Students hold demonstration of Palestine conflict

Students for Justice in Palestine held a die-in Wednesday at noon on the Quad as a response to the recent five-day Israeli military siege in the Gaza Strip.

As 23 students lay down on the pavement, SJP president spoke about what he called the New Holocaust.

Our primary goal is to raise awareness of what’s going on in the Gaza Strip, said Nawal Wahhab, junior biological psychology major.

Of the 23, several had black electrical tape taped across their mouths, symbolic of the lack of unbiased media coverage of the conflict.

Media is only showing part of the story, said Alam Oduh, UC Davis alumnus who was supporting the demonstration. There’s a nation dying because of the siege in Palestine because there is no national support for Palestinians facing the Israeli army.

SJP supporters are especially concerned with America’s role in supporting what they consider Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip. Facts about the conflict lined the demonstration, and all those involved hoped the non-violent approach set an example for American activism.

[The U.S.] is investing into [Israel’s] military, and it’s not something we should be doing, said Amna Sultan, a junior biochemistry and molecular biology major. [The Gaza Strip] is being occupied by a force that our tax dollars are supporting.

Demonstrators lay still on the pavement for nearly two hours, and though the hot temperatures made their time uncomfortable, all understood Palestinians are enduring far worse, said Isam Hararah, junior biological systems engineer and treasurer of SJP.

Fortunately we can get up and go to class when this is done, he said. [Palestinians] are struggling just to get past checkpoints so they can go to class.

The Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated areas in the world, and SJP supporters claim Israeli military checkpoints are restricting the delivery of food and medical supplies to the area.

It’s basically the world’s largest open-air prison, said Summer Harahah, senior political science and Middle East/South Asia studies major.

SJP will be holding a viewing of Occupational 101, a documentary on the historical root causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in 6 Wellman at 7 p.m.

LAUREN STEUSSY and CHARLES HINRIKSSON can be reached at campus@californiaaggie.com