protests against israeli officials and such

About two weeks ago, 11 students were arrested at the University of California-Irvine after protesting Israeli ambassador Michael Oren speaking at their campus. This is one of several protests during the past year of Israeli officials including Ehud Olmert and Danny Ayalon.

A recent USA Today article posed the question: On campus, is heckling free speech? Or just rude? One of the professors interviewed in the article (a scholar of protest and civil disobedience) argues that the issue of shouting down these officials is not an issue of free speech and that those who are speaking have a right to be heard. He also claims that these confrontations will not help the Palestinian cause and eventually: "It's only a matter of time until Norman Finkelstein speaks at UCI and Jewish groups shout him down."

As someone who attended the protests against Olmert speaking at the University of Chicago a few months ago, I consider the goal of protesting Israeli officials to be ensuring they understand that the transnational movement for ending the occupation is as vibrant as ever and continues to grow and gain supporters. There are events across the country every day all over campuses that are pro-Israeli and present a narrative that is very much one-sided. No one is protesting those events because even if the information being presented might not be the complete truth, people have a right to believe what they want and share their opinions.

But protesting these Israeli officials, who are directly responsible for crimes like the war in Lebanon in 2006, the Gaza attacks over a year ago and the continuing blockade of Gazans, is not an issue of stifling their right to speak. It is a form of nonviolent action in support of Palestinians and their continuing struggle to end the occupation. While pro-Israeli groups have their own behind-the-scenes methods to achieve their agenda, (Congress's rejection of the Goldstone Report and Finkelstein's denial of tenure at Depaul are only two of a countless number of examples) those working for justice in Palestine/Israel have to take more public actions in order that they can create a space and climate in which serious discussion of continuing blatant Israeli violations can flourish . And the latest planning for going after global peace and human rights groups is a signal that Israel is feeling the pressure from not only the nonviolent actions abroad but also those within the Palestinian territories and within its own borders as well.

And don't worry about those organizing protests against Finkelstein, he always handles himself quite well in such situations.