For its first public event, UBC’s Progressive Jewish Alliance (PJA) invited Yonatan Shapira, an Israeli solidarity activist, to present at the university.
Founded in September of this year, the PJA is one of the newer clubs on campus. The club’s objective is to provide an open environment for students to discuss matters related to Jewish politics, such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflicts.
Shapira was a former helicopter pilot in the Israeli Air Force who resigned in 2003. Along with 26 other former pilots, Shapira petitioned the Israeli government for an end to the military occupation of Palestine. Since then, he has been actively involved in providing humanitarian aid to Palestinians.
Adam Waitzer, executive member of the PJA, said that since it is not common for Israeli military personnel to appear in the media, Shapira’s presentation would help to bring light to Israel’s military and political action against Palestinians.
“We want to make people question some of Israel’s actions today and what they are doing in the occupied territories…. It’s a different perspective than what you read in the newspapers,” said Waitzer.
Waitzer also said that Shapira’s presentation is very relevant to the public because Canada has long been a political ally of Israel.
During the presentation, Shapira said that while he used to be proud to serve his country, after having witnessed the extent of the collateral damage that the Israeli Air Force caused during the 2002 attacks on Salah Shehadeh, he decided to to leave the military in pursuit of efforts against Israeli occupation.
Shapira said that although he is opposed to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory, he does not endorse acts of violence by Palestinian groups like Hamas either. Still, he said that Israel’s actions against Palestine are only fuelling the threats from Palestinian armed groups.
“You cannot expect to have security when you’re still humiliating, torturing and maiming,” said Shapira during the presentation. “Whenever you’re applying this kind of violence on millions of civilians, you get exactly the opposite of security.”
Shapira also encouraged the audience to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which he described as a movement that is “becoming more and more like the struggle to boycott the Apartheid regime.”
Not all members of the audience were in agreement with Shapira’s position on the issue. Allan McLeod, a retired pastor who attended the event, said that Shapira’s criticisms do not entirely reflect the true nature of Israel’s military action.
“I feel that he is much too hard on his own Jewish people. The [Israeli] military does its very best to try to not kill people apart from the military,” said McLeod.
Shapira will be presenting at another public event this upcoming Sunday at the Jewish Community Centre where he will discuss the benefits and disadvantages of BDS.
Editor's note: Adam Waitzer is also a staff writer for The Ubyssey.