"Celebrate Israel" is Nothing to Celebrate
By: Manal Itraish/Arab America Contributing Writer
The crowd cheered loudly when a band of ambitious Code Pink activists, led by Tighe Barry, unfurled a huge Palestinian flag from the roof of a parking lot (see picture below) overlooking the Plaza at Tysons Corner Center, a teeming shopping mall in the suburbs of Washington DC.
These brave activists evaded a contingent of mall security and Fairfax County Police to execute this daring feat – much to the delight of more than three hundred onlookers below, who were protesting the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington’s celebration of Israel’s Independence Day.
Torrential rain in McLean, Virginia, on the afternoon of Sunday, June 3rd, did not prevent determined Arab Americans and supporters of Palestinian human rights from the tri-state area of Virginia, District of Columbia and Maryland, from showing up en masse, to participate in the protest and to commemorate the “Nakba,” which for the Palestinians is an annual day of commemoration of the displacement before and after Israel’s Declaration of Independence in 1948.
The protest grew organically as word of mouth spread within a dynamic community in spirit, energy, and passion, in the weeks leading up to the event, that the Mall was to host “Israel’s 70th birthday party with Israeli music, food, and dancing.” The “food” portion of this celebration qualified as “cultural appropriation,” because it consisted of food items indigenous to the Palestinian people such as hummus, falafel, and tabbouleh.
Among the protestors were members from Jewish Voices for Peace, Code Pink, Muslims for Palestine, and Orthodox Jewish Rabbis, just to name a few. Appalled that the mall was hosting a “Celebrate Israel” event, protest organizers initiated letter writing and phone campaigns, demanding that the Mall’s management cancel the event because of Israel’s illegal occupation and theft of Palestinian land; its apartheid policies toward the Palestinian people; and its flagrant violation of international law.
The organizers argued that there was absolutely nothing to celebrate about Israel at 70 and emphasized that Israel is responsible for the deaths of innocent civilians in Gaza, some of whom are children, and that all major U.S. news outlets have reported on the disproportionate use of force used by Israel to kill and maim unarmed Palestinian civilians. Btselem, an Israeli Human rights organization declared: “Firing live ammunition at Gaza demonstrators shows appalling indifference to human life.” An Israeli paper, Haaretz, ran an article by Bradley Burston on April 4, 2018, entitled, “This is Zionism as racism. This is Israel at 70.”
When the protest organizers realized the Mall would not budge on hosting the Israeli event, they rapidly shifted to organizing a demonstration on the Mall premises in front of the two locations where the event would take place, Earls Kitchen & Bar from noon to 2:00 and the Hyatt Regency from 2:00 – 4:00 pm.
The community of peace and social justice activists and concerned community members who shop at the Mall, quickly and passionately coalesced in response to the organizer’s call for an action at the mall; waves of protesters showed up carrying “Israel is an Apartheid State” banners, wearing Palestinian Keffiyehs, and alternately chanting “we shall overcome,” and singing the Palestinian anthem, Mawtini.
Some banner-wielding protestors lined the highway entrances into the mall; many motorists honked in solidarity with the protestors. Other protestors lined the metro station leading into the mall to pass out literature about Israel’s oppressive occupation of Palestinian lands.
The protestors spanned a wide demographic – young, middle-aged, and old. One elderly gentleman was being pushed in a wheelchair while holding a Palestinian flag. Children perched on their parent’s shoulders, chanting “Palestine will be free.” Millennials were taking charge of the crowds – leading them from one venue to another while handing out umbrellas. The mall teemed with security and police, but only three protestors were arrested – and later all were released without charge. Upon being released, they were cheered by a crowd of protesters – as all declared the three to be heroes.
All the ingredients were there for this watershed moment, a historical moment – another affirmation that Palestinians are here and will never give up their valiant struggle for their homeland.
The following day, the Jewish Federations’ website claimed that over 2,000 participants attended their event; however, eyewitness accounts confirm that it was no more than a couple of hundred.
Needless to say, the Mall’s management may think twice before hosting a “Celebrate Israel” event again!