Recently, Palestinian human rights activist, Bassem Eid went on a tour with CAMERA. During his tour, Eid went to dozens of campuses across the United States to discuss his experiences living under the Palestinian Authority. Below are pictures and testaments from CAMERA students about Eid’s tour. To read more CAMERA articles about Bassem Eid click here.
“Bassem explained that the people who started BDS didn’t ask the Palestinians if they agree with this movement because shoes would be thrown at them. The BDS movement caused the Palestinian workers to take a reduction is salary from $2000 a month to $400 a month causing them to lose dignity also. The BDS movement hurts Palestinians and makes them feel as if they are pawns in a political game.”
– CAMERA Intern Benjamin Hollander
Israel Club at Brooklyn College
“A contrast to the more common anti-Israel speaking event at Cornell, it is refreshing to see groups like CFI and CAMERA bring speakers like Eid to campus, who are not afraid to speak the truth about Israel or the conflict in the Middle East.”
– Laura Gunderson
“We feel that Bassem Eid was an excellent way to kick off our Israel advocacy campaign, and we look forward to talking with more students during the year ahead.”
– Maddie Boster
“The event was far more successful than I imagined it could be, with about fifty or sixty people attending. During Bassem Eid’s lecture, which lasted about twenty-five minutes, the audience was engaged and focused on what he was saying. When Bassem turned the floor over to the audience, students and faculty both raised their hands and asked intriguing questions.”
– CAMERA Intern Carly Goldstein
IDEA: Israel Dialogue, Education, and Advocacy
Florida International University
“The results of the event were amazing, many students gave us positive feed back praising the speaker and acknowledging the different perspectives and opinions on the issue. Even students from SJP had positive feedback, and said they were impressed that we are open to dialogue.”
– CAMERA Intern Dalia Perez
Johns Hopkins University
“Bassem brought a perspective the campus that is not shown in the media. He showed that the Palestinians benefit under Israel and suffer under Palestinian leadership.”
– Former CAMERA Fellow Tali Zenilman
CHAI (Coalition of Hopkins Activists for Israel)
“We wanted students to leave with a good reality check, to question their preconceived ideas of what “Israelis want” and what “Palestinians want”. Bassem did exactly that. He spoke eloquently about his experiences living under the Palestinian Authority, the treatment of Palestinians throughout the Middle East, and how the plight of the Palestinian people must be coupled with an acceptance of the democratic state of Israel as its neighbor.”
– CAMERA Fellow Robyn Frum
“Given the painful attacks and series of events occurring in Israel as of late Knights for Israel completely lucked out in the timing of bringing in Bassem Eid. The Palestinian perspective of what needs to be done blew people’s minds and for once people understood what happens on the ground without the toxic buffers of the media. To hear this from a Palestinian who has lived and breathed this conflict was exactly what we needed.”
– CAMERA Fellow Ben Suster
“We are so thankful to CAMERA for getting him to tour the country and speak to campuses like ours about his unique perspective on the situation. His voice is one that people on all sides need to hear. We are so glad he came to our campus and all who attended got something meaningful out of it. We hope to host more speakers like Eid in the future who offer us a new perspective on the world around us and give us greater insight.” – CAMERA Intern Tal Tahori
“I think Baseem coming and giving his perspective is really valuable,” [CAMERA Fellow Joshua] Seed said. “It’s giving college students, who are the people who are one day going to become leaders, giving them another perspective that you don’t hear in the media. They can form a more complete picture of what’s going on.” – CAMERA Intern Arianne Storch
Binghamton University Zionist Organization (BUZO)
Students enjoyed the perspective that Bassem Eid brought to their campuses. They saw him as a (mostly) unheard voice on campus and as someone who could help students understand the realities of living under the Palestinian Authority.
