Columbia University's Gaza Solidarity Encampment enters day 7
The Gaza Solidarity Encampment at Columbia University marked its seventh day, while the pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Michigan starts
The Gaza Solidarity Encampment at Columbia University marked its seventh day on Tuesday.
Despite the university's announcement of hybrid classes for the semester, students continued their presence on the lawns, organizing various events, including a Palestinian map art build, a poetry reading, and speeches from guest speakers.
Guest speakers, including lawyer and author Derecka Purnell, Palestinian photojournalist Motaz Azaiza, and author Marc Lamont Hill, participated in the event. Azaiza expressed gratitude to student protesters, stating, "Gaza now sees you, and Gaza is seeing what you are doing for Gaza."
The encampment also inaugurated the "The People’s Library for Liberated Learning," where protesters plan to conduct "focus groups" and "smaller teach-ins."
Demonstrators encouraged participation in a map-building activity aimed at educating protesters about the Palestinian towns and villages that will be "free and where refugees will return to."
Hill addressed the encampment, describing Oct. 7, 2023, as a "disgrace in many ways," but urged students to consider the history that precedes Oct. 7. "What happened on Oct. 7 was awful and from my moral compass, it was indefensible: the killing of civilians, the killing of innocent people. … But, history did not begin on Oct. 7," Hill said in his speech.
"Y’all pay too much money for tuition to not go deeper than Oct. 7. You have to understand this as a more than 100-year war on the Palestinian people."
Pro-Palestinian encampment grows on University of Michigan campus
Students created an encampment at the University of Michigan Monday, calling for the university to divest in companies they say are financially supporting Israel.
"It is a symbolic method of resistance," one student told reporters. It's a growing movement seen on other university campuses across the country.
Multiple tents were seen in the center of the university's Diag, with signs and flags flying in protest of the war in the Middle East.
"In various college campuses, the bravery of our students, the bravery of the cause, and the sheer diversity of this cause. A lot of people have been galvanized and inspired to join us wherever we are, wherever we stand, for however long we stand," said one student, who wished to remain anonymous.
Source: Newsroom
