On Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023, starting at 3:30 pm, a peaceful protest to demand a ceasefire in Gaza was held in front of the Pennsylvania State University’s Allen Street Gates. The protest was organized by Penn State Students For Justice In Palestine, Palestine Feminist Collective, Student Committee For Defense And Solidarity, Deep Roots Collective, and People’s Defense Front.
Two of the main organizers, Ayah Rub and Roua Daas, along with the protesters, marched from Allen Street Gates to the gates of Old Main.
At the gates of Old Main, protesters stuck yellow fliers on the doors, urging Penn State administration to ‘break PSU’s financial and institutional ties with the U.S backed Zionist genocide of the Palestinian people now!”
Along with a demand to ceasefire, one of the prime motives of the protest was to urge Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi “to demand Penn State to divest and cut all ties to the Zionist settler colonial project,” as said by Rub.
Rub is a Palestinian student at Penn State and believes that the fees paid by students should not be funding war crimes, but better conditions for students, “Stop funding genocide. Stop funding war crimes. Stop giving funds to the war machine. Invest this money on the well-being of your Penn State community,” Rub said.
The term ‘genocide’ is being used to define the Israeli Defense Forces’ actions on the people of Gaza. Pro-Palestinians have spoken up about how Palestinians are facing an ethnic cleansing
“I am here with others on the International Day of Solidarity [Nov. 29] with the Palestinian people to stand for justice and to stand against Israeli genocide,” Daas said, a Palestinian and a main organizer of the protest.
As of today, the death toll in Gaza has surpassed 20,000 with the majority of casualties being children. Basic humanitarian needs have been taken away from the people of Gaza which include water, electricity, food, and healthcare. 95% of the people in Gaza do not have access to clean drinkable water.
“Gaza is still under siege. Food and water are still hard to come by,” co-organizer and participant of the protect, Habib said. “We will not stop coming out here, protesting, and shedding light on this genocide unless the powers in our town and our country acknowledge it and fight against it.”
Without electricity, it has become difficult for Palestinians to share what has been happening in Gaza.
“[The Palestinians in Gaza] are not being heard. And the media always supports this Israeli narrative and does not have a lot of humanity for the people that aren’t white,” Habib said.
A ceasefire and an end to colonial settler movements on Palestine are the goals of Pro-Palestinians. The occupation on Palestinian land began as the Zionist movement spread more and more. Zionism is the religious and political ideology that being Jewish is both a religion and a nationality, and Palestinian land belongs to the Jews according to their religious history and ancestry.
The protesters screamed multiple chants which included, “From The River To The Sea, Palestine Will Be Free!” and “There Is Only One Solution…Intifada Revolution!”. There were more than 50 people attending the protest.
“The protest shows Penn State admin and the State College community that there is support for the Palestinian people and struggle,” Rub said. “People are here to join our struggle for our liberation from colonization, from genocide […] unfortunately we did not get that support from our admin, but we got it from our community.”
Organizers and participants of the protests wish for their initiative to be an inspiration for the future to urge people to speak up for what is right. They hope their voice creates constructive tension and pressure higher officials to take steps towards the correct side of humanity.
“We have seen the impact of our protests, we see western media starting to shift their narrative, we’ve seen a 5 day humanitarian truce come out of the pressure that we’ve placed,” Daas said.
Protesters hope to send out a message that their efforts of protest will persist until they have received their desired outcome. “This genocide is the most recent iteration of Zionist Israeli colonial violence. We know that this is again the nature of Zionism and Israel. So, we must continue to speak up until Palestine is free,” Dass added.
