Theresa Ghiloni
News Reporter
Josh Ruebner believes there is a way to solve the Israel-Palestine conflict, but it is not possible with the Obama administration’s current approach to foreign policy.
Josh Ruebner, the National Advocacy Director of the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, argued that the only way to bring about real peace between Israel and Palestine is through boycott, divestment and sanctions. Theresa Ghiloni/Western Herald
Ruebner, the National Advocacy Director of the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, spoke to a crowd of over 30 in the Bernhard Center on Western Michigan University’s campus on Nov. 23. During his speech, he argued that the only way to bring about real peace between Israel and Palestine is through boycott, divestment and sanctions.
“We cannot rely upon the politicians, no matter how well intentioned they are, to bring about peace,” Ruebner said. “Because of the power that the Israeli lobby exerts the United States cannot, and will not, be an honest broker until that power is countered.”
Ruebner said that there are several reasons President Barack Obama was fundamentally different from past presidents on the issue when he first took office, however he argues pressure from the Israeli lobby has successfully maintained the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.
“By Israel’s own definition and own policies it is a situation of apartheid,” Ruebner said. “It practices apartheid policies against the Palestinian people and the reason why this so called peace process has failed and will continue to fail is because it is not about ending this Israeli apartheid but entrenching it.”
Toward the end of the free lecture postcards addressed to President Barack Obama were passed around. Ruebner, a well-known activist and author of the book “Shattered Hopes: Obama’s Failure to broker Israeli Palestinian Peace”, asked attendees to sign their name to the postcard in support of the cessation of Israeli aid in favor of domestic investments.
Ibtesam Alja’afreh, a WMU student pursuing a Ph.D. in chemistry and a Jordanian native said she found Ruebner’s lecture to be a fair representation of the mistreatment of the Palestinian people. According to a fact sheet distributed during the event, in 2000 Jordan was home to 2,560,267 of the nearly 8 million Palestinians living under Israeli occupation or in exile.
“We are close to Israel and we have seen it in our country,” Alja’afreh said. “We know the Palestinians are suffering. He actually reflects the truth here.”
Bushra Asfari, a graduate student at WMU studying civil engineering and a Syrian native, said she was unaware of how much the United States was affected by the Israeli occupation before attending Ruebner’s speech Saturday night. She said she didn’t know the extent of taxpayer dollars that are spent on Israeli aid, which Ruebner reported to be over $3 billion annually.
“One thing I learned here is that Israel has not only affected Palestinians, it has affected the United States people,” Asfari said. “People don’t know that their money is going to weapons and I think if they would have known that they would have rejected it.”
Michael Dwyer, an event organizer, said that Ruebner was an attractive speaker because he has an “impressive academic record” and shares the sponsors view on the Israeli occupation.
I think Josh is obviously very knowledgeable and he has a lot of passion for justice in Israel and Palestine,” Dwyer said. “We think it’s pretty rare in America to hear that.”