by KEN HECHTMAN

Samer Elatrash came to study in Montreal four years ago, now majoring in English Lit at Concordia. Back then, Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) was the Concordia Collective for Palestinian Human Rights, a one-campus organization with not much of a reputation. They now have seven chapters, including new ones in Toronto and Kingston. “We got national attention for [the Sept. 9 riots against] Netanyahu,” he says. “We have to leverage that and become a national organization. I was supposed to go on a tour in October, now it’s pushed forward to the spring. After we clean up the mess in Concordia, we’ll be opening new chapters coast to coast.”

He describes the fallout of Sept. 9 - the moratorium, disciplinary and criminal charges - as a great distraction. “Once we get those obstacles out of our path, we’ll get back to the real issues,” he says. “We’ll be touring with some high-profile speakers. Uri Avnery [founder of Gush Shalom, Israel’s oldest and largest peace organization] is coming in February.”

More ominously, another campus group has invited Israeli cabinet minister Natan Scharansky in February as well. Challenge is given and challenge is accepted. “Scharansky is the minister of settlements - a war crime. We haven’t changed our principles in three months. War criminals still aren’t welcome on campus,” says Elatrash.

Strangely, Elatrash maintains he has learned something from Sept 9. “Supporters of Israel will always change the subject away from Israel,” he says. “They want to talk about free speech, or broken windows or anti-Semitism, not Israeli abuses. We’re going to deny them the opportunity to do that.”

In two or three semesters, depending on his course-load and the outcome of his disciplinary hearings and criminal cases, Elatrash will finish his degree. After that, he says, he’ll return to Palestine. “As important as it is to do solidarity work here, the real change will happen there. I want to be part of that,” he explains. He won’t say who he’ll be working with, only, “I’ll let you know when I get there.”

Will we still see his name in the papers? “Many Palestinians have contributed to national liberation without being in the newspapers. I can only hope to be among their ranks.” :