Graphic courtesy of Ameed Abutteen
Students for Justice in Palestine SIG Introduced to NYUAD
In the beginning of October, senior Ameed Abutteen informed the NYU Abu Dhabi student body of his establishment of Students for Justice in Palestine as ...
Nov 7, 2015
In the beginning of October, senior Ameed Abutteen informed the NYU Abu Dhabi student body of his establishment of Students for Justice in Palestine as a Student Interest Group. Over 80 students indicated their interest on the spot.
Students for Justice in Palestine is a student activist organization that was founded in 1993 at the University of California, Berkeley. Since then, its chapters have spread to over 100 U.S. universities, including NYU New York.
With Abutteen as its president, the SIG currently has an active Facebook page and is preparing to host its first event at NYUAD, Palestine 101, which is scheduled for Nov. 16. It will be an introduction to the past and present situation in Palestine, as well as to the SIG itself.
“We envision an NYUAD community that is more aware of the realities in Palestine, especially with regard to Israel’s colonization and system of Apartheid. We are committed to educating and inspiring one another to take part in this just battle,” wrote Abutteen to The Gazelle.
Sophomore Rosy Tahan, a board member of SJP at NYUAD, added that presenting a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not the main objective of the SIG.
“We don’t know what the solution is, even among ourselves we argue about it,” she said.
Tahan said that the SIG can encourage dialogue on campus, which Tahan felt was missing from the current environment at NYUAD. While efforts toward political correctness are understandable given the diversity of the community, said Tahan, human rights issues should be discussed regardless.
“[Dialogue] is something that’s important … for this issue, because there are such different opinions,” she said. “I grew up surrounded by the opinion that there should be justice in Palestine. I know many people in the Middle East … who grew up with the exact opposite opinion.”
Tahan added that seeing non-Arab students joining and expressing interest in SJP at NYUAD both surprised and reassured her that it is not only one's background that makes the issue important, but also the broader notion of human rights.
Sophomore John Scaccia, a U.S. American supporter of SJP at NYUAD, described the group as a chance to raise awareness of the events taking place in Palestine.
“It's not an issue of picking sides. It's about ending the blatant disregard of human rights caused by those who claim to subscribe to these rights," he wrote.
Over the summer, Scaccia spent roughly two months teaching English in the old city of Hebron, which is currently under military occupation by Israel.
Similarly, junior Vladislav Maksimov, one of the founders and the vice-president of SJP at NYUAD, volunteered in the West Bank this summer.
The experience led him to believe that NYUAD students, although they often get involved in discussions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, tend to overestimate their understanding of the details.
“[I] discovered that the human rights abuses go beyond what I imagined. Being fueled by the atrocities I witnessed, I came back this fall semester convinced that something needs to be done,” he wrote.
But according to Abutteen, one does not need a personal connection to the Palestinian cause in order to support the SIG.
“A large number of NYUAD students seem to identify with the Palestinian cause and associate the Palestinian struggle for justice with their very own. Injustice in Palestine is similar in nature to the realities of indigenous people, black people, women and the LGBTQ community across the globe,” he wrote.
The events they are planning to host after the kick-off meeting include a Palestine Film Festival, a Palestine Photo Gallery and a number of sessions with guest speakers.
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