A shift is needed on American campuses

We must all thank Ahmedinjad for legitimating our long-said message to the world.

For too long, Israel has been singled out by the United Nations: the special committees established to investigate the actions of Israel and only Israel; the endless resolutions passed against Israel; the special status granted to Palestinian refugees, which allows them to remain refugees despite being citizens of Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, and yes, Switzerland too.

I spoke with a Palestinian refugee just the other day who had citizenship in Canada before moving to Switzerland, where he now resides as a full citizen.

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Jewish students in solidarity with Darfurian refugees

Yesterday morning began with the troubling news that we, the European Union of Jewish Students (EUJS), lost our United Nations accreditation. What did we do to deserve this punishment? We were not the clowns.

As we listened to our group leader explaining why the UN revoked our badges, he was interrupted by an urgent announcement: we could not leave our (heavily guarded) regular meeting area because of possible security threats. Rumors circulated that the United Nations revoked our accreditation because of related security concerns but they turned out to be untrue. After an hour of waiting indoors, we found out that thanks to behind-the-scenes diplomacy, our badges were returned and that we received "clearance" to return to the United Nations' conference. However, no sufficient explanation for the revocation was granted.

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Yom HaShoah in Geneva

Forget about Ahmadinejad. His address to the UN on Yom HaShoah [Holocaust Remembrance Day] was the most despicable affront to Holocaust remembrance (nay, human dignity) that has ever happened in the post-WWII era. Instead, let me attempt to salvage some of the world's lost dignity by remembering the Holocaust in a way that it should be remembered, in a way that it must be remembered.
 
At 6PM, we gathered in front of the United Nations, again at the Plaza des Nations. However, this time, we were joined by two-thousand people to commemorate the systematic extermination of six million Jews, and many millions of non-Jews. And for several hours, we stood together as a single body, simultaneously forgetting the travesty of the day's events while remembering the greatest tragedy in modern history.

A brief encounter with three clowns

Although Monday's opening events at the Durban II conference are now old news, let me tell you what you did not see because Monday was a day that brought a brief encounter between three "clowns" (i.e. Ahmadinejad and the courageous French students).

It all began at 8AM this morning. After a quick breakfast, a large group of EUJS students hurried to the Plaza de Nations to protest the Second Durban Debacle before it officially began. Arriving at the Plaza, we took hold of our signs, placed a black piece of masking tape over our mouths, and stood in unity - silently.

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Preparing for the conference

It was a rainy day in New York when I received a frantic phone call from a friend at New York University involved with The European Union of Jewish Students (EUJS): "Don't ask too many questions," he said, "We want you to be one of three American student representatives of EUJS at the UN Durban II Conference in Geneva."

Ignoring my friend's words, I resorted to my habit of sardonic questioning: "You mean the follow-up conference to Durban I that was committed to eradicating racial discrimination and xenophobia, but which ironically devolved into the most vitriolic, state-sanctioned anti-Semitism since Nazi Germany?" I am sure he was rolling his eyes on the other side of the line, but he replied, "Yes, that is the one."

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