While bombs we have paid for explode on children in Gaza, the youth here have shown the world what it means to stand up and say “stop”.
The occupations at universities across the country and other parts of the world struck a nerve: suddenly, people who looked away from the Israeli occupation and genocide in Palestine said occupying something is wrong.
For many opposed to the camps, it is the first time they have said anything out loud related to the genocide.
It means the students have forced the conversation through their protest.
We have entered the latest iteration of the anti-war movement, continuing the tradition of college students saying “enough”.
While there have been no fatalities yet at these encampments at the hands of American police or violent thugs, the injuries being reported can be life-changing.
Yet, the students are relentless— taking space for those who cannot take their’s back. Trying to create conditions where the displaced can rebuild out of the rubble.
Staring down loaded barrels of police weapons aimed at their heads. Keeping their eyes on police with snipers on the roof. Organizing, painting, praying and sharing information while police surveil.
All while forcing elite institutions to meet at the table to demand divestment from companies profiting off the Israeli occupation.
Hanan, a Palestinian elder who I met at the UCLA camp told me that she wanted me to pray for her family in Gaza. She said she had taken the bus to UCLA that night because it felt like the right place to be. She left before the police raided the camp that night.
Photos from the UCLA Gaza Solidarity Encampment. May Day, 2024.
The occupations at universities across the country and other parts of the world struck a nerve: suddenly, people who looked away from the Israeli occupation and genocide in Palestine said occupying something is wrong.
For many opposed to the camps, it is the first time they have said anything out loud related to the genocide.
It means the students have forced the conversation through their protest.
We have entered the latest iteration of the anti-war movement, continuing the tradition of college students saying “enough”.
While there have been no fatalities yet at these encampments at the hands of American police or violent thugs, the injuries being reported can be life-changing.
Yet, the students are relentless— taking space for those who cannot take their’s back. Trying to create conditions where the displaced can rebuild out of the rubble.
Staring down loaded barrels of police weapons aimed at their heads. Keeping their eyes on police with snipers on the roof. Organizing, painting, praying and sharing information while police surveil.
All while forcing elite institutions to meet at the table to demand divestment from companies profiting off the Israeli occupation.
Hanan, a Palestinian elder who I met at the UCLA camp told me that she wanted me to pray for her family in Gaza. She said she had taken the bus to UCLA that night because it felt like the right place to be. She left before the police raided the camp that night.
Photos from the UCLA Gaza Solidarity Encampment. May Day, 2024.
