Jasmine Liang
Arts & Entertainment Editor
Across the country, college campuses have erupted with protests in support of Palestine. Campuses include Columbia, UC Berkeley, New York University, the University of New Mexico, Vanderbilt, University of Michigan, Yale, Rutgers University-New Brunswick, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Emerson College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Texas at Austin, and more.
Police and campus security involvement at these protests have led to mass arrests at many of these sites. Following the arrests, the National Students for Justice in Palestine have called for solidarity at other universities.
At 11 a.m. on April 24, UC Santa Barbara (UCSB) students and community members gathered in the Student Resource Building on campus to protest for Palestine. Protestors set up posters and tents inside the building while crowds piled through the doors to join the chants. Organizers in keffiyehs passed around disposable masks.
Their demands are as follows: UCSB must disclose their indirect and direct financial relations, divest from “all companies and partnerships which actively participate in the colonization and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people,” “defend the Palestinian people and protest the student movement on campus by rejecting racism and Islamophobia,” and denounce the “occupation, colonization and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.”
Incoming students are guided to not engage with media/press, police or campus officers, protest disruptors, nor speak on behalf of any organization. They’re also instructed to speak “to the position not the person” and only chant pre-approved messages.
Workshops and teach-ins are scheduled for the remainder of the day.
