be using it as a way to undermine the apartheid claim for Against Israel and yet I've read and and I've heard things to indicate indeed. They were different in some ways They're much worse the Israeli That's what Desmond tutu has said. Yeah, and I was list. I was watching a program recently in which one member of the Africana class of South Africa is saying to us look we didn't have 12-footer fighter jets. We didn't have them bombing our home. There's one difference for you That's in some ways the apartheid that Israel is engaged in is worse than the one there. Yeah, it's not just bureaucratic It's lethal. Yeah, it's genocidal. Yeah, and you know Just look what happened in Gaza last summer, you know, it's an entrapped population of 1.8 million Palestinians 80% of whom are refugees from villages that are on the other side of the boundary in Present-day Israel who used to live in what is now places like Ashkelon, right who they can see them Yeah, you know from their rooftops and they never go that used to be their homes until they were pushed out by Some pre-Israel during the alakba, but then I think even after the state of Israel was formed. Yeah, they were further There were there were many many ongoing Purges absolutely absolutely so so we're looking at a population that's trapped on all sides Which like unlike other countries or places where when they're attached to people can flee that's right They cannot they're not able to flee in fact, Richard Falk who's a wonderful scholar. He was the Former special rapporteur for human rights on the occupied territories for the united nations and he said That that Israel went when it commits these acts of violence and terror against People in Gaza, whether it was in 2008 2009 in 2012 and again this past summer Israel's committing a new kind of war crime. That's what he said Because of the way in which they sealed the borders so that nobody was able to leave during this last attack on Gaza this past summer Israel would would launch these so-called roof knocking missiles at people's houses That didn't explode sometimes they did but that they were meant to really Warn residents that their house was going to have a live missile Fired upon it at you know in whatever two minutes five minutes ten minutes And they were supposed to leave and they try to present this as look how human we are we warn people But where are they supposed to go so families were we're leaving their house going to their neighbor's house going to their relative's house Those houses would also be systematically targeted and then they would show up at un You know united nations schools and shelters those united nations schools and shelters were bombed Repeatedly hospitals were bombed offices were bombed clinics were bombed universities were bombed A hundred thousand homes were bombed water purification. Everything everything. So we're looking at Four million tons of rubble that was created by Israel's systematic bombing campaign 51 days of unrelenting attacks um And you know as as Richard Falk said a new kind of war crime and not only that but but israel Has has also used new weapons technologies every time it bombs gaza And then immediately after these these invasions and attacks israel's weapons manufacturers Sell their prop their new products to global markets Promoting them as being field tested or combat proven So really using gaza and the west bank and lebanon as as weapons laboratories on living people For it's it's it's sick. And so the international civil society You know has has really galvanized In support of the boycott divestment and sanctions movement You know more than ever right now well, you know From time to time we will hear in defense of israel And what their armed forces do and the reason they have to kill all these civilians is that the Hamas fighters will frequently used as is to claim Palestinian civilians as shields and yet The two most authoritative studies of cast lead which is 208 209 By the um, oh, what was the south african jurist named who did the Goldstone the goldstone report and amnesty international Both of those reports said that they found no evidence whatsoever that hamas was using human shields They said they did find people quite willing to criticize hamas for political purposes But none of that on the other hand they did find direct evidence including testimonies from israeli soldiers That israeli army Used human shields absolutely And there was many reports since last you know during the attacks last summer Um of international journalist palestinian journalists um documenting The use of of palestinian human shields by israeli soldiers including israeli soldier, you know israeli army units Handcuffing palestinian youth teenagers and and putting them in harm's way As human shields in in gaza during the invasion And you know, so this has been documented Over and over and over and over again um, and and I think You know it we Along with boycott divestment and sanctions Um international war crimes tribunals are are also a necessity at this point. Yeah we'll um Will you tell us a little bit about? um Say can you give us a specific instance where there's been an obstacle thrown in the way of students on campuses who are trying to Organize or to advocate for the palestinian cause sure Um, there's so many um, I can think of again. Let me say to our audience You can find more of this information in this book Thank you. Um, so just a couple of weeks ago. For example, I covered a story From southern california Out of pitzer college And students there were trying to organize an event During israeli apartheid week and israeli apartheid week is a global series of events intended to spark discussions about israel's policies and also Bolster that the boycott divestment and sanctions movement So these students as part of their israeli apartheid week events Wanted to bring a mock apartheid wall on campus as a direct action and to spark conversations with other Students and the apartheid wall again for our viewers who may not know Is this huge wall which snakes in too much of palestinian land in the west bank mostly into palestinian land in the west bank And uh, while israel has presented it as a wall to protect them from suicide bombers It's really more a wall to steal Land and to keep people. They don't want out. Yeah, and and also to even keep palestinian villages from their own farmland right to keep the villages from neighboring villages It's a very insidious Absolutely, right and the international court of justice in 2004 ruled that it was illegal and must be torn down immediately That was the wall you're talking about with the students wanted to put a mock copy. So go ahead So they have a they have a wall. Um, that's been traveling around uh different campuses in southern california That's 60 feet long 10 feet high and has multitude of Artwork and facts and statistics and statements of solidarity from other student organizations Plastered all over these wood panels and 10 foot high is about a third Of the actual wall exactly. It's a really powerful moving visual representation Um of you know, what palestinians are subjected to As an oppressed and occupied population in their own homeland And so pitzer students for justice in palestin wanted to bring this wall on campus. They applied like, um, you know to To the administration to have this wall displayed The administration referred it to the aesthetics committee Which wanted the students to jump through numerous bureaucratic hoops file numerous papers have numerous meetings with them Didn't even tell them Some of the other requirements that were that were needed to to have this wall approved And so the students were Prohibited at the very end. They denied the permission to have this wall on campus Because they didn't know about these other requirements. So it was a very kind of convenient and manipulative Way to have this this wall action shut down The students knew that their rights had been violated that actually even though the aesthetics committee, you know ostensibly was You know in power of approving or disproving This wall they knew that this was actually a matter of free speech that that other students get to You know display other things on campus without even having to go through these kinds of bureaucratic measures And this wall wasn't going to be up for a long time. It's going to be up for one day Oh heavens, and I mean if they talk about a permanent wall, then you say well aesthetically This is pleasant on our campus. This was a one-day Non-permanent display And and the students knew that their rights had been violated um, and they also knew that um pro-israel groups on campus and off campus had been pressuring the administration to not let this happen um, so students Called palestine solidarity legal support, which is a wonderful organization. It's a national organization um of attorneys who are working to advocate on behalf of palestine solidarity activists, especially on campus And palestine solidarity legal support attorneys said of course your rights have been violated This is a free speech violation They reminded the university they wrote letters to the university reminding the university that free speech is still a thing that exists Especially on campus, especially when it comes to academic inquiry and and sparking conversations and debate Um, and the students said okay fine if even if we're prevented from from showing this wall, we're going to do it anyway So they did they did it anyway. They defied these academic threats of of suspension and and um Suspension of their student group and they did it anyway, and now they're they're waiting for the backlash This this happened last week, but the students told me in an article that I wrote for the electronic and de fata that That they're prepared to to go through administrative proceedings as necessary to defend their rights to free speech And defend their rights to uh to organize on behalf of palestinians So it was it was very moving and it also points to the ways in which palestine solidarity activism is really being um trying There are attempts to have it silenced and attempts to squash and crush dissent on campuses We have just a few more minutes, and I wanted you just to say briefly about um recently or i'm not sure if it was recently but you went to a college campus After the students had failed in their efforts to get a maybe it's override as veto For divestment and you went to where they were meeting expecting to find them really just upset and despairing Tell us about that. Yeah, this was in 2010 This is actually one of the instances that sparked me to write this book So this this happened in in berkeley at uc berkeley campus And in 2010 the students actually passed a divestment resolution demanding that the university of california system Pull its investments in companies that profit from israel's occupations. So we're talking hulet packard raytheon Lockheed martin Caterpillar all these there's many many Which has been right in the west bank. I think responsible for something like 25,000 homes bulldozer. Yeah, I it's it's really Unbelievable and they're profiting off of the violations of human rights and international law So these students passed this divestment resolution that the divestment was vetoed And students instead of being defeated and saying they're not going to do it anymore They're like, okay, we're going to come back stronger next year and the next year after that and in 2014 They passed a divestment resolution and that sparked a wave of other divestment resolutions around the country I think that you will find this book filled with stories like that And oftentimes we are Maybe feeling that we should despair not so there's a lot of energy among young people in this country For this cause and let me say it's a cause For justice for palestinians, but it's also a cause I think in my view for jews and for judiism because in the long run Justice for the palestinian is in the best interest of jews all over this planet. I agree Let me tell our audience about a couple of events coming up on May 14th here in portland anna balzer who is I believe her title is national organizer for the us campaign to end the israeli occupation She's going to be here speaking in portland and on may 20th dr. Mona el farra Who is from the gaza strip? She is a physician She is very much Connected to the middle east children's alliance mecca She's going to be speaking here in portland on the usm campus Which is where anna will also be and she will be here on the 20th of may For those of you who are anywhere close to the lewiston area on april 30th That's this month april 30th the one woman play. My name is rachel quarry will be performed at the on bates college campus and the film called Flying paper, which is a delightful little film On the kids of gaza who got together to set a new ginnis world record for the number of kites flying in the air from one location Simultaneously and they did set that record. It's a delightful little film And it's going to be shown at guthrie's which is a little coffee club a food club in In lewiston that will be on may 5th Thank you for listening to our program and thank you norah for coming to main. Thanks so much bob