Several dozen students from the organization Students for Justice in Palestine at UCLA held a rally outside Kerckhoff Hall on Wednesday, as part of the International Day of Action for Palestine, an annual event at university campuses across the world.
The event took place a day after multiple terrorist attacks in Jerusalem and central Israel left three Israelis dead and more than 20 wounded, according to the Washington Post.
The students, who led chants and recited poetry, aimed to raise awareness about the Palestinian occupation, said Safwan Ibrahim, SJP president and a fifth-year comparative literature student.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict includes the regional dispute over the occupation of the West Bank by the Israeli military and the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, among other issues.
During the rally, students read names of Palestinians who have been killed in the conflict. One by one, students lay on the ground holding the images of the victims over their faces or chests.
“The event humanizes what’s going on (in Palestine),” said Ani Der Grigorian, outreach co-director for SJP and a fourth-year anthropology and international development studies student. “There are children dying because they’re living under occupation (by Israeli military forces).”
“These are not individual moments of violence, but we see them as all being related to the root cause, that Palestinians are not treated as human beings in their own homeland,” Ibrahim said about the attacks. “When there is no justice, there is no peace.”
Further down Bruin Walk, Bruins for Israel set up an impromptu booth collecting signatures in support of Israel in the wake of the recent attacks.
“We didn’t feel it was appropriate for us to have a protest, but we wanted to have a presence,” said Matan Neuman, director of public relations for Bruins for Israel. “We wanted people to know we were standing up for what we believe in, rather than students thinking that nothing was being said.”
Ibrahim said he hoped the SJP rally would inform UCLA students about the oppression Palestinians face.
“We wanted to show our support for not only Palestinians living in occupation, but Palestinians living in exile,” Ibrahim said. “So much of our narrative has been erased in the media, and our goal is to amplify their voices.”
Der Grigorian said she thinks speaking out about controversial issues such as the Palestinian occupation takes a psychological toll on activists who face constant attacks from opposers.
“There are Palestinian students on this campus who have a direct connection to Palestine, and are unable to go back,” Der Grigorian said. “It’s something that affects the UCLA campus directly, and shouldn’t be overlooked.”
expansion and make sure Palestinians are denied their basic civil and human rights while periodically “mowing the lawn” in Gaza
NuffSaidFreePalestineBDS
You morons, Israel was attacked in the Six Day War, you Palestinian supporters always leave that out…
Actually Israel and the zionazis have surprise attacked the Palestinians and /or surrounding Arab nations numerous times such as in
1948
1956
1967
1982
1987
2000
2009
2012
2014.
This is a partial year list of israeli zionazi aggression
Did you forget about the Six Day War “genius”? Why do you always leave that out with your idiocy? The Nabka was the Palestinians own undoing when they supported the Muslim countries’ onslaught against Israel and lost.
They thought they’d win, that’s how they created their own Nabka. Idiot.
6? Day war?
When israel surprise attacked all of its neighbors and even tried to sink the USS Liberty killing/injuring over 300 Americans?
Just another example of Israeli aggression
You’re an idiot do you realize that? The French give arms to both sides and we’re still allies with them. Stop bringing up the USS Liberty you jerk.
You do realize that Arabs have been killing and maiming Jews in Israel/Palestine long before 1948 and the establishment of the Jewish State of Israel in the historical homeland of the Jewish people. You are Blind to the Truth.
You mean like when extremist jewish terrorists did deir YASSIN, the Nakba, plan Dalet, and ethnically cleansed 500 Palestinian villages all during or before 1948.
Learn history
free Palestine
Hasbara history is trash
I could take you through the long and tortured history of Arab violence against Jews, but it would take too long. Here are but a few examples the Arab riots of the 1920’s where Jews were slaughtered and maimed, the several wars Arab armies lost, the hijackings of the 60’s and 70’s, the massacre at the Munich Olympics, the dozens of murders by the PLP and PLFP of innocent men, women and children, the intentional bombings of cafes and buses during the intifadas, the kidnap and murder of Jews. While I am at it, Jews were persecuted and ethnically cleansed by the hundreds of thousands from Arab areas in the West Bank as well as Iraq, Algeria, Libya, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and most other Arab countries. The history of what Arabs have done to Jews is pretty exhaustive and disgusting. But you get the idea.
LEARN ACTUAL AND OBJECTIVE HISTORY.
PALESTINE NEVER EXISTED AS AN INDEPENDENT STATE OR COUNTRY
STOP THE HATE.
LONG LIVE ISRAEL!!!
Actually nothing you said is true
Please learn how to google better
You’re a hypocrite for suddenly calling yourself loyal when you side with the Palestinians who have murdered Americans you dork.
I agree that we need justice in Palestine. We need justice for all those Palestinians terrorized and sacrificed by Hamas with the aim of being in a constant state of war with the only democracy in the Middle East. We need justice for those brainwashed into thinking that the Jewish person must be scapegoated for their problems.
Laurel, the second paragraph links to a news source that states that at least TWENTY-EIGHT Palestinians have been killed by Israelis (in summary executions) but you failed to mention this in your piece. Why is that?
“In summary executions”. More false narratives right. Just the like the “Dead” 13-year old that was “executed” as lied about by Mahmoud Abbas, but somehow is magically being treated in an Israeli hospital by those same “Jews he came to murder” to use his own words.
Did you include the ones whom were trying to stab people? Or purposely getting themselves in front of the IDF?
So there are rallies to support the latest pogroms against the Jews happening on college campuses….
Why’d they change the name? In Israel they call this day the “Day of Rage.” Showing solidarity with terrorists is supporting the terrorism. They should have brought knives covered in Israeli blood and lied down with them if these sympathizers really wanted to be accurate.