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Hamas Activists Disrupt Campus Event on Suicide Bombers
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by Avia Gridi
Hamas cartoon lauding its military might. Photo: Screen shot.
This column is a response to a guest column published in the Alligator: “Palestinians are people with a voice“
Anat Berko is a world-renowned terrorism expert who has lectured before Congress, the Department of State, the FBI, and NATO. Berko lectures before these important individuals because of her unique research and experiences. Recently, Berko came to the University of Florida to speak about her interactions and research with attempted suicide bombers. Her lecture was eye-opening, thought-provoking, and exceptional.
Additionally, they rudely started speaking over her in an attempt to distract students from the lecture. These same students, who were asked by Berko to stay and listen, immediately left and published an op-ed about an hour-and-a-half-long event that they only attended for 10 minutes.
They would have heard her examples of women and children suicide bombers — only one of whom was Palestinian.
The three students stated that Berko “uses the very personal anecdotes of women to justify the massively oppressive actions of Israel.”
If anyone is trying to show that “Palestinians are actual human beings,” it’s Berko, who tries to explain why these women find themselves in these situations, clarifying that they don’t just wake up one day and become suicide bombers.
Moreover, Hamas is in fact the problem. Hamas is a recognized Islamist terrorist group that focuses its attention on creating chaos and sending missiles into Israel instead of helping Gaza grow. These students claim Israel is the sole reason the Palestinian people are lacking human rights. However, the people living in Gaza are often stripped of these rights by Hamas. In 2010, Hamas shut down six human rights groups’ offices. Among these organizations were a women’s health society and the Woman and Child Development Association.
Next time there’s a speaker on campus, they should listen. Listening is the only way to achieve peace.
Avia Gridi is a University of Florida student and Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) Fellow. This guest column ran in The Alligator under the headline “Inside the Mind of a Bomber.”
