Amid wafting scents of falafel and the sounds of Israeli dance music, about 200 people representing a dozen organizations gathered in White Plaza at noon to celebrate Israel Independence Day. The Coalition for Justice in Israel / Palestine, a pro-Palestinian student group, held a silent protest near the rally.

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Nancy Tang

Students and community members rallied in White Plaza yesterday in celebration of Israel Independence Day, Yom Ha’atzmaut. The Coalition for Justice in Israel/Palestine silently protested the festivities.

Yom Ha’atzmaut, the Hebrew name for Israel Independence Day, commemorates the May 1948 founding of the Israeli state and is intended to be a festive occasion, in marked contrast to Holocaust Remembrance Week, which precedes it.

Yesterday’s event exhibited this celebratory mood as Jewish students wearing blue and white waved flags, sang songs and browsed the goods and pamphlets offered at booths sponsored by groups such as the Stanford Israel Alliance, the Zionist Organization of America, and Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa.

“Only in the land of Israel do I feel whole as a Jew,” said law student Amichai Magen. “I am proud to belong to the only democracy in the Middle East. Yet our independence will not be complete until we achieve comprehensive peace and security.”

This reference to the violence in the Middle East struck a chord, as the silent protesters watched the Jewish celebrations. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators wore black and waved the Palestinian colors in mute but nonetheless conspicuous protest. They did not disrupt the planned activities but handed out fliers and stood in front of signs with messages such as “Middle East Peace Requires Justice — End the Occupation.”

“We’re protesting a celebration of Israel’s independence because Israel established itself as a Jewish state in Palestine in 1948 by ethnically cleansing over 750,000 Palestinians, which is no reason for celebration,” said Yael Ben-Zvi, a graduate student in cultural and social anthropology and modern thought and literature. “We would like to remind the Stanford community that when Israel says it wants peace, it has to create the conditions for it first, by ending the occupation of the Palestinian territories it conquered in 1967 and by bringing closure to the bleeding wound of the 1948 ethnic cleansing.

“Israel’s compliance with [these conditions] is the key to peace and prosperity for all peoples in the Middle East. We want to emphasize the urgent need to respect human rights and equality for all.”

The rally included a series of short speeches, including ones by keynote speakers Yossi Amrani, consul general of Israel for the Pacific-Northwest region, and Dennis Prager, a nationally syndicated radio talk show host, author and theologian. Each spoke positively about the meaning of Yom Ha’atzmaut.

“This is one of the great days in world history, one of the most optimistic in human history,” Prager said.

Not everyone in White Plaza yesterday agreed with Prager’s assertion.

“We feel like when they celebrate Israel’s independence, they are missing the point, because it’s not independence, its creating a country over someone else’s country,” said a protester who wished to remain anonymous. “Any celebration should be joined by remembering what came before the Palestinians were driven out of their homes.”

Response to the protest was varied.

“I was pretty upset that there were people who don’t believe in my country’s right to exist and that they came out when we were not making a statement about anything — just celebrating our version of the Fourth of July,” said freshman Nitzan Ackner, who was born in Israel.

Amrani, however, made it clear in his speech that he was not bothered by the demonstration.

“I am not upset to see their [Palestinian] flag,” he declared to cheers from the crowd. “Their colors and ours can and should live together . . . .They are not going to secede Israel because Israel is a reality and it is not going away.”

Prager seconded Amrani’s sentiments.

“There is a difference in our two demonstrations — ours has not a hint of hate,” he said. “They [the pro-Palestinian movement] want us destroyed. There is not any hate felt here, no ‘anti’-feelings. On the other side, it is steeped in hatred —of Israel, of Jews.”