Mock “Apartheid” Wall Kicks off Palestine Awareness Week at UCLA

Monday, February 27, marked the start of Palestine Awareness Week at the University of California - Los Angeles. The weeklong event, timed to coincide with the Israeli Apartheid Week is sponsored by the university’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), the primary organizer of anti-Israel activity on campus.

A large outdoor “apartheid wall” containing extreme anti-Israel imagery and text has been erected at the university’s central public gathering space, Bruin Plaza. Texts on the panels include accusations that Israel is an apartheid state that persecutes and deprives Palestinians of their fundamental rights.

“Apartheid Wall” at UCLA

There are also Holocaust analogies comparing the Nazi ghettos of Europe with conditions facing Palestinians in Gaza. Comparisons to the Holocaust are displayed under the banner of “Never Again? History Repeats Itself.” The panels also feature statistics and “facts” portraying a skewed and inaccurate image of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The “apartheid wall” has also been displayed at a public area across the Student Activities Center in Wilson Plaza in order to more broadly reach the student public.

In addition to the “apartheid wall,” SJP members gathered Tuesday evening to denounce Israel with delegitimizing slogans like “Israel is a terrorist state.” Other events scheduled for Palestine Awareness Week include a one-state solution lecture by UCLA professor Sari Madison and a panel on Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS).