In a powerful display of pro-Palestinian solidarity, PSL members and Cal State Fullerton students disrupted a meeting led by two Israeli Defense Forces soldiers.
On Wednesday, Oct. 13, the two IDF members set foot on the CSUF campus to give firsthand accounts of what it’s like to serve in the Israeli army as part of a speaking tour in an attempt to paint the brutal, racist military in a “humane” light.
The soldiers, who refused to disclose their last names, spoke to a small crowd of students in a discussion and Q&A session put on by CSUF Hillel and Stand With Us.
In their discussion, both soldiers talked about the IDF’s moral codes and ethical views, which they said is something the IDF strictly abides by when interacting with Palestinians—lies that would be laughable if they implicated something less serious than collective punishment, bombing of children, checkpoints used to humiliate and degrade Palestinians every day, and disgusting T-shirts depicting brutalized Palestinian women with the slogan, “Better Use a Condom.”
Amongst the attendees, who appeared to be mostly Zionists, were three PSL members and several other supporters of Palestinian liberation. Tamara Khoury, a member of the PSL and a Palestinian student, disrupted the session asking, “What is humane about the mass murder of more than 1,400 Palestinians, mostly women and children?” After several minutes Khoury was forced to leave.
PSL member Doug Kauffman then continued to disrupt the meeting for more than 20 minutes asking questions like, “How are five Zionists’ lives worth 1,400 Palestinians’ lives? How do you call the Palestinian freedom fighters ‘terrorists’ when the UN recognizes the indigenous population’s right to rid their homeland of the colonizing Zionists by any means necessary?”
The IDF soldiers continued to be challenged and the meeting was an utter failure in its attempt to propagate the myth of a “humane” IDF and “humane” occupation.
