There are roughly 1300 morbid black flags hugging the Arts Quad pathways this week, right up to Ezra’s very footsteps. Each one represents a life that has been lost during the recent Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Gaza, and the symbols are accompanied by signs with U.N. and Amnesty International quotes denouncing the violence.
For some, the flags were a shocking jolt of the reality that people all around our globe are suffering the consequences of hate and intolerance. For others, it was a demonstration that opened their eyes to a conflict they did not previously know about. And yet for some, it served as an open door to vehement debate and accusations.
For Yuval Grossman, however, the black flags served as a reminder that brought him back to the events which shaped his life.
Dr. Grossman, a particle physics professor in the physics department of Arts and Sciences, was born near the Lebanon-Israel border in Israel. Growing up in an area wrought with political and religious strife, Grossman felt the impact of the incessant fighting between Israel and Palestine beginning at a very young age. In as early as the second grade, Grossman witnessed classmates brutally murdered “face to face” at the hands of the Palestinians. He points out a significant difference in collateral damage as viewed by the terrorist organization Hamas.
“Hamas [aims] at civilians with the idea to kill. In particular, Palestinians are dancing after Israeli children are killed.”
With Grossman, the problem he sees with the display on the Arts quad is that it does not take into account the countless Israeli lives lost throughout the years by suicide bombings, car bombings, and unwarranted missile attacks delivered by Hamas in Gaza. As he passes along from one black sign to the next, he responds to the claims with evidence which he has witnessed first-hand.
“My grandmother was nearly killed by a Palestinian missile attack,” he recalls. As outlined in their charter, Hamas’ reason for these unprovoked attacks during times of proclaimed intermission and peace is the mere existence of the state of Israel. As Grossman remembers these events, it is evident that the perpetrators “do not even pretend to have a purpose…unlike Israel [recognizing Palestinians’ right], Hamas [does] not recognize the right of Israel to live in peace.”
The endless turmoil emanating from the extremist Muslim Jihad against Israel has defined Grossman’s life and made him into who he is today. His father, an ex-Israeli soldier, was killed just after the War of Attrition in 1970, during a supposed period of cease-fire. The conflict stemmed from an Egyptian and PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) initiation to reclaim the Sinai Peninsula from Israel. In an effort similar to how the state has responded in the current crisis, Israel began ‘asymmetrical warfare,’ a type of proactive resistance which utilizes all military capabilities to eliminate the threat. “While this event shapes all my life,” Grossman says, “my father was a soldier at that time, and I think it is very different from what is going on now.”
Dr. Grossman, now in his eighth year in America and approaching his two-year mark at Cornell, has found himself in a slightly ironic situation.
After witnessing the atrocities committed by Hamas in Palestine, he has found the opportunity to live his life as a professor at a prestigious Ivy League institution. Yet, Tuesday, on his way back from class, he was confronted with a school-sponsored protest which garnered sympathy for the same group which once caused him so much pain.
“While of course students should have the right to express their mind, I do not think this is the way. I am very upset to see such a one sided political demonstration in the middle of campus that is in fact officially supported by Cornell,” Grossman says.
For nearly every sign, he has an argument. “There are many facts that are omitted. Hamas carried out a lot of suicide bombing over many years. Unlike Israel, Hamas [does] not let the Red Cross visit Gilad Shalit, the Israeli prisoner of war. Hamas kept on sending rockets on Israel for eight years before Israel tried to stop it. Unlike Israel, Hamas used schools to send out rockets. Unlike Israel, Hamas used ambulances to carry [out] attacks.”
It is not the viewpoint which discourages Grossman, as he recognizes losses on both sides, but rather the manner in which this exhibit was presented.
“I do not see the point of this event. If the idea is to try to work for peace, of course I support it. Then, however, it would have been much better if such an event would be done with agreement, with a clear declaration that the students are upset with any action that is aimed against civilian[s], and that all sides in the conflict [have] the right to be safe at their homeland. Not the one sided quotes that were presented.”
For more of the Cornell Insider’s extensive review and analysis of the Israeli-Gaza conflict and Cornell’s demonstration, please refer to the following links.
Cornell University’s hypocrisy in demonstration
Facebook ad and link to Krauthammer’s ‘Moral Clarity in Gaza’
Ok , you can say what you want on the Internet , but this doesn’t necessarily means that you say the truth , seeing things from one side can form a decieving image , Israeli who killed 1400 Palestinian with the majority of children and women while only less than 10 Israeli persons killed in the Palestinian defense in the latest conflict of Gaza . Israeli who destroyed houses on the heads of its Palestinian owners , killed without differentiation , and decieved the world by thier control of the international media , look , if all of the world stand to oppose us , this will not affect our just struggle , and we will reach our goals someday without caring about your view of us , the world who doesn’t know a language other than the language of power and money , and knows nothing about ideals and principles and justice has no right to judge our struggle , and we know that you will support Israel in all cases for religious and benefits reasons , and if you listen to the voice of truth and use your minds and simple logic , you will stop suppoting the thiefs of land .