by Wali Warsame
Staff Writer
The following story was written by a student on the staff of The Jaguar Times as part of Hilliard Bradley High School’s Journalism Course.
Since Oct. 2023, disagreements over how to handle the war that is taking place in the Middle East continues to appear around the world. As the war progressed, students around America have taken a stance against their institutions' relation and silence to the conflict.
College campuses have been used as a platform for resistance throughout history. In May 1960, Ohio State University students had displayed a series of demonstrations over the Vietnam War. During this time, four students were killed at Kent State University during a demonstration. To prevent a similar occurrence, Ohio State University cleared the campus and closed its doors for nearly two weeks.
Currently, students and community members on campus around the country are carrying out various forms of demonstrations in support of the Pro-Palestinian movement. As widespread as the movement is, so is the suppression.
On April 18, Pro-Palestinian demonstrators of Columbia University occupied space on the South Lawn for 30 hours. Over 100 people were arrested, and over 50 students were suspended for their involvement in the encampment. Isra Hirsi, environmental and social justice activist, as well as daughter of U.S Representative Ilhan Omar, was one of the protesters arrested and suspended.
In an interview with Teen Vogue, Hirsi recalled the environment of the encampment before arrests, sharing how it was a “beautiful community space” with “a very core group of folks who understood the risks.”
Hirsi, along with other suspended students were restricted from entering campus, which included their dorms and the dining hall. In her interview with Teen Vogue, she recalls frantically questioning where she was going to sleep and that the university provided “no food support, no nothing.”
Following over 1,000 Barnard alumnus pledging to withhold donations in a letter to President Rosenbury of a response to the suppensions, Barnard reached a solution with most students. Amnesty would be granted to those students following a written notice stating to comply with policies in the future, completion of an “education project” consisting of a 60-minute review of the Student Code of Conduct, a 100-word reflection, and a probation period.
At New York University, a “Gaza Solidarity” encampment resulted in an arrest of over 100 protesters, including students and faculty. Similar to other campus protests, demonstrators were demanding NYU divests from investments and holdings tied to Israel. Last week, NYU students and faculty returned to campus with tents to rebuild their encampment and pressure board members.
Although formally allies, earlier in April, Iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles to Israel. The conflict between Iran and Israel dates back to the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Within the ongoing battle between Israel and Palestine, Iran has openly shown support for Palestine and groups within the region. Besides supplying material support to Hamas, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had responded to the attacks on Oct. 7 in his first televised speech, saying that they “kiss the hands of those who planned the attack on the zionist regime,” according to Daily Mail.
With the assistance of U.S. forces, Israel responded to Iran’s launches by intercepting 99% of Iran's aircraft, as stated by AP News. The launch came only two weeks after a strike in Syria that killed members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard. Although Israel has declined to claim responsibility for what occurred in Syria, they vowed to respond to Iran's attack. As reported by CNN, Israel's National Secretary Minister, Itamar Ben Gvir said Iran's attack was “weak” and urged the war cabinet to “go crazy.” More recently, the previously planned response attacks have been scaled back to avoid entering into a war with Iran.
As war in Gaza continues, Iran's non-state allies look to continue to fight Israel and U.S. forces in the middle east- leaving many Americans questioning what that will look like for the U.S.
During Iran's launch on Israel, U.S. forces shot down more than 70 weapons headed towards Israel. Despite Iran stating that U.S. forces in the region will be attacked if their involvement in the Israeli conflict continues, the Pentagon has increased their presence in the middle east. However, due to security concerns, defense officers are reluctant to reveal what ships and/or planes are being deployed.
Besides presence in the region, the U.S. is making efforts to supply further monetary support to Israel. On Wednesday April 24, Joe Biden signed into law a $95 billion war aid package that will be distributed to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. The bill also includes humanitarian relief to citizens in Gaza, totaled at $9 billion.
Although new limits of war are reached as tensions progress, all nations with a foot in the conflict are looking to avoid an all-out war.
Here in Ohio, hundreds of Pro-Palestinian students and advocates attended an encampment at the South Oval at Ohio State University. During the encampment that had lasted several hours, protesters chanted for a divestment from Israel as well as a call for a ceasefire.
Members of local groups such as Learn and Liberate (formally known as PLM-JUST) and Jews for Justice in Palestine, an OSU group, provided a space for Muslim demonstrators to pray, offered kosher and halal food, and sang Jewish songs of liberation and freedom as troops crowded in the distance and on rooftops with long-range firearms.
The words “let them pray” have circulated social media after footage was posted of the encampment showing officers forcibly pushing through protesters with locked arms, attempting to protect muslim protesters who were taking the time to pray. On TikTok, a clip of this moment had received nearly 2 million likes, making its way to other platforms. Since then, numerous demonstrations have occurred throughout campus.
Here in Hilliard, there have been gatherings in support of the movement. In late April, around 100 people assembled in Old Hilliard. Following weeks of protests, Mu’Ammar, a Palestinian-American student here at Bradley, attended gatherings at City Council, demanding for a call for a ceasefire. Previously, in 2022, Mu’Ammar, along with her peers, had spent 7 months attempting to persuade the Hilliard Board of Education to call for a ceasefire.
With recent protests, Mu’Ammar believes that “everyone needs to understand how the humanitarian disaster in Gaza is not a ‘Palestinian’ issue, but rather a human one.”
Hilliard City Council has passed a resolution calling for peace in Gaza. However, there have been tensions between Hilliard City Council and many Jewish residents as this resolution was released during the week of Passover, a Jewish holiday. Jonathan Feibel, a member of the Columbus Jewish Community Relations Council (JCR) stated that Cynthia Vermillion, City Council President, was “stifling the Jewish voice” by voting for this decision on the first day of Passover.
Council President Vermillion had released a statement apologizing to the Jewish community, in which she says,
“I want to say, unequivocally, that I am sorry for placing this piece of legislation on the City Council agenda on such a holy holiday. The timing of this vote was poorly considered. I now realize that it lacked empathy and an understanding of the importance of Passover to our Jewish community.”
Mu’Ammar shared that the resolution passed by Hilliard City Council was “a grain of salt in comparison to the unfolding disasters in Gaza.”
With that statement in mind, all forms of public demonstrations taking place locally and nationally in regard to the state of affairs in the Middle East are a fragment of the widespread objection on display globally, regardless of standpoint.
Komentarze