The Article Between the Two Other Articles
Sandeep Abraham | May 10, 2010 | Comments 9
For years, the Muslim Student Union (MSU) and the Anteaters for Israel (AFI) have waged their petty campus pissing contest over who has more of a right to love God and live over 8,000 miles away from UCI. It essentially devolves into a scene of two obnoxious and highly self-conscious little boys measuring their relevance with a ruler (Hint: neither wins).
During my time as a student at UCI, I cannot recall a single instance in which either AFI or MSU have taught me anything even remotely related to the actual tenets of their faiths. I have learned that every good Jew knows he or she has influence in Orange County, should hate the Muslims and MSU, should consistently bring up the Holocaust and every vague instance of American anti-Semitism ad nauseam and should dedicate a sizeable chunk of time and money to all of the above.
I have learned that every good Muslim should rightly play into stereotypes of organized terrorism and peace disruption, should hate the Jews and AFI, should constantly yell and scream and when in doubt, play the victim card, should blindly support Arabs politically because Arab is Muslim and Muslim is Arab (duh!), and should also dedicate a sizeable chunk of time and money to all of the above. Oh, and these clubs have also taught me that good Muslims and Jews should bypass the Korean BBQ and boba tea monopoly on Ring Road and sell hummus, falafels and shawarmas instead.
Neither of these groups has done anything to teach us about the beautiful, intricate and rich faiths they represent.
The recent fiasco with Michael Oren is a perfect example of this. I know we have all heard more than enough about it thanks to the ear-splitting bitching and feces flinging from both groups, but humor me. The incident essentially went down like this: (1) Israeli ambassador Michael Oren came to speak at UCI. (2) The MSU did not want this evil representative of Israeli genocide (as they see him) desecrating holy UCI ground. (3) So, being the reactionary geniuses that they are, they sent out an e-mail of the master plan with the text “It was NOT an MSU event.” This is probably the most important thing to remember to say. The eleven acted on their own accord, and it was not organized or put on by MSU. If asked about MSU’s stance, it was that MSU did not organize the protest, but MSU does condemn the university. (4) 11 MSU revolutionaries at the speech loudly disrupted Oren, only to be escorted by campus security as their supporters in the crowd hooted and hollered in cowardly anonymity. (5) Within days, the equally reactionary geniuses at AFI began to express their outrage (and for once, got to play the victim card too) as they and the Zionists of America called for the end of the MSU. (6) More yelling, more screaming, more feces flung. Rinse and repeat.
I know the New University put this out in their editorial soon after the incident, but it must be reiterated: this is stupid and we do not care for it. Predominantly Asian-American and white UCI have had a long history of general political apathy. That has only recently been broken by the economic recession and the UC fee increases.
Then again, why should we care about what AFI or the MSU have to say about their political causes? Both groups are made of university students at one of the world’s most prestigious universities in the safest city in the United States. We (the rest of the campus) suspect or are fairly sure that most of you (AFI and MSU) know very little or next to nothing about the pain, suffering, culture or history of the conflicts and people you claim to represent. No matter how many petty arguments you have or how many melodramatic demonstrations you put on, you will not change anything. You are less than a droplet in your respective buckets.
We, on the other hand, would very much like to know what it really means to be a good Jew and a good Muslim. We want to know about your family histories and we want to see you two little boys stop measuring yourselves, come together, hug it out and find the threads of common humanity between you.
Until you give us that, no matter how loud you yell, we will not care about anything else you have to say.
Sandeep Abraham is a fourth-year literary journalism major. He can be reached at sandeepa@uci.edu.
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Sandeep has obviously never bothered to actually talk to a member of MSU or AFI (the latter of which is a political organization, not religious. Good research there, cowboy).
This is just one more student annoyed by the conflict on campus who made the mistake of opening his mouth without any knowledge of what he’s bitching over.
Mike, you’re right in pointing out that AFI never proclaims itself a religious club, though far too often they come to represent the resident Jews on campus while Hillel sinks into obscurity. I question your denial that the Palestine/Israel conflict is a religious one. It might not be on paper and in political speeches, but the motivations behind it are clearly religious (I’ve read all about Ottoman history and the Balfour Declaration). I’ve also lived in Kuwait and I remember the attitude both groups had toward one another – abject religious hatred among the more volatile groups even when Israel and Palestine were not mentioned.
Also, while Islam Awareness Week was frankly impressive and educational, you can’t tell me that message comes out louder than all the anti-Israel rhetoric. Look at all the opinion written by MSU reps against Israel and an apparent genocide miles away. Look at the demonstrations and faux tanks built on campus with bloody pictures comparable to the anti-abortion posters and demonstrations.
My ultimate point with this post was the fact that both of these groups, while their opinions on the conflict are valid and interesting, they’ve each become a really annoying about it. Their heads have grown big enough that they think they’re really making a difference in the Middle East with their hysterics and tantrums here.
To Salah Al-Din, I have stopped by and talked to you guys during Islam Awareness Week and other similar events. You are all very helpful and your food is absolutely delicious. I think, in the minds of most UCI students, you guys simply piss all over the positive and educational things on campus when you go on your anti-Israel binges and rants and start throwing up really unnecessary demonstrations and rallies. The MSU has so much potential as a truly positive force on campus if only you guys focused your efforts more on that than a conflict thousands of miles away from you…
The situation is about the same here at U.C. Berkeley. It is a shame that campus groups representing Jewish and Muslim students at Davis and other universities behave in a manner that inadvertently contributes to the negative images people have of two populations.
Instead of hearing the same old conflict reiterated in increasingly illogical and fantatic forms, I would as you say, “very much like to know what it really means to be a good Jew and a good Muslim. We want to know about your family histories and we want to see you two little boys… come together, hug it out and find the threads of common humanity between you.” That common humanity is rather obvious, not just in how both group have a common Abrahamic root and common values but, unfortunately, in how campus groups representing the faiths defeat themselves with their own bad behavior.
please feel free to stop by our MSU booth that has been setup 2-3 times a week on Ring Rd. for a few years now, where we talk about Islam and any questions you may have – everything from terrorism to Jesus, may peace be upon him, or even just come up to some of the guys or gals and just talk, we are always super excited and more than happy to talk, and you should never feel embarrassed or intimidated =) (by the way, we have over 300 events a year, and only about 10-15 of them are on the Israel/Palestine conflict, the rest are humanitarian and religious)
seriously? do you even attend UCI? last time I checked, all of last quarter for the MSU was called “Islam Awareness Quarter” and had numerous weekly events for EACH week of the quarter (and they still are this quarter in specific regard to their faith)..and AFI (Anteaters for Israel) is not a “Jewish” club, it is an explicitly POLITICAL Zionist Israeli club on campus, therefore they’re not responsible for bringing to you faith based programs in regards to Judaism, the campus club Hillel is (this also shows you have fallen for the sad trap of confusion the Israeli/Palestinian conflict as a religious one). if you had any real bravery (which you might feel you have because you wrote this very pathetic attempt in trying to act like a revolutionary journalist), you would walk up to a MSU or Hillel member, and you would ask them about Islam and Judaism.
#1 Has missed the sarcasm, perhaps?
You get at the essential point here, these groups both shy away from rationality and sane discourse. Even the opinion pieces on this matter that appear in this paper from time to time are nothing more than libel most of the time — facts are apparently a precious commodity.
Hey, at least I discriminate equally.
Why not read the entire article and tell us exactly what’s “racist, clueless, ignorant,” or “offensive” about it, A? You’re in America now, remember? We’re civilized here. lol.
This is the most honest, accurate, and clearly-to-the-point article I have read concerning the tensions on campus. I suspect that both groups will soon take to flexing their internetz bravery below this reply, which will only further validate the author’s point (like the “A” thug above).
This is the most racist, clueless, ignorant, and offensive article I’ve ever read in the New U. To both the MSU and AFI.
Wtf is this ignorant bigot doing writing for our campus paper?