Posted on 12/16/2015 12:50:06 PM PST by conservativejoy
Arizona’s border walls “resemble Palestine,†says student activist
Gabriel Schivone Activism and BDS Beat 25 March 2013
An important decision was made at this weekend’s 20th annual conference of Movimiento Estudiantil Chican@ de Aztlan (MEChA), the largest association of Latin@ youth in North America. The conference voted by a large majority to work with Students for Justice in Palestine and similar grops “until the Palestinian people are liberated.â€
Danya Mustafa, a national organizer with Students for Justice in Palestine visited the University of California - San Diego for the conference as part of SJP’s growing partnership with MEChA.
Here is part two of a conversation I conducted with Mustafa (see part one).
Gabriel Schivone: Arizona’s ban on ethnic studies, which targeted and eliminated the only K-12 [kindergarten to twelfth grade] Mexican-American studies program in the US, outlaws public school programs that “advocate ethnic solidarity†— except for “instruction of the Holocaust, any other instance of genocide, or the historical oppression of a particular group of people based on ethnicity, race or class.†Any district failing to comply with the ban faces economic sanctions on their state funding.
Danya Mustafa:: The ban on ethnic studies is one of the most ridiculous things that I have heard about in a long time. The fact that they are banning ethnic studies, more specifically Mexican-American studies programs, is very detrimental to the learning of the students. I bring this up because Arizona is in the Southwest region of the United States, and Mexican-American history is so rich and historic in that [area] that there is no way of avoiding it.
In my belief, learning about the Mexican-American history of Arizona is more beneficial than learning about the skewed history [found in] these so called “balanced†text books that were written mainly by a white perspective. Not only is Mexican-American history so prominent to Arizona, but to the whole Southwest region. In an interview with Tom Horne, the superintendent of “public instruction,†he says that by having these different ethnic studies classes “divides the students.â€
In what way do these classes that learn about other people’s history divide people? They actually bring students of all different backgrounds together to gain more of an open mind, and what’s ironic is that the current curriculums of what a lot of students are learning now in their history classes are dividing and excluding more students than ethnic studies classes would ever do. Also, I believe it’s important for every single student in grade school to learn about the Holocaust and to gain the principles of human rights from that. But also it’s equally important to learn not only about the Holocaust but comparative situations of oppression and genocide from other places and people around the world. For instance, we should put a lot of time into teaching our students about what happened when colonizers came to America and committed genocide against the Native Americans and the oppressive laws that came into place, and how it affects the Native American population today.
GS: Actually, some high school students and supporters who independently expressed solidarity with Palestinian ethnic studies and Israeli attacks on education came under fire from “save ethnic studies“ supporters in the Jewish community in Arizona who warned about being alienated if such solidarity persists.
DM: You see this problem occurs frequently amongst some of the anti-war and anti-racism activists here in the United States. You go to an anti-war rally, and if you bring up Palestine, many people get up in arms and tell you that doesn’t count as a human rights issue because it’s a “complicated issue and the Jewish people need a homeland and need security.†Now, this situation doesn’t seem that different from that example, but it’s interesting to see this happening. Judaism is a religion based on social justice, and the Jewish people in America do a really good job of standing in solidarity with those who are being affected by racism and prejudice, but it seems to Zionists in various communities that it doesn’t apply to those who are Palestinian or those who stand in solidarity with Palestinians.
The word they do like to use a lot when people bring up Palestine [in these issues] is the word “alienate.†When I was at Occupy Wall Street in October 2011, I held up a sign that said “Un-Occupy Palestine, Occupy Wall Street,†and so many American Zionists came up to me and told me, “Don’t hold that sign because you’re going to alienate the Jews.†My first question to them is, “How is criticizing the occupation of Palestine alienating the Jews? How is pointing out human rights violations alienating the Jews?†It’s absolutely ridiculous that the Zionists go so far to accuse those who speak out against Israel’s human rights violations of being “anti-Semitic.†I believe people are starting to see how ridiculous this is becoming and more social justice groups are standing more in solidarity with the Palestinian cause. Here at the University of New Mexico, we have a huge range of active social justice groups like La Raza and Native American groups standing in solidarity and working with Students for Justice in Palestine.
GS: This is a passage from a 2011 article entitled “Scenes from an Occupation†by leading US-Mexico border scholar and East Timor historian Joseph Nevins:
I feel like we live in an occupied zone now,†the 17-year military veteran told The Texas Observer. Onetime mayor of Douglas, Arizona, Ray Borane echoes this characterization in a quote from [author Margaret] Regan. He describes Douglas as “an occupied town†— with 453 Border Patrol agents stationed there in 2000, an almost eightfold increase over 1994 — while likening it to “a militarized zone.†Regan later cites Mike Wilson of the Tohono O’odham Nation, whose traditional lands are bisected by the international boundary, and who likens the Border Patrol on “the Rez†to “an occupying army.â€
Speaking of the US-Mexico borderlands more broadly, Crossing With the Virgin contributor Kathryn Ferguson describes the area as a “low-level war zone where there are men with guns — Border Patrol, National Guard, thieves, Minutemen, ranchers, hunters, helicopters, ATVs, horse patrols, and Humvees.†She later reports on a particular encounter: One night, while she and a friend drove northward from the international divide, stadium lights suddenly blinded them. They had encountered “a Border Patrol checkpoint, rigid-faced men with guns telling us to stop.†Despite being in southern Arizona, “I had to remind myself that this was my country,†she writes. “I was not in foreign occupied territory.â€
DM: I was in Southern Arizona [in March 2011] and all I saw were walls and US Border Patrol. It did sort of resemble occupied Palestine. It was just weird being there and knowing that I was in America. I am used to seeing all this militarism in occupied Palestine and “Israel proper,†but to know that I was only eight hours away from my home was a bit sickening. Though I feel like the occupation in Palestine is more like occupation on steroids, it seems like there is a growing occupation here on our southern borders in America. This passage explains what is happening on our borders perfectly. Our tax dollars are paying for this, and also paying for the occupation in Palestine. We should be more outraged and we should be on the streets that our government is supporting and supplying these illegal actions.
Give the notebook back to her and forget what you saw, in the interest of respecting her privacy. And get Jeh to fire the nosy agents who violated her rights.
My question to the people of the border states: what are the militias down there doing to stop the terrorist infiltration? You’d think they’d be on high alert after hearing news like that. I rarely hear about them anyway...
So what should we do to them since we are at war with these ragheads and they were SPYING on us?
SHOOT the BASTARDS. Line them up against the wall, shoot them and then rollup with a 45 and blow their f(*king brains out.
That is what happens to spys. Get the message across to any other gd muslim who wants to subvert our defenses. You will be shot on the spot. No trial. No Gitmo. No free Koran. Free bullet to the head.
Artistic raghead? Muslims dont believe in art. They catch you sketching the sights in Muslim countries they grab it and rip it up. Inter them all at the border.
Great find.
Its coming.
“Nothing to see here...move along.......”
If this becomes a problem, Obama will come up with a squirrel to look at.
“Kick them all out................” Of a C-130 somewhere between the Florida panhandle and Cape Town, South Africa.
Kick them all out. Bullshit!
Disappear them all, down to and including their toenails. Leave nothing but scattered dust.
Repeat as often as they are found.
Odumbo knows all of this is indeed happening and yet NOT ONE PERSON of authority has made a single move to remove odumbo for failing to do his job, protecting our people and our borders. Will someone ever step up and remove him? There has already been shall I say “smaller” terrorist attacks here (out side of 911), but do we wait until something of larger, more devistating happens? America can no longer wait until a new president is elected. Major damage can, and no doubt will be cast upon us unless someone takes the rains and moves against those people destined to destroy all of us. Will YOU or you loved ones be their victims?
Oh, c’mon, don’t be scared of widows and 3-year-old orphans.
No doubt.
Fences don’t work! Fences don’t work!
Fences don’t work! Fences don’t work!
Fences don’t work! Fences don’t work!
Let us all sing with our best Jeb Bush voices!
His articles have is appeared in The Arizona Daily Star....
***
His writing skills have is left something to be desired.
ISIS has no Navy, no boats, no ships, no submarines. They have no Air Force, no bombers, no fighters, no troop carriers or refueling planes. ISIS has no ballistic missiles, no scuds, no short range missiles. They have no Space Program, no satellites, no real time intelligence.
THE ONLY WEAPON SYSTEMS ISIS HAS THAT CAN KILL AMERICANS ARE THE OBAMA/CLINTON/JARRETT/LYNCH TRAITORS & DEMOCRATS IN CONGRESS, WHO DEMAND WE ALLOW MUSLIMS TO IMMIGRATE TO AMERICA TO SLAUGHTER INNOCENT AMERICANS. Then, they try to disarm us to make us more vulnerable.
Peaceful Islamic ISIS future Killers arriving in America including a new immigrant under the watch of Obama! (photo ABC News)
He have is grate riting skilz.
It would be a heck of a coincidence if it wasn’t her. Chicago again...
Actually, they are working on the air force problem right now in Libya- even started up flight schools.
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