Students Protest for Palestine

Students gather outside the SLC to show support for Palestinian rights¹.

They sang chants of freedom. "The people, united, will never be defeated" and "From Iraq to Palestine occupation is a crime".

The sky was overcast but the weather was warm. The Students for Palestinian Rights (SFPR) staged a demonstration that started outside in the SLC courtyard and lead to a march around campus. The catalyst for their outrage was the May 30 Israeli Defense Force (IDF) raid of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla. The 6 ships in the flotilla were carrying humanitarian supplies for the Gaza strip and protesters. They repeatedly turned down change of course offers and around 11:00 PM (2000 UTC) the IDF boarded the ships. At this point violence erupted and the exact details are contentious. About 10 activists were killed and other activists and IDF officers sustained injuries.

The Israeli--Palestinian conflict has its roots in the late 19th century. Supporters of Palestine argue that Israel has committed the crime of apartheid, which is defined as crimes against humanity "committed in the context of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other racial group or groups and committed with the intention of maintaining that regime."

The protest group at UW was small but passionate. Peter Eglin (a professor of human rights at WLU) spoke on the general ignorance and apathy about the situation in Palestine. Also speaking were Hannah Carter and Ben Cameron. The Chevron would like to congratulate the students for bringing these issues to attention on campus and would like to encourage them as well as others to keep standing up for what they believe in.

Farah El-Khatib, Laurier for Palestine, wields a megaphone at the rally.