Hillel at York University in Toronto, Canada, has decided not to take action against an anti-Israel mural which hangs on the wall of the university’s student center, Shalom Toronto reports.
The mural, which was first exposed by Jonathan Dahoah Halevi on the Alternative Angle blog, appears to show a three-story Israeli structure over a mountainous agricultural area. Looking at the structure is a young, sturdy and muscular Palestinian Authority Arab, wearing a scarf around his neck on which “Palestinian territory” is drawn and holding two large rocks behind his back.
At the bottom of the mural are the words "justice" and “peace" in several languages.
The area of “Palestine”, as painted on the young man’s scarf, is all one color and makes no distinction between the borders of Judea, Samaria and Gaza and sovereign Israeli territory.
A similar picture of “Palestine” appears on the logos of PA-based terrorist organizations, notes Halevi, and it indicates what the Arabs define as the area of the historic State of Palestine - that is, all of Israel.
“The drawing also expresses the Palestinian demand for the liberation of all Palestinian territory, which means the State of Israel in its present borders from the ‘Israeli occupation’ by ‘restoring all Palestinian rights’ which, in Palestinian terminology, means the removal of millions of Jews from their homes for the purpose of resettling millions of Palestinians, most of whom live today in [Judea and Samaria], Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria,” wrote Halevi.
The two rocks that the Arab is holding in his hands symbolize what PA Arabs call the "peaceful resistance" to “Israeli occupation,” noted Halevi.
Throwing rocks at Israeli targets, both military and civilian, is not seen by the PA’s leadership and people as an expression of life-threatening violence, but as a legitimate means of expression.
Responding to the anti-Israel mural, Hillel at York University’s Director Tamara Caplan told Shalom Toronto that the group would not take action against it, as it believes the mural has had little impact on students’ opinion of Israel.
“We find it distasteful that a piece of art claiming to promote peace and justice depicts someone preparing to throw stones,” said Caplan.
“However, since the message is vague for the vast majority of students, we believe that it will have little impact on student opinion. This is confirmed by the fact that we have heard next to nothing about this mural from students. Hillel remains focused on proactive outreach that connects mainstream students to Israel in positive terms,” she added.