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For eight hours on Thursday, students walking by the north lawn outside Frist Campus Center were greeted by a 16-foot wall made of wood and Styrofoam — a symbolic representation of the wall dividing the West Bank, which has sparked extensive disagreement and conflict.
The display was a protest by the Princeton Committee on Palestine and Amnesty International against the wall erected by the Israeli government, which separates stretches of Israel and the West Bank.
PCP and Amnesty International members spent the past few months planning, building and painting the wall, which was marked with the words “peace not apartheid.”
PCP president Yoel Bitran ’11 said in an e-mail that the group wanted to “give Princeton students the opportunity to imagine what it would be like to grow up or go to school in a place surrounded by a prison of concrete and metal.”
He said that while “most students understand that Israel’s policies in the occupied territories are fundamentally wrong,” the group aims to “help people understand the suffering of Palestinians and realize the urgency of doing something about it.”
“We hope to let people know that there is a strong and growing movement for Palestinian rights at Princeton … and that being part of this historic struggle is possible right here,” Bitran added.
But Jeffrey Mensch ’11, president of Tigers for Israel, dismissed the protesters’ claims.
He said in an e-mail that the group was “concerned about the absurd claim that Israel’s security fence, instituted to prevent suicide terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians, constitutes an ‘Apartheid Wall.’ ”
Mensch explained that Palestinian concerns about the wall should be addressed by Israel’s government.
“While we are concerned by the impacts of the wall on the lives of Palestinian civilians who live near the fence,” Mensch said, “these are and should be addressed in the Israeli Supreme Court, which has a strong record of considering the complaints of Palestinians on such issues.”
Amnesty International president and PCP member Megan Hogan ’12 said in an e-mail that her group hopes the display will not only remind students of human rights abuses around the world, but will offer them an opportunity to speak out against such violations.
“We hope that seeing a ... wall in front of Frist will inspire people to take a moment to sign a petition or handwrite a letter protesting human rights abuses stemming from the Israeli-Palestinan conflict,” she explained.
Amnesty International has collected 124 signatures for a petition supporting human rights activists who were jailed for nonviolently protesting the wall dividing the West Bank, and 109 signatures for a petition protesting the $3 billion in military aid that President Barack Obama has asked Congress to send to Israel next year, Hogan said.
While Mensch disagreed with the politics of the display, he did not challenge the University’s approval of the event.
“Of course, Tigers for Israel does not shun discussion of the difficult issues — indeed, we welcome it,” he said. “It is important that difficult issues like the wall are discussed on campus.”
After the event, Hogan said, she was “touched and amazed by the number of students, faculty and community members who approached us to thank us for what we are doing.” Hogan added that the gratitude “made me realize just how vitally necessary such events are.”
Alex Smith ’13, a PCP member who helped plan the project, said in an e-mail that he hopes students who saw the display will attempt to look further into the conflict.
“More than anything, I would hope that students take away an understanding that there are two sides to this conflict,” Smith said. “Then, I feel that it is up to the students to research the topic and seek to understand it.”
Though the display has been dismantled, Bitran said that the protesters’ work still continues.
“The objective is to raise awareness about this issue, but more importantly, we hope to inspire people to join the global movement against Israeli apartheid, to help us fight for Palestinian rights and ultimately participate in the effort to bring this conflict to an end,” he said.