No. 28

April 25, 2024

United States

Student Encampments for Gaza Spread Nationwide

Student encampment for Gaza at Columbia University in New York, April 18

Photo Review -- April 8 to 21

• Youth Take Their Place in Worldwide Actions to Demand
Ceasefire in Gaza Now and No Arms to Israel

United States

Student Encampments for Gaza Spread Nationwide

University and college students have militantly set up encampments at campuses across the U.S. denouncing the U.S./Israeli genocide on the Palestinian people. They are following the lead of students at Columbia University in New York City, who began their Gaza Solidarity Encampment on April 17. As of April 25, students on at least 38 universities -- from Massachusetts to Florida, Michigan to Texas, Minnesota to Arizona and to California -- are in action to affirm their right to speak out in defence of the Palestinian people and denounce U.S./Israeli genocide; demand a ceasefire now and an end to U.S. funding and backing; and for their schools to break links with Israel. At Columbia and elsewhere students and faculty together are also demanding that police get off their campuses.

More than 100 students were arrested at Columbia University on April 18 for their protest actions after the New York Police were unjustly called in by the university's president Minouche Shafik. More than 50 students were suspended, evicted from their dorms, denied access to dining halls, medical insurance and financial aid. Despite this and because of this, the students are undeterred and continue to win public support.

A notable aspect of the many actions is the participation of Jewish students who are prominently defying the attempt of the U.S. administration and Zionists to equate being Jewish with being Zionist and the claim that pro-Palestinian demonstrators all over the U.S. are extremists, anti-Semitic and hate-mongers. At Columbia University on the evening of April 19, the Jewish students held a Seder meal at the encampment alongside many Muslim students. Nonetheless, various Zionist organizations on and off campus continue to declare that pro-Palestinian protests are anti-Semitic.

On April 24, the American Association of University Professors' (AAUP) chapter at Columbia University and Barnard College (which is part of the university) submitted a proposal to censure the Columbia University president to the University Senate, saying the decision to call in the police "violated the fundamental obligations of shared governance." The censure motion points out, "President Shafik's violation of the fundamental requirements of academic freedom and shared governance, and her unprecedented assault on students' rights, warrants unequivocal and emphatic condemnation." Shafik had claimed that the students posed a "clear and present danger" to university operations to justify calling in the police, which the New York Police Chief later admitted was false. Shafik and other university officials testified at a House of Representatives hearing the same day the encampment began, April 17, regarding protests in support of Palestine and claims of anti-Semitism on campus.

David Lurie, president of the Barnard and Columbia chapter of AAUP and professor of Asian humanities, was interviewed by the student newspaper the Columbia Spectator. The article explains:

"Lurie said one of the 'most sinister' things about Shafik's decision to allow the police on campus is her attempt to 'end-run around existing procedures and existing norms for disciplinary actions that the Senate is involved in.'

"Lurie explained, 'It's essentially eliminating the voice, not just of faculty, but also of students in how discipline takes place in the university.'

"Lurie added that the University Senate was created after the 1968 protests, when the NYPD used excessive force in detaining students who were occupying Hamilton Hall to protest the Vietnam War and the planned construction of a gymnasium in Morningside Park. Thursday [April 18] was the largest mass arrest on campus since 1968.

"'One of the major reasons that the Senate was created after 1968 was to try to avoid the kind of imperial University where the administration is separate from the faculty and the students and is making top-down decisions that affect the University community without most of that community having any voice in those decisions,' Lurie said."

The AAUP had earlier issued a statement April 19 that vehemently denounced the action of Columbia's administration. "We condemn in the strongest possible terms the Administration's suspension of students engaged in peaceful protest and their arrest by the New York City Police Department. These acts violate the letter and the spirit of the University Statutes, shared governance, students' rights, and the University's absolute obligation to defend students' freedom of speech and to ensure their safety. We demand that all Barnard College and Columbia University suspensions and charges be dismissed immediately and expunged from the students' records, and that all rights and privileges be restored to them immediately. Last, we demand that no disciplinary action be taken against any student protesters without due process, and that no police be permitted on campus without serious consultation with the Executive Committee of the University Senate."

In addition more than 1,400 academics have signed an open letter supporting the demands of the Columbia students and condemning in the strongest terms Columbia's decision to arrest and intimidate students as an imitation of the military tactics used by "Israel" that have destroyed every university in Gaza. The open letter pledged to boycott activities "held at or officially sponsored by Columbia University and Barnard College" unless the university expunges the infractions from protesting students' records, reinstates suspended groups Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine and Columbia Jewish Voices for Peace, and the presidents of both schools step down.

At New York University, on April 22, hundreds gathered for a rally and faculty stood as a human barricade to protect the student encampment. Police went in and arrested 150 faculty and students. That same day, protesters blocked major thoroughfares for hours in cities such as New York, Chicago, Seattle and San Francisco to protest the U.S./Israeli genocide in Gaza.

Encampments are spreading nationwide. At Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, students set up a "Liberated Zone" encampment in solidarity with the Palestinian people and their counterparts at Columbia University, with banners that read "Stop Investing in Genocide," "Jews for Ceasefire Now," "Yale is Complicit," and "Stop the Genocide." Jewish student organizations held a Seder there on April 22. Students held banners that read, "Our Seder plates are empty stop starving Gaza" and "Another Jew for a free Palestine." References to suffering in Gaza and pro-Palestinian student activism were integrated into the meal. Police were later sent in and conducted mass arrests, detaining 47 people and breaking up the encampment for the time being.

At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, students set up an encampment on the school's campus in protest over MIT's ties to the Israel Defense Forces amid further bombing in Gaza. Harvard students have set up an encampment supporting Palestine and opposing the suspension of the school's Palestine Solidarity Committee, which organized a student walkout in support of the steadfast Columbia students. Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at Boston University announced an emergency rally, and actions have occurred at Tufts and Emerson, all Boston-area campuses.

SJP at Ohio State University also announced an emergency protest supporting Gaza Solidarity Encampments. Miami University in Oxford, Ohio has an encampment.

Students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have an encampment and SJP there announced a rally for April 26. Students and faculty at the University of Texas-Austin held a rally for Palestine April 24 and contended with more than 50 arrests. Faculty there had been prohibited from discussing the U.S./Israeli genocide and joined students in standing with Palestine and their rights to speak and organize.

For its part, the U.S. Biden administration and Congresspeople resorted to base slanders of anti-Semitism and hatemongering against the students to divert from U.S. genocide and calls of the students for their universities to divest from Israel -- including breaking academic links and any research or financial links to Israeli apartheid or companies that support the occupation through war production or other means.

At the House hearing April 17, legislators made clear the aim was to justify more attacks on students and faculty who support Palestine and force university officials to comply by criminalizing students. They pushed the view that phrases such as "From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free" and "Long Live the Intifada" were calls for genocide against Jews and must be banned and students punished. This hearing follows a similar one in December that forced presidents at Harvard and University of Pennsylvania to resign, for not stopping student protests for Palestine.

On April 22, White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates released the Biden Administration's position in a statement accusing the Columbia students of issuing "calls for violence and physical intimidation targeting Jewish students and the Jewish community [which] are blatantly anti-Semitic" adding that they are "unconscionable, and dangerous -- they have absolutely no place on any college campus, or anywhere in the United States of America." He went further accusing the students of "echoing the rhetoric of terrorist organizations" saying it was "despicable. We condemn these statements in the strongest terms," he continued. Such threats are consistent with government efforts to charge students with "domestic terrorism" for supporting Palestine and to deny U.S./Israeli state terrorism. Claiming support for Palestine has no place "anywhere" in the U.S. is another attempt to intimidate and silence resistance.

Instead the determination of students across the country is increasing as they step up support for Palestine, demand an end to U.S. funding and complicity of universities in the U.S./Israeli genocide.

Columbia and New York Universities, New York City

Student encampment at Columbia University, April 17

Student encampment at Columbia University, April 18

Columbia University encampment, April 19

Rally supporting Columbia students, April 20

April 22

Student rally at Columbia, after midnight, April 25

Students at New York University set up encampment in solidarity with Columbia students, April 22

Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

April 25

Boston University, Boston, MA

Students at Boston University picket in support of Columbia students arrested at encampment, April 19

Boston University encampment, April 22

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

April 23

Tufts University, Medford, MA

April 22

Yale University, New Haven, CT

Yale student occupation, April 19

Yale student occupation, April 22

Brown University, Providence, RI

April 24

University of Pittsburgh, PA

April 24

University of Michigan in Ann Arbor

Northwestern University, Evanston, IL

April 25

University of Texas in Austin

April 24

University of California at Berkeley

April 22

April 23

University of Southern California in Los Angeles

April 24

(Photos: PYM, spj.columbia, T. Endale, @hashtagoras, @probablyreadit, Peoples Forum NY, @sahouraxo, T. Rumich, @sarabahaa94, @r_w2023, @V_Palestine, @WOLPalestine, M. Khaw, @Emmayourfriend, @palestine001, @TutusNTinyHats, BT News, @OnlinePAl, @mushfiq_econ, @wearedissenters, NotAnOssimp, @MsWonderHeather, @MSHossaini)

Photo Review -- April 8 to 21

Youth Take Their Place in Worldwide Actions to Demand Ceasefire in Gaza Now and
No Arms to Israel

CANADA

National Capital Region

Close to 600 people marched in downtown Ottawa on April 14 to support the Palestinian Resistance and to demand a ceasefire, an end to the genocide, that the siege on Gaza be lifted, an end to Canadian complicity and, on the occasion of Palestinian Prisoners' Day, the liberation of all Palestinian political prisoners. Palestinian Prisoners' Day has been commemorated every year since 1974 on April 17 as a national day to pay tribute to and to uphold the rights and freedom of the 9,500 Palestinian political prisoners imprisoned by Israel. Their numbers have increased sharply following mass arrest campaigns in the West Bank in the past six months of genocide in Gaza.

These prisoners, whose steadfastness serves to inspire people the world over, are detained in the most brutal conditions by the Zionist State of Israel, including being denied medical care. Of those imprisoned, 3,660 are being held without charge or trial under "administrative detention," while their lawyers are not permitted to see the "secret evidence" used to arrest them. Among the administrative detainees are 41 children and 12 women. In total, 80 women and 200 children are being held as political prisoners by Israel. Those who do receive a trial are prosecuted under Israeli military law in military courts run by the Israel Defense Force personnel. Some Palestinian political prisoners have been held in Israeli prisons for more than three decades.

The march demanded an end to the genocide, that the siege on Gaza be lifted, an end to Canadian complicity and the liberation of all Palestinian political prisoners.

At the Human Rights Monument before the march, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Youth Movement spoke of the Palestinian Resistance. She said: "Today marks 190 days of the genocide of our people in Gaza. For 190 days and throughout our entire history every pathetic and cowardly Zionist attack has had the same goal: to try to kill our Resistance and destroy our hope for a liberated Palestine. But we know that just as they have failed to do this over the past 76 years, they will continue to miserably fail. While they dream of killing our Resistance, we are here to affirm that the Resistance will never die. The Resistance lives in Gaza and in every inch of our homeland. The Resistance lives in the countries who have refused to stand by and allow the Occupation to slaughter our people without consequence. The Resistance lives in the Occupation prisons, where our prisoners are paying the ultimate price to continue to lead their people towards liberation. Our Resistance in Gaza has sparked the flame that has only grown and continues to spread throughout the globe.

"As we witness continued acts of Resistance from all over the world, remember that the existence of the Zionist entity and its continued theft of our land and genocide of our people is the greatest act of aggression. It is the root cause of any and all violence we are witnessing. This includes the Occupation force and the Zionist settlers who are just as guilty, as we saw only a few days ago with the brutal and barbaric attack by settlers on villages all over the West Bank," she said. She affirmed that the time when Zionists can try to portray themselves as victims is over, and it is clearer than ever that they are the oppressors and that the Palestinian people have the right to resist the occupation. She stated, "This moment is a reminder that when we say we will free Palestine within our lifetime, it is not a catchy chant or a wish, it is a promise that we are witnessing come to life day after day."

Members of the Sudanese community also spoke before the march. They first and foremost thanked the Palestinian community for their resilience in their fight for liberation. They said that April 15 marks one year of the war in Sudan which is causing untold hardships for the Sudanese people, including famine and displacement. Among the Sudanese community's demands are that the Canadian government introduce a refugee program for Sudanese and Palestinian refugees similar to the refugee program introduced for Ukraine. Among other differences that refugee program has no limit on the number of applicants, no lengthy immigration forms asking for refugees to submit documents they have no way of acquiring, and no financial requirements for Canadians who want to sponsor their family.

April 14

April 15

On April 20, an action was organized on Parliament Hill in Ottawa by health care workers, followed by a demonstration and march under the slogan Globalize the Intifada!

At 1:00 pm, people gathered at the call of Canadians for Palestine and Quebec Doctors Against the Genocide for a die-in to denounce the genocidal attacks against health care workers and facilities in Gaza and to express solidarity with their fellow workers and the Palestinian people. A spokesperson for Quebec Doctors Against Genocide, a Montreal physician, spoke at the event. She said, "As a physician and as a human, I am here today to mourn with you the 500 health workers who have been deliberately targeted by Israel and to tell our colleagues in Gaza: 'We feel your pain, your suffering, and your disappointment. We are here to declare that we will not be silenced and we will continue to fight until this genocide stops and Gaza is free and rebuilt.'" She pointed out that out of 35 hospitals in Gaza, 26 have been extremely damaged or destroyed and that attacks on hospitals, ambulances and on health personnel and facilities are war crimes under international law. "International law must be enforced regardless of the country, religion or skin colour. We are gathered today to urge our governments to condemn these massacres. It's time for our decision-makers to hold Israel accountable for these activities. It's time for Canada to take a stand against this genocide," she said.

Another doctor, one of the founders of the organization, spoke of the extreme horror that was unleashed by Israeli forces during their two-week raid on Al-Shifa hospital, in which health workers who refused to leave their patients were summarily executed. The physician spoke of the case of a four-year old child, Hind, severely wounded in an attack against her family by Israeli forces, who called 911. "In a closely coordinated attack by the most 'moral' army in the world, paramedics Yousef and Ahmed were executed as a tank fired at them from a distance of 50 metres." He said that no one should have to make such life and death decisions in the line of duty, adding that we will have to rethink what "Never again" actually means today. Never Again Includes Everyone. Free Palestine!, he concluded.

The die-in lasted 804 seconds, the number of times hospitals were attacked in Gaza. Behind the event, a large banner bore the names of health workers who have been killed in Gaza by the Zionist forces and signs were held pointing out the damage and destruction suffered by health workers in Gaza. It was a powerful moment of respect and tribute to the victims of the Zionist genocide, a renewed pledge that we will always be there for Gaza and we will keep on speaking out against the genocide.

Quebec doctors have been very active against the genocide in Gaza. On March 21, 500 physicians published an open letter which said, in part: "We demand that our medical associations demand a permanent ceasefire, access to drinking water and unimpeded passage of food and humanitarian aid... With food insecurity now affecting the entire population of Gaza (2.2 million people), a catastrophic level of famine affecting 200,000 people, and with trucks loaded with food stuck at the border, blocked from going in to feed the population, it is urgent that the medical corps mobilize and honour its Hippocratic oath."

A delegation of Quebec doctors will also be sailing to Gaza as part of the Freedom Flotilla. Hundreds of civilians from dozens of countries met in Istanbul on April 19 to prepare to sail very soon to Gaza, carrying thousands of tons of life-saving food and medicine. The Freedom Flotilla aims to break Israel's unlawful siege of Gaza and demand an immediate ceasefire to save the lives of thousands of Palestinians.

Following the die-in, several hundred people marched through the streets of Ottawa, heading directly from Parliament Hill to the Israeli embassy. Both events were bold statements that Zionism will fall, and that the Palestinian Resistance, with the growing support of the world's people, will win!

Nova Scotia

Halifax

In spite of heavy rainfall, on April 13 a small but determined group gathered at the Garrison grounds at the base of Citadel Hill. They marched around the block, stopping on Spring Garden Road for speeches and cultural performances. Sandy Greenberg spoke on behalf of Independent Jewish Voices and performed an anti-war song. A Mi'kmaw woman made the land acknowledgment welcoming the pro-Palestine protesters to Mi'kmaw territory. A rapper named Darrius performed what he calls part poetry and part song in support of Palestine.

As usual people chanted slogans including Trudeau, Trudeau, Your Hands are Red, 15,000 Kids Are Dead! and Trudeau, Trudeau You Can't Hide, You'll Be Charged with Genocide!

April 13

April 14

New Brunswick

Saint John

April 20

Quebec

Rimouski

April 14

Montreal

April 20

Ontario

Toronto

On April 13, hundreds joined a rally and an Eid Unity March in support of the Palestinian Resistance and to mark the end of Ramadan. A speaker from Toronto4Palestine expressed the determination of everyone to continue to fight for an end to the Israeli occupation, and to increase the pressure on the Canadian government to push for a ceasefire and for humanitarian aid to reach the people of Gaza. She denounced the increasing violence against Palestinians in the West Bank as well as the siege on Gaza and expressed complete confidence in the heroic resistance of the Palestinian people and their ultimate victory with the support of people the world over.

Following an hour of lively chanting as the crowd gathered, the march proceeded through the streets of downtown Toronto.

April 13

April 16

On April 21 several thousand people rallied in Toronto to mark Palestinian Prisoners' Day. Organizers from the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) led chants and presented their demands for the release of all Palestinian political prisoners, an arms embargo to stop Canada's arms trade with Israel, and an end to the Israeli Zionist siege of Gaza and Canada's complicity in Israel's genocidal crimes against the Palestinian people.

A PYM representative spoke of Palestinian political prisoner, author and patriot Walid Daqqa who died in an Israeli prison on April 9. He was the longest serving Palestinian political prisoner, having been imprisoned and mistreated for 38 years by the Israeli Zionist regime. In 2021 he was diagnosed with cancer and denied proper medical care. His life and death are a symbol of the Palestinian Resistance and the resilience of the Palestinian people who do not bow in the face of adversity.

Organizers stressed that this is a day of reaffirming the commitment of people in Toronto and worldwide to Palestine's right to be, to the Resistance and the just cause of the complete liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea and, in particular, for the immediate liberation of the almost 10,000 political prisoners held in Israeli jails.

The march proceeded through the streets of downtown Toronto with flags waving and chants of From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free!, We Are the People, We Will Not Be Silenced, Stop the Bombing, Now! Now! Now! Now!, Free, Free Palestine!, In Our Millions, In Our Billions, We Are All Palestinians!, Free the Prisoners NOW! and many more.

April 21

Sudbury

On April 13, about two dozen activists of Palestine Solidarity (Sudbury) staged a street-side information picket at Messier's Your Independent Grocer to protest the store's selling of Israeli citrus mislabeled as South African.

April 13

Windsor

April 21

Alberta

Edmonton

April 14

April 21

Calgary

April 14

April 21

British Columbia

Vancouver

On April 13, cyclists in Vancouver participated in a weekly bike ride of about four hours in support of Palestine, travelling through heavily populated areas, Stanley Park and along the beaches where they were seen by hundreds of people.

April 13

Shutdown of Delta Port, April 15

April 20

Cowichan Valley

Cowichan Solidarity, with support from Cowichan Community and the Freedom from War Coalition organized a dinner and panel discussion on April 12 at the Eagles Hall in Duncan. Over 250 people participated and enjoyed a full dinner prepared by Palestinian and Arab chefs. The panel was made up of Indigenous and Palestinian women who spoke thoughtfully and with conviction on the impact of colonialism and the path to defeating its power through organized resistance. The strong connection between the Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island and Palestinians was illustrated and the impacts of colonialism on our people and our land were heard loud and clear.

April 12

On April 13, the Freedom From War Coalition marched, as they do every Saturday, through the streets of Duncan to the Island Highway, greeted by honks and other expressions of support from passers-by and cars on the highway.

April 13

Cumberland

Cumberland Village Council on April 9 voted unanimously in support of a community proposed resolution in support of Palestine. The village council will write a letter to the Government of Canada urging it to call for an immediate ceasefire, restrict the sale of arms to Israel, provide ongoing funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, remove barriers to Palestinians' visa and immigration applications and support South Africa's case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.

April 9

Coquitlam

On April 14, local residents gathered at Coquitlam City Hall to express their support for the just struggle of the Palestinian people. Every Sunday there is a demonstration at 3:00 pm and participants have pledged to keep up their actions until the siege of Gaza is ended.