Socialist Action /May 2002
Youth in Action
Movement to Defend Palestinian Rights Grows on College
Campuses
By DAVID BERNT
As the Zionist state of Israel continues its war in the West Bank, activists
on campuses across the nation have rallied in support of the Palestinian
people.
In February, some 450 student activists attended the Student Conference
of the Palestine Solidarity Movement held in Berkeley and launched a national
organization, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). The conference initiated
a nationwide campaign demanding divestment from Israel and an end to US
Aid to Israel.
On April 9, SJP chapters established at campuses across the country held
a national day of action in support of the Palestinian struggle. In Berkeley,
a rally and demonstration of 1200 students was held, demanding that the
university divest from Israel. A non-violent sit-in was held at Wheeler
Hall, resulting in 79 arrests. The students who were arrested face possible
suspension from school in addition to criminal charges.
Following this demonstration, the university administration suspended
the SJP chapter from holding events on campus. This action was a clear attack
on a burgeoning political movement and has set off a free speech movement
reminiscent of the Berkeley campaign in the 1960s of the same name.
SJP members in Berkeley have continued to set up literature tables on
campus, "in defiance of what we believe to be an unjust restriction
on SJP's right to speak, distribute literature and assemble." Although
the university administration has threatened the students with "additional
charges" if they display their literature, SJP activists say they will
keep on defying the administration's direct attack on their political rights.
On May 2, a large rally was held on campus in solidarity with the victimized
students. All students should come out in their support.
Other campuses have continued building public support for the divestment
campaign. SJP activists at the University of Illinois at Urbana have held
weekly protests. Students from North Carolina State, Duke, and the University
of North Carolina held a joint demonstration.
SJP activists at DePaul University in Chicago held a rally of 75 students
in the Student Center. Similar events took place at campuses across the
country. SJP activists were also key in mobilizing students for the April
20 demonstrations in Washington.
New layers of student activists have been drawn into the campaign to
end the U.S.-backed Israeli regime's war against the Palestinian people.
This movement comes in the midst of a growing international solidarity movement
that has included demonstrations of millions across the world in support
of the Palestinians. The new campus-based solidarity actions are a promising
component of this developing mass movement.
Socialist Action /May 2002 |