It came to my attention last night that this is the seventh annual Israel Apartheid Week. A time in which cities across the world, and several colleges across the United States, protest Israel’s displacement of the Palestinians as a result of becoming a state. The official website goes so far as to declare Israel to be an “apartheid state.” Learning that such a hateful event exists makes me disheartened and proud; proud that my school does not partake in any activities of this nature.
Within the last few years, the students and faculty at Knox College have opted not to have events or speakers intended to voice hateful religious views on campus. Now, this is not to say that religious and controversial speakers are not invited to campus. However, within the last few years a student from the West Bank was offended by a speaker who came to campus. Since then, the leaders of the religious organizations on campus decided to avoid inviting speakers who might hurt their classmates’ feelings. This is not an official ruling, just an act of mutual respect and decency within the Knox community. In fact, many of our religious organizations plan events together, since many of our holidays coincide. Living in a loving environment such as Knox’s, I was astonished to discover that other schools do not follow similar protocol. Only good things can come from demonstrating such acceptance on college campuses.
