📷 A sign sits erected at the Pro-Palestine protest encampment at the Columbia University campus in New York on April 22, 2024. (AP) | via arabnews.com
Students from over 100 universities and colleges worldwide have organized encampment and rallies to support Palestine, calling attention to an ongoing genocide. These students are urging their academic institutions to divest their funds from companies involved in Israel’s actions in Gaza. Their primary demand is for universities to sever all ties with manufacturers and weapons companies that profit from the violence in Gaza.
The peaceful encampments serve as powerful symbols of solidarity with the Palestinian people in Gaza and as an urgently plea for justice. The students are advocating for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, aiming to:
- boycott companies that donate to or support Israel’s occupation of Palestine;
- divest from corporations listed by BDS that are complicit in the occupation; and
- sanction Israel for what they describe as illegal actions and the killing of over 35,000 civilian Palestinians.
Since April 18, over 300 students have been arrested on U.S. campuses, with many encampments being forcibly cleared by the police. One notable incident involved Eliana Atienza, the daughter of prominent figure Kim Atienza, who is an organizer in the anti-Israel encampment. While biking to the encampment at around 5:30 am, Eliana encountered dozens of police officers equipped with helmets, shields, and batons. The officers issued a two-minute warning for her to leave or face potential arrest.
The students’ movement continues to grow, with increasing calls for immediate and decisive action to support Palestinian rights and to hold accountable those who profit from the ongoing conflict.
We support the encampments of the students for amplifying the call to stop the genocide in Palestine.
We condemn the United States for its role in instigating and supporting Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian land by providing arms and financial assistance that contribute to the ongoing genocide.
We stand that Israel must be sanctioned and held accountable for committing genocide in Palestine, and demand that Netanyahu surrender himself to the ICC as the creator of the worst humanitarian catastrophe of this century.
