EXPLOSIVE! Israeli & Palestinian Debate at UC Berkeley

Most of my debates and conversations usually stem from engaging individuals at an event or college campus in order to exchange ideas and perspectives. This time around, as a group of us Israeli friends were walking by the UC Berkeley entrance gate, an extremely aggressive man ambushed us with insults and profanities.

How did this happen?

Well, one of the individuals walking by me was wearing a t-shirt with the word “Israel” on it, which was enough to trigger one of the biggest Israel Vs. Palestine showdown debates at UC Berkeley, and ultimately causing this man to turn into a shameful aggressor who was unwilling to have any sort of reasonable or respectful dialogue.

This occurrence happened organically and is a perfect example and microcosm of how the conversation surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict takes place on college campuses and amongst the next generation’s intellectual class. Unfortunately, very few people still care about the truth or study the history of the region with concrete facts. What matters today, is being able to manipulate narratives and to intentionally play on an audience’s emotions to vilify and to demonize the side that you are against.

The Pro-Israel voice on college campuses focuses on showcasing the story of Israel and its successes over immense struggles in order for the world to understand and accept their identity and right to exist.
Sadly, the “Palestinian voice” on college campuses does not focus on promoting Palestinian culture or grass-root efforts to building unity in the region, but rather focuses their energy and resources on demonizing Israel’s image and attacking its legitimacy in the eyes of the world. I used quotations around “Palestinian voices” because Palestinian voices have been hijacked by individuals who claim to represent the Palestinians on campuses, but in reality only cherry-pick instances of Palestinian suffering, when it has to do with Israel, to pursue a political and anti-Semitic agenda of destroying the Jewish State.

In other words, they are not “pro-Palestinian” voices, they are masked “anti-Israel” voices pretending to destroy Israel for the sake of Palestinians.

They use the same strategies that Adolf Hitler used to convince Europe that the Jewish People were the world’s problem and had to be exterminated. Hitler did this by finding the source of suffering in Europe (the economic situation) and blaming that on the Jews, turning them into everyone’s enemy and source of suffering. This strategy is used on campuses today by anti-Israel activists reaching out and building coalitions with every minority group in order to convince them that Israel is either causing the same pain they suffer from to others, or even worse, that Israel is actually the direct cause of their community’s suffering.

When people say that anti-Zionism is today’s evolved form of anti-Semitism, it is not because people can, or want to be critical of Israeli policies and disagree with certain politicians. All citizens of all countries criticize their governments and politicians, including Israelis. This has nothing to do with politics, and everything to do with legitimacy and identity. Anti-Zionism is really a movement that seeks to keep the Israeli-Palestinian conflict going in order to undue and attack anything that empowers the Jewish People, especially their own indigenous liberation movement.

Anti-Israel individuals like the man in this video actually prevent Palestinians and pro-Palestinian activists from being able to engage with Israelis and pro-Israel activists in finding common ground, humanizing both sides, and being able to develop real grassroots relations that are crucial for the growth of a better future and changing the status quo.

Knowledge is power. Knowing the facts is extremely important, but if you do not understand the other side’s strategy, and are unable to communicate your message to your market, then you and your facts will fall together. We must empower the next generation, to be stronger than our own in order for them to write a better future.

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Produced by Leibman Productions