University of Virginia Library

We the Palestinians in this
university, violently object to the
showing of Billy Graham's film "his
land" on campus.

Not only does the film distort
the truth in the name of religion, it
distorts religion itself for the sake
of politics. Both Christianity and
Judaism are subjected to a political
interpretation in specifically Zionist
terms.

The whole historical reality of
Palestine is completely ignored,
except in a few condescending
remarks about the "few Arabs"
who happened to be living there.

As Palestinians, we do not
conjecture, we know about the
rights of the inhabitants of
Palestine and the grave injustices
done to them which are here
defended in the name of religion.
We challenge the whole political
ideology of the film, and, as
Christians too, we refuse to accept
the so-called "Christian" guise of
such propaganda. (After all, it is no
secret that Billy Graham's son
fought in the Israeli army in the
1967 war.)

Furthermore, we feel that such
political propaganda enhances the
misconceptions and prejudices
perpetuated by Zionists about the
Arabs and Palestinians. If Billy
Graham believes that his "God" is
on the Israeli side, we firmly believe
that God is not some vague political
concept which was miraculously
translated into phantom bombers
and napalm.

The Palestinian Revolution aims
at establishing a free, progressive,
democratic state in Palestine for
Jews, Moslems, and Christians alike.
This is the kind of religious
freedom that we support-not Billy
Graham's exclusively Jewish state.
It is amazing to see how Golda Meir
(from Milwaukee), Abba Eban
(from South Africa), and Billy
Graham (an American evangelist)
feel free to determine the fate of
our land and consider us the
outsiders.

Our Palestinian heritage is an
undeniable fact which cannot be
brushed aside-either for the sake of
Billy Graham's "religion" or
Richard Nixon's "politics".