Last week, Tufts Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) held "Israeli Apartheid Week" on campus. SJP held a one day hunger strike in solidarity with 33-year-old Palestinian prisoner KhaderAdnan and other Palestinian prisoners on Thursday, Mar. 1.
KhaderAdnan has been arrested nine times: seven times by Israeli Authorities and twice by Palestinian Authorities. His most recent arrest took place on Dec. 17, 2011. In protest of his detention by the Israeli Army, Adnan began a hunger strike which lasted 66 days, gaining the attention and sympathy of media outlets worldwide. On Feb. 21, 2012, The Israeli Ministry of Justice announced an early release for Adnan.
According to international law, the holding of person by a state without trial is legal under strict conditions. For example, Article 4 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights permits procedures such as administrative detention during emergencies that threaten civilian populations. That said, I agree that the debate about and critique of international administrative detention policies as they pertain to KhaderAdnan is important and valid.
On the other hand, here there should be no debate: Adnan is not a hero. Tufts SJP either minimizes or ignores Adnan's role as spokesperson for Palestinian Islamic Jihad, an organization that has been classified by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Israel, Japan, Canada and Australia as a terrorist organization. The aim of the group is to destroy Israel and to replace it with an Islamic State. The group is responsible for the murder of hundreds of Israeli civilians in dozens of suicide bombings in shopping malls, caf?©s and buses throughout Israel cities. An offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood and inspired by the Iranian Revolution of 1979, the group now operates mainly from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, posing both a political and military challenge to the governments of Hamas, the Palestinian Authority and Israel.
Khader may not have pulled the trigger himself, but as the spokesperson for the Islamic Jihad, KhaderAdnan's job was to incite terror and violence against Israelis. In 2007, during the funeral of one of the senior commanders of the Quds Brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad, KhaderAdnan exclaimed to his audience: "Who among you is the next Hasan Abu Zeid [suicide bomber who murdered five Israeli civilians in Hadera in October 2005]? Who among you is the next suicide bomber? ...Who among you will fire the next bullets? Who among you will have his body parts blown all over?"
And yet, KhaderAdnan is referred to as "the Palestinian Ghandi," and SJP claims that their event in solidarity with Adnan was "in the spirit of love and non-violent resistance." Mohandas Gandhi selflessly dedicated his life to non-violent political action; Adnan dedicated his time to the Islamic Jihad, the bastion of brutal militancy and fierce intolerance a remorseless group that deliberately murders civilians.
Here at Tufts, no matter where you stand on the political spectrum, however you chose to criticize administrative procedures, there is no mistaking the character of the Islamic Jihad. There is no moving forward for either side as long as KhaderAdnan is praised as a hero, as long as Israel's partners in the peace process advocate for a state replacing Israel, not next to it.
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Ariella Charny is a senior majoring in international relations and economics.
