Sponspored by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) as part of Israel Apartheid Week, “Brutality by Design: Responses to Racist Security Regimes” sparked discussion over the Israel-Palestine conflict and drew on alleged similarities between police militarization both overseas and in the U.S. on Tuesday in Charles Commons.
The panel, mediated by anthropology doctoral student and SJP member Mariam Banahi, consisted of Reverend Heber Brown III of Pleasant Hope Baptist Church; Floyd Hayes III, senior lecturer and Center for Africana Studies program coordinator and Cathy Schneider, associate professor at the School of International Service at American University.
About 30 students and community members attended the panel to hear the academic and local perspective on the Palestinian plight, including freshman SJP member John Hughes.
“The differing perspectives on praxis are what interested me most,” Hughes said. “We had Dr. Hayes presenting the sort of active, ‘Admit this reality of brutality’ [side], Reverend Brown speaking more about a local community idea changing attitude and Dr. Schneider speaking more about the history of what activists have done in the past.”
A self-described advocate for freedom of speech and ideas, junior Jonathan Weinreich said he came to hear the side of the debate that is not generally accepted within the Jewish community.
“I [also] wanted to show that there are Jewish communities and people in J Street U, a national organization advocating for strong United States leadership to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with a two-state solution, who are willing to grapple with the tough realities of Israel,” Weinrich wrote in an email to The News-Letter.
While the first half of the discussion largely focused on each panelist’s expertise — Brown’s trip to Israel with an Interfaith Peace-Builders delegation and the Christian perspective on the conflict, Dr. Hayes’s historical account of killer cops and Dr. Schneider’s argument of the U.S. and Israel as states creating categories of inequality — the later part of the evening was a question and answer segment.
Junior Ben Schwartz respectfully challenged the panel, asking them what they could do in their communities to bring about a two-state solution conflict.
“I’m a proud American Jew, and I’m also a member of J Street U,” Schwartz said. “I love America. It pains me when I hear about police brutality and what you rightly call an injustice system. I love Israel, but it hurts me when I hear about your experience in Israel. I don’t believe that Israel is an apartheid state, but I do want to end the occupation.”
Brown responded.
“I would be offended if you came to East Baltimore, to my block, and told me what I need to be doing to fix issues in my community,” Brown said. “I’m interested in hearing directly from those who have been in the grip of what I believe is apartheid. These are urgent times and I will not, from where I sit on my perch, look at what others would forward as solutions and tell them this, that, or the other.”
Meanwhile, Schneider acknowledged that some organizations, such as the Jewish Voice for Peace association (JVP), believe there is a two-state solution, although she noted many did not.
“There are those in JVP who argue that Israel suffers zero consequences,” Schneider said. “If you want to have two states, you have to put pressure on Israel. The Palestinians have been open for a real peace negotiation.”
Basmah Nada, SJP treasurer, emphasized that as a club, SJP does not believe it is up to anyone else to fix a solution, but rather up to the self-determination of Palestinians rather than Israelis.
“My duty is just to bring awareness, not necessarily make a statement about what I think is the solution,” Nada said.
Nada, nevertheless, does believe that Israel is an apartheid state, and many people who attended the event shared that view.
“[It’s] willful ignorance to deny the existence of an apartheid state,” Hughes said. “Palestinians aren’t allowed to cross borders or the ocean. They’re barely allowed to see the ocean. If you have an image inclination, you can look at just the fact that there’s a giant wall. At some point you have to look at the giant wall and say that’s separating something. They don’t build giant walls for nothing.”
Hayes and Brown both touched on the similarities between the police forces and the increasingly militaristic nature of both the U.S. and Israel.
“There is a growing resentment and anger and outrage on the part of large numbers of people around the world against the U.S.,” Hayes said.
Brown, on the other hand, highlighted collaborations between U.S. police and the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).
“Growing up in Baltimore, I had to explain to relatives why we have what looks like Christmas lights everywhere throughout the city all the time,” Brown said. “Those are blue light cameras and blinking lights, a tactic to suppress and keep manageable the impoverished, black and brown segments of the community.”
Brown saw many of these technologies and tactics during his trip to Israel in 2010. He said that due to an elaborate relationship between the U.S. and Israel, the two countries share policing strategies, tactics and equipment at every level of government.
The panelists also discussed the Boycott, Divestments and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel. Hayes, in particular, stressed that actions countering the system of oppression are valuable, and students like Hughes believe that Hopkins can participate as a powerful institution with a choice of where to invest its $2 billion endowment.
The discussion concluded with closing comments from Banahi, asking attendees to consider the larger systems of oppression.
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