Honoring Martin Luther King Jr.

Byline: Dr James J. Zogby

Thirty-two years ago this month, I was arrested sitting-in and blocking the entrance of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC. The Embassy was hosting an event that evening in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Looking back at what we did that day, I'm confident that it was the right way to remember Dr. King's legacy.

There were a number of concerns that prompted our protest. In the first place, we were in the beginnings of the first Palestinian Intifada - the mass protest movement which witnessed tens of thousands of young Palestinians, armed with nothing more than stones, confronting Israeli military occupation forces. In response to this youth protest and the nationwide Palestinian boycott of Israeli products that accompanied it, then Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin cracked down using, what he termed, an 'Iron Fist.' He imposed crippling curfews, demolished homes, expelled dozens of Palestinians, and ordered his troops to 'break the arms' of the protesters 'to teach them a lesson.'

It was confounding that despite carrying out this brutal repression, the Israeli Embassy, nevertheless, saw fit to celebrate Martin Luther King Day together with making an announcement that, in Israel, they were dedicating a Martin Luther King Street in Jerusalem. What rubbed salt into that wound was when, shortly before the event, I was informed by Israel Shahak, head of the Israeli League for Civil and Human Rights, that the century old olive trees that Israel had planted along this street had been uprooted and stolen from Palestinian landowners by the Israeli occupation authorities. That was too much to bear.

Because, at that time, I was serving as an appointed member of the Washington, DC, Martin Luther King Holiday Commission, I took my concerns to my fellow Commissioners and asked them to join me in a protest against what a number of them agreed was an Israeli insult to the legacy of Dr. King and not in keeping with the meaning of the day. Three other Commissioners demonstrated and were arrested with me. The banner we carried read, 'Dr. King Taught Non-Violence and Justice, Not Occupation and Repression.' After blocking the front gate of the Embassy for a time, we were arrested, brought before a judge, charged and released. (Later the charges were dropped, since our demonstration was determined to be a legitimate expression of political speech.)

I mention this story and my pride in choosing this way to commemorate Dr. King's holiday...