Columbia University

Yahia Lababidi:

Palestine is personal for me. My Palestinian grandmother, Rabiha Dajani — educator, activist & social worker — was forced to leave her ancestral home in Jerusalem, at gunpoint, some eighty years ago. As an Arab American, I feel deeply betrayed by the blind US support of Israel’s genocide of Palestinians. The moral courage of the mostly peaceful student protests, across nearly 100 American college campuses, is restoring my faith in humanity and our future. I join these principled demonstrators in calling for universities to divest from the Israeli state as well as companies enabling the Israeli military’s crimes against humanity. Faith is not politics, Judaism is not Zionism, and to criticize the immoral, illegal actions of Israel is not antisemitism — especially since, as an Arab, I am a Semite. We are not our corrupt governments, nor our compromised media, the students remind us. We are partners in humanity, members of one human family and Not in Our Name will these unholy massacres of innocents Palestinians be committed, two third of whom are women and children, nor in the name of self-defense. Starvation as a weapon of war is cruel and criminal, as is collective punishment. We will not be deceived or intimidated or silenced. This is the inspiration of my poem. Thank you, for providing me with a platform to bear witness to this historical humanitarian crisis. No lasting peace can be founded upon profound injustice. The jailor is never Free — Free Palestine 🇵🇸