Above photo: Chicago student protest demands hands off Lebanon. Staff/Fight Back! News.
Chicago, IL – On Thursday, August 29, New Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) started the week strong with a demonstration on campus, with about 90 students, demanding U.S. hands off Lebanon, an end of U.S. aid to Israel and to stand strong with Palestine.
Speakers from other progressive student organizations like Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at UIC, and Anakbayan at UIC, also spoke. The rally strengthened the students’ message of funding for education – such as cultural centers and student resources – not for genocide, war and occupation in Palestine.
Jeremiah Munoz, a member of SDS, told the crowd, “Here at UIC, complicity in genocide is nothing new. The institution allows military recruiters on a campus supposedly dedicated to education; the same military who will not hesitate to bring on a major war in the interests of corporations.”
Munoz continued, “UIC receives millions of dollars from the Department of Defense to fund weapons research used to bomb people in Palestine. This university allows ROTC to operate, continuing to train a generation that will carry out agendas of suffering abroad on behalf of a military that has been engaged in warfare against the Third World for the majority of its existence.”
Munoz called for students to mobilize against the university’s support of Israel and for complete divestment from apartheid Israel.
Sathvik Gowda, speaking for SJP at UIC, stated, “This past week Israel has raided and attacked countless villages in southern Lebanon. On July 31, Israel struck and assassinated the Palestinian resistance leader, Ismail Haniyeh, within the capital of Iran. Irael has deliberately assassinated the main ceasefire negotiator of the Palestinian resistance.”
Gowda also pushed for the mobilization of students and the continuation of the student intifada here in the United States.
Gowda stated, “As students in the U.S., it is our obligation and duty to not only hold our government accountable for genocide, but also hold our universities accountable for aiding and abetting this genocide. SJP has tried for close to a year now to meet with administration around these investments; however they continue to refuse to,” adding, “It is clear, the students at UIC overwhelmingly support divestment. Now the question is to UIC admin, will they stand for genocide or liberation?”
Liz Rathburn, a member of Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), gave a fiery speech on the power of the Palestinian resistance, stating, “The Al Aqsa Flood of October 7 was a shot heard around the world, one that has shattered the myth of the invincibility of the Israeli occupation forces.”
As the Palestinian resistance and people’s movement continue to build their unity and strength against the occupation, they’ve shown more and more a future reality of a liberated Palestine. In Gaza, the United States, and all around the world, the racist state of Israel continues to be pushed to defeat. And in reaction, it has intensified its genocide and its brutality against the Palestinian resistance.
Rathburn stated, “Now the Zionists are invading the West Bank and bombing south Lebanon. The U.S. and Israel have assassinated political leaders all over the region and have engaged in illegal acts of war by bombing Yemen, Iran, Syria and Lebanon. It is clear that it wants to start a wider war and bring in their patron, the U.S. empire.”
After the program, students marched around campus, with others joining the march as it went along. The march was also able to loop around UIC’s University Hall, where it was in sight and sound of the administration.
This first demonstration shows the continuation of the student movement here at UIC. It is still strong and daring to struggle, despite repression against the movement intensifying.