[Blog] Suppressing voices against genocide

The Star of 25th May reported an incident which may appear insignificant but in reality raises some fundamental questions.

On 25th May, student Rifaida was convened to a state-run institution in Moka to receive her degree in Design and Innovation, conferred by the University of Technology, which she has obtained after much sacrifice and hard work. Proud of her achievement, she thought of seizing this opportunity to convey a message and express her solidarity towards the people of Gaza who are currently the merciless victims of a vicious genocide. 

Every day she has been witnessing on TV and social media the mass murder of a defenceless people, the relentless bombing of their houses and burning of tents, the massive decimation of hospitals, health centres and other civil infrastructure, the annihilation of some 60,000 human beings, 70% of whom being civilians, mostly women and children. Only the other day, a couple of doctors lost nine of their children in a savage bombing of their home where the children were sleeping and while they themselves were busy saving lives in makeshift hospitals. We all have children. We all can feel in our entrails the unimaginable pangs of losing the supreme joys of our life in such merciless conditions. According to Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, Israel kills a Gazan woman every hour and a child every 45 minutes, all this with the dropping of 90,000 bombs which are 45 times the tonnage of nuclear bombs dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As if the ruthless carpet bombing is not enough, Israel has now imposed mass starvation on the people of Gaza.

Rifaida felt from the depths of her heart that she cannot be indifferent to such inhumanity and savagery being committed openly under the eyes of the whole world. Therefore, as a symbolic gesture, she decided to wear a scarf in the colours of Palestine to express her support for the martyred people of Gaza. This gesture is not unique among students. Throughout the world, students, especially of prestigious universities, are organizing sit-ins, protests, strikes, peaceful marches, hecklings and making use of events such as award ceremonies to express their indignation and horror at the open genocide being perpetrated by Israel. For example, the Hindustan Times of 30th May reported the brave action of an Indian student named Vegha Vemuri who, on the occasion of the award ceremony at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology, wore a red Kefiyeh, a Palestinian scarf, and denounced forcefully the abominable war crimes in Gaza.
 
In her speech, she said, "We are watching Israel trying to wipe off Palestine off the face of the earth and it is a shame that MIT is a part of it."

Hence, like her colleagues throughout the world, Rifaida, on the fateful day of 25th May, proudly wearing her Palestinian scarf, marched towards the podium to receive her much-coveted degree. Lo and behold, to her utter dismay, she was unexpectedly stopped on her way by a female official who ordered her to remove her Palestinian scarf if not she would not be allowed to go and receive her certificate. The question that arises is in what capacity and on what grounds had the person acted? Was it a personal initiative? In that case, an inquiry has to be conducted as a student has been deprived of her fundamental right to freedom of expression. If that person has received instructions from higher-ups, the question that begs itself is: is it part of a broader policy that is linked with the deplorable absence of Mauritius at the ICJ hearings when a slot was already provided to it to make a presentation in support of the motion of South Africa? If that is the case, then it is mind-boggling. 

This Government comprises elements with strong sympathies for the Palestinian cause. One of the first measures taken by the MMM when it came to power in 1982 was to officially recognize the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organisation). ReA, a Far Left party, is in sync with all the oppressed people of the world, including Palestinians. Navin Ramgoolam himself, in a previous mandate as PM, took the bold step to freeze diplomatic relations with Israel.

Now that the genocide is hardening with the number of victims of Israeli bombings reaching more than a hundred some days, will NCR stand on the right side of history by taking the bold step once again? It is time for action NOW. Repeating clichés like support for a two-state solution is not enough.

As the famous Jewish historian, Norman Finkelstein, puts it, "it is not a Jew versus Muslim issue. It is the last great anti-colonial struggle against Western colonialism."

Azize Bankur