Palestinian Group's Rights Violated

To the editors of The Crimson:

On Monday, December 10, in commemoration of the third anniversary of the intifada, the Harvard-Radcliffe Committee on Palestine (COP) put up six signs around the Yard saying, "As a center of protest this university has been closed. --Israeli Military Command," and another nine signs at the entrances to various houses saying, "You have 48 hours to evacuate before this house is demolished. --Israeli Military Command."

Hardly more than two hours later, most of these signs had been vindictively removed. This is a stark violation of our freedom of speech on campus. More specifically, whoever removed our signs was attempting to stifle any Palestinian self-expression or form of protest.

Herein lies a special irony, since the Committee on Palestine's protest was intended to point out Israeli repression of Palestinians in the occupied territories. Palestinian universities, such as Birzeit and Al-Najah on the West Bank, have been closed by Israeli military order for more than three years. The Israeli military has demolished hundreds of Palestinian homes as a form of collective punishment. These are precisely the facts that COP wanted to bring home to the Harvard community with our signs.

Hardly anyone managed to see these signs, however, since they were so quickly removed. A member of our group actually saw a male undergraduate disposing of one sign in the trash. This individual is, furthermore, a member of the Harvard-Israel Public Affairs Committee (HIPAC), and while COP accepts HIPAC's statement that his act was not official group policy, the question remains as to why he felt compelled to do what he did.

speech can only mean that he wishes to hide the facts on Israeli opposition of Palestinians. Instead of recognizing the reality on the ground, this HIPAC member chose to attempt to silence the Palestinian voice and thereby perpetuate the incredible injustice.

COP put up 12 instead of six signs on Wednesday in the Yard, to make clear that our stand is firm in expressing ourselves both as members of this university and as supporters of Palestine. Dina Abu-Ghaida '91   Rhoda Kanaaneh '92   Harvard-Radcliffe Committee on Palestine