Recently some Northeastern residents woke up to find eviction notices under their doors. Personally, when I saw the bold letters telling me I would have to vacate my apartment by Wednesday I almost freaked out… then I quickly noticed the bottom of the letter. In equally as big and bold letters, the notice said “This is not a real eviction notice. #BostonMockEviction.” I was intrigued, so I read on. The letters showed the students a different perspective from a pro-Palestinian rights organization to represent the experience of Palestinians being evicted from their homes by Israeli occupation. It wasn’t long before Northeastern’s Dean of the Cultural, Residential and Spiritual Life sent out an email apologizing for the organizations actions and saying that the group will be condemned for making people uncomfortable.
Okay let’s set all political views on this controversial subject aside for a moment as we discuss this letter. Regardless of political views, I do not think the organization should be punished for this peaceful form of activism. What upsets me is that this group used a creative method to spread their perspective. Key words being their perspective; they weren’t forcing or threatening the people who received the notices to agree with them. This would be a very different situation if the group didn’t post their source for the information, but they did. By explaining where they got their facts and statistics, this changes something that could be construed as propaganda and backs it up making it a fair form of activism. Northeastern students are extremely intelligent and deep minded, so providing this information allows the student to do their own research and determine if they think the source is valid, something we huskies are very capable of. The letters were not meant to target anyone or make anyone feel uncomfortable, and if they did, well activism tends to do that, no matter what the topic. It tends to make the opposing side feel upset, but does that mean we shouldn’t have any form of activism on campus anymore? A college campus is a place where people should be able to take advantage of the intellectual environment and share their ideas in a way that opens up a conversation. In my opinion, if anyone felt uncomfortable by this non-aggressive way of spreading an idea then they can simply disagree with the letter or decide to do their own research with sources they find more reputable. Overall, I think that Northeastern students are smart enough to not just look at the shock value of the eviction notice but to look deeper into the overall picture. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not such a cut and dry issue and there are many perspectives out there. We need to respect this organization’s creativity in sharing their side of the story and decide for ourselves what we think on the subject matter. Activism is not simply about getting everyone to agree with your side, it’s about starting a conversation, and this eviction notice certainly did that. Regardless of your political opinion, you have to admit that this group gained attention in a peaceful and creative manner… now let’s start researching huskies!