The Palestinian flag will not fly at graduation because, according to the administration, this stands at odds with Macalester’s flag policy. For the sake of clarity and comprehensiveness, I will offer four reasons that summarize my rationale behind finding Macalester’s decision problematic.

First, the Palestinian flag is recognized at the United Nations as the flag of the Palestinian people, who do not belong to any other country in this world and are not a separatist movement. The Palestinians have been illegally occupied, according to international law (ex: U.N. Security Council Resolution 242), and have consequently not acquired the same status as other states at the U.N. Palestine is the only country that belongs to the list of “entities,” as opposed to “states,” with permanent observer missions to the U.N. It follows that Macalester, in crafting its policy, excludes the possibility of having a student who belongs to a country that is listed under the “entities” list, and specifies that flags will be flown for students “whose countries [according to the administration, read: states] are recognized with permanent observer status or are members of the U.N.” Palestine does have a permanent observer mission to the U.N. and has, according to the hitherto unimplemented U.N. resolutions, the right to be its own independent state. Nonetheless, the wording of the policy implies that Macalester chooses to acknowledge only a partial list of the U.N.’s list of representatives. This is problematic.

Second, the policy disregards one crucial implication for not flying the Palestinian flag on my graduation, namely, that I will essentially be deemed as coming from “nowhere.” I have only one national identity; I was born in Jerusalem as a Palestinian. I have a Jordanian passport, an Israeli ID, and an Israeli travel document (laissez passer) as a result of different political episodes, but that does not undermine that my nationality is solely Palestinian. I came to Macalester as a Palestinian. Being admitted entails that my identity is respected, and that I come from “somewhere” and I represent “someone,” the former being Palestine and the latter being the Palestinian people. As an international student, proud of being Palestinian and proud of being part of Macalester’s international and multicultural community, I believe I have the right to have my identity acknowledged and respected up until my last day in Macalester, up until my graduation, if not after.

Third, Macalester does have the Palestinian flag. It is the flag beside which I was standing in the first photo that was published. This was at MIO’s dance in the new Kagin. If the flag can be flown at Macalester’s international events, why wouldn’t it be flown on my, or any Palestinian student’s, graduation?

Fourth, Macalester advocates dialogue, diversity and respect. Macalester’s Statement of Purpose states: “We affirm the importance of the intellectual growth of the students, staff and faculty through individual and collaborative endeavor. We believe that this can best be achieved through an environment that values the diverse cultures of our world and recognizes our responsibility to provide a supportive and respectful environment for students, staff and faculty of all cultures and backgrounds.” I am afraid, however, that with regard to flying the Palestinian flag, Macalester has not actualized some of its ideals. I, for instance, was never asked to represent my case in front of those who decided to deny me the right to have my flag flown; they thought that the policy “can speak for itself.” Apparently, it couldn’t. I could have explained the above and I could have added that the Palestinian and Israeli flags were always flown together as a symbol of peace in the war-torn land of Palestine/Israel. It actually hasn’t been a week since approximately 10,000 Israeli citizens demonstrated in the streets of Tel Aviv, calling for an end to the occupation of Palestinian Territories and for peaceful relations between Palestine and Israel, while holding both the Palestinian and Israeli flags. If Macalester chooses not to fly a flag that is flown as part of one symbol of peace, for one thing, then this is saddening at best and a betrayal of Macalester’s ideals at worst.