WORK|OUT European Students’ Review

NEW YORK DIARY

Does an anti Bush movement exist in U.S.A.? Two students say us what

| George Tomlinson, Tristan Kirvin (New York). It would be somewhat misleading to speak of an ‘anti-Bush movement’ in American universities today. In the first place, the university system includes religiously affiliated ones where criticism of Bush policies would not be encouraged. Furthermore, although groups trying to raise awareness about the imperialist policies of the administration (and those of past administrations) exist on many campuses, these efforts tend to crystallize around politically, socially and culturally specific issues which, taken as a whole, do not show a level of unity that the word ‘movement’ generally evokes. Progressive/peace groups on single campuses, let alone at a state or nationwide level, lack formalized connections. In other words, if the ‘anti-Bush movement’ is a movement, it remains a fragmented one.

However, given the dire direction U.S. foreign policy has taken since Bush’s appointment in 2001, groups formed to address a particular struggle have begun to broaden their scope. Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at New York University, which was formed in 2000 by a small cohort of graduate students concerned with the devastating occupation in Israel-Palestine, represents one such group. With the lead-up to the Iraq War, SJP soon assumed the position of the major ‘anti-war’ activist group on campus. Since March 2003, SJP has continued to concentrate on issues related to Palestinian human rights, but it has also sponsored teach-ins,

street theater and other activities that either relate them to the ongoing American occupation of Iraq or explore the anti-occupation resistance in Iraq itself. SJP regularly co-sponsors events with other NYU activist groups such as the Campus Anti-war Network (CAN) and activists outside of the university community in New York City, such as Jews Against the Occupation (JATO) and Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition.

Although some of the challenges that SJP faces are typical for any university organizing, others are more specific to the Israel-Palestine question in the US. Since 9/11 government leaders have worked to extend pre-existing identification with Israel-among evangelical Christians, for example-based on the notion that the two countries are engaged in a common ‘war on terror’. Students have absorbed the messages about Palestinians that US media put out, i.e. simplistic formulas of Palestinian terrorism and Israeli response that deliberately ignore the causes of the conflict. The horrific suicide bombings that have taken place over the last four years-which we have consistently condemned-provide our well-organized opposition with an easy way to try to discredit us. Progressive scholarship and activism on Israel-Palestine and the role of the United States in the Middle East are being demonized by a combination of informal and formal/legal means. If there is reason for optimism, it lies in the new openness of some students to learning about the contemporary Middle East.