AUB students erect mock wall to highlight Palestinian plight

Source: Daily Star, 14-3-2007
\r\nBEIRUT: Students at the American University of Beirut (AUB) erected a mock wall this week in hopes of drawing attention to the real "Apartheid Wall" the "Israeli" Army is constructing around the occupied West Bank. "Students aren`t aware that there is a wall in Palestine. They`re asking when it`s going to be built," said Baha al-Kayyali, a member of the Palestinian Cultural Club (PCC) at AUB, Tuesday. Construction of the "Israeli" wall around, and in, the occupied West Bank began over five years ago. The wall not only cuts through Palestinian land, according to the 1967 borders, but it often divides villages or separates farmers from their crops.
\r\nThe International Court of Justice declared the wall and its construction illegal in 2004.
\r\n"This is a campaign hoping to make AUB students aware of the effects of the Apartheid Wall and a campaign to show that they`re taking a stance against it," Kayyali says.
\r\n"They asked for help," says Suzanne Harb, president of the Art Club, one of 11 clubs partnering with PCC for the event. "I was totally surprised to hear what was going on."
\r\nSeveral students worked through the weekend to construct the mock wall, which runs across 10 meters near West Hall on AUB`s campus. The wall is adorned with graffiti - "tear down the wall," a painted Palestinian flag and Naji al-Ali`s celebrated icon, Handala.
\r\n"The wall is a racist act," al-Kayyali says. "The wall should look threatening, annoying and ugly because that`s what it is," said Baha.
\r\n"We wanted to block the path," explains Samar Shaltaf, another member of the Palestinian Cultural Club. "We wanted people to feel bothered but the administration didn`t want to disturb things."
\r\nAt the end of the first day of campaigning, a petition against the wall received over 1,200 signatures. The group hopes to collect at least 5,000 signatures and send it to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
\r\n"I thought that after the war, they [the Lebanese] would be more interested, but they don`t care about much outside of Downtown," says Amr Nofal, a Palestinian AUB freshman. Acknowledging the current political chaos in Beirut, the students chose to restrict their campaign to campus and not try bringing in the larger Beirut community.
\r\n"It`s pretty hard to explain the wall to the Lebanese because they`re never been there. Most of them don`t understand," said Kayyali.
\r\nThe majority of students at AUB are Lebanese and prohibited from traveling to "Israel" as long as the two nations remain in a state of war. This wall, a photo exhibit, a panel discussion on Wednesday and film screenings on Thursday aim to introduce the wall to AUB.
\r\nOn Wednesday, both AUB professors and students will discuss their experiences with the wall at 3 p.m. with AUB professors and students who will speak about their experience with the wall.
\r\nOn Thursday, documentaries centering on the wall and its negative effects on the Palestinian community will be screened at 4 p.m, also in Bathish Auditorium in AUB`s West Hall.
\r\n"If we ask them, maybe they`ll sign a petition but if we explain to them, maybe they`ll get more interested," says al-Kayyali. The wall will be occupying space on AUB`s campus through Friday.\r\n