With war raging in the Middle East, Penn students with both Israeli and Palestinian allegiances came out yesterday for the annual Israeli Day on College Green.
While the day ended quite peacefully, it started off on a controversial note, when Penn Arab Student Society members and Palestine supporters put on a skit that depicted an Israeli soldier calling for Palestinians aged 15 to 40 to take off their shirts, and who then proceeded to tie them up and blindfold them.
Beginning at 9 a.m. yesterday, Penn Hillel and the Penn chapter of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee set up tables on Locust Walk in celebration of Israeli life and culture, offering passers-by everything from falafel to Jewish birthday notifications via e-mail.
PennPAC also offered students the chance to sign a letter sponsored by AIPAC asking President Bush to support Israel in its fight against terrorism. The Israeli Consulate had its own table set up nearby, and the Israel Program Center advertised programs offering visits to the country, as well.
But as it has done in the past, PASS set up a table directly across the Walk from the Israel Day celebration, causing some to fear there would be conflict between the two groups.
"People had some doubts at the beginning, but at the end of the day, I think there was a joint celebration between cultures, which was a wonderful thing to see," said Hillel President David Kagan, a Engineering senior.
According to PASS board member Michel Khoury, the skit was meant to draw attention to current events in the Middle East.
"This is what is happening right now," he said, adding that the skit was meant to bring some understanding to the Palestinian situation, which the College sophomore referred to as "over two-and-a-half years of despair."
Israel Day Committee Chairwoman Liz Rutzick, a College senior, said she thought the skit was "an expression of free speech, and they had every right to do it and it didn't have any negative effect on our event."
Aside from a general awareness of the situation in Palestine, PASS members were also promoting a fledgling coalition of people called "Jews for Palestine."
Sasha Costanza-Chock, a first-year Masters student in the Annenberg School for Communication, was in charge of recruiting.
As an American Jew, Costanza-Chock said he feels he has a duty to speak up and make others aware of his belief that Israeli occupation is at the root of the conflict. He sees a problem that much of the aid Israel receives from the U.S. goes toward its military.
"I'm supporting not just Palestinian people, but also human rights, humanity, a lasting and meaningful peace," Constanza-Chock said.
What finally brought the two groups together was a drumming event organized by Hillel and PennPAC. The drumming was part of a Middle Eastern tradition meant to inspire peaceful communication.
Both students and professionals drummers played the instruments together, and by the end of the day, students from both sides came to sit around the Button and participate.
"It was really nice that drumming allowed for an interim of the Jewish community coming together," Rutzick said.
A memorial featuring poetry readings and singing followed the drumming.
Rutzick said the memorial "served as a juxtaposition to the celebration," and described it as a "somber moment to reflect on everyone's loss of life, not taking any sides."
Kagan concluded that "there are a lot of similarities between cultures and it's what prevailed at the end of the day [so we] ended on the positive side."
"It's clear that both groups of people are very passionate and it sends a message that there should be dialogues in a peaceful setting," Kagan said.
