Posts in "Berlin Wall"

By Bonnie Kristian at 2:19PM

Jan 12, 2010

The Palestine Wall: Graffiti as a Peaceful Act of Resistance

Graffiti's not my favorite thing ever -- it far too often results in the destruction of private property. Much of the older parts of European cities, for instance, are significantly marred by the heavy graffiti which covers their historic buildings. Venice, in my opinion, is particularly damaged.

However, there are times when graffiti is a good thing, when it can be an act of peaceful resistance to unjust behavior of an oppressive state. The Israeli West Bank Barrier is only a few years old, but its similarities to the oppression of the Berlin Wall are clear. It has been denounced by human rights groups worldwide, and though it is certainly understandable that Israelis seek protection from Palestinian terror attacks, this wall has destroyed the property of innocent Palestinians (including important farm land) and is without question a ridiculous abuse of power.

The graffiti which has appeared on the wall is not only reflective of peaceful protest, but often beautiful as well:

UCI YAL chapter on fall of the Berlin Wall

President of Young Americans for Liberty chapter at the University of California- Irvine, Anthony Burke, posted his speech he gave at UCI on November 9th to commemorate the fall of the Berlin wall. Anthony eloquently discussed the connection between the politics of liberty and the upholding of human rights:

it should be clear that the ideas of any collectivist philosophy are flawed for the following reasons. First and most importantly are human rights. Human rights are natural rights that include life, liberty, and property and they are rights held by individuals. History has shown us that when entire nations embrace collectivism at the expense of individual rights the people suffer and the rulers gain great powers of influence and control over our lives.

Read the rest here

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By Rachel Kania at 7:16PM

Nov 18, 2009

YAL receives attention for Berlin wall event

YAL chapters across the country gained tons of media attention for the November 9th event. Check it out:

St. Cloud State University

Indiana University Kokomo

Case Western Reserve University

Wichita State University

Washington University

Rutgers University

Clemson University

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By Rachel Kania at 1:06PM

Nov 18, 2009

Case Western Reserve University's Berlin wall

Case Western Reserve University put together this great footage of their mock Berlin Wall on November 9th:

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By Rachel Kania at 11:03PM

Nov 17, 2009

Cuny Hunter College on November 9th

Cuny Hunter College on the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall:

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By Rachel Kania at 11:02PM

Nov 17, 2009

Young Americans for Liberty in the News

University of Idaho's newspaper, The Argonaut, covers the YAL chapter's president, Kyle Gray, as he talks about the Berlin wall event on November 9th.
The Daily Targum at Rutgers University gives Young Americans for Liberty at Rutgers credit for recognizing the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall.
Examiner.com cites Ron Paul's visit to Iowa as a sign for future presidential run.
The Iowa Republican reports, "What the Buck? Ron Paul explains to preserve liberty, we must understand monetary policy in new video post."

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By Rachel Kania at 4:01PM

Nov 13, 2009

Commemorating the fall of the wall at Rutgers

This past Monday, the Rutgers Young Americans for Liberty commemorated the fall of the Berlin Wall by erecting their own symbolic wall on campus. Rutgers YAL member Aaron Williams and myself spent our Sunday constructing a 10 foot high wall which we put up on College Ave. early the next morning in a high traffic area, Brower Commons.

Berlin Wall at Rutgers

Student writing on the Berlin Wall replica at Rutgers University

IUK "Are We Rebuilding The Wall?" Footage

For many at Indiana University-Kokomo, this was the first time the word "Communism" was brought to the forefront of their attention. Some didn't know what Communism is or was, some didn't care, but many were happy that we were demonstrating and took the time to take over 100 YAR magazines and 400 fliers off our hands. With a school population of about 3,000, we probably exposed over half to our demonstration.

We had 3 peices of plywood making up our wall. The first piece contained the 10 planks of communism according to Marx. The second board was spray painted with interventionist policies and institutions that create borders to freedom. The final piece was the ironic "pick your favorite dictator" panel in which 11 dictators in the million plus club (people killed under them) were displayed as a demonstration against what political walls do to constituencies.

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By Rachel Kania at 6:00PM

Nov 11, 2009

Clemson University YAL chapter rebuilds the WALL

Clemson University YAL chapter rebuilt their own mock Berlin wall on Monday, November 9th. They asked passersby to come and write on the wall themselves, citing government abuses over American lives.

Clemson YAL