Beyond student activism: Campus protests are about humanity and morality

The Gaza solidarity encampments, initiated by the pro-Palestinian student movement on US campuses, are shaking the world. The brave student activists are protesting against Israel’s onslaught in Gaza by calling out the complicity of their universities and governments in this horrific genocide.

The students are demanding that their educational institutions immediately divest from companies and institutions that profit from or support the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land.

Furthermore, they are pressing Western governments, especially the US, to cease their political and military support for the apartheid regime. However, these peaceful protests have encountered severe backlash from university administrations and government authorities.

Harsh response to student activism

University administrations, once champions of free speech, responded to these protests with disproportionate police violence and escalating threats of disciplinary action – from suspensions and expulsions.

More than 3,000 protesters, including students and faculty members, have been arrested for engaging in peaceful protests. International students have faced suspension or cancellation of their visas.

The protesters have been unjustly labelled as antisemitic, doxxed, and censored, with their images and personal information shamelessly broadcast publicly.

Many populist politicians have joined this campaign of vilification in an attempt to marginalise the pro-Palestinian student movement. Senators have pressured university presidents to intensify crackdowns on these protests.

Meanwhile, as pro-Palestinian students who denounced Israel’s genocide in Gaza faced violence from both the police and counter-protesters, the House sought to expand the definition of antisemitism in an attempt to criminalise any criticism of Israel, which inadvertently feeds antisemitism.

All these actions against the pro-Palestinian student protestors, reminiscent of a dystopian movie, stand starkly in contrast with the fundamental values and principles of freedom of expression and assembly. These rights are foundational to US universities and protected under the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

Gaza solidarity at University of Chicago

The Gaza solidarity encampment set up by the pro-Palestinian student movement at the University of Chicago was a significant stronghold of this campaign for justice and an end to genocide.

Despite rainy weather conditions, the protests rapidly expanded into a large encampment drawing hundreds of students. The encampment was not only a place for peaceful protest but also a space for learning and sharing experiences.

Students engaged in reading circles on settler colonialism, displacement, apartheid, and genocide, sang and listened to Palestinian folk songs, read poems, and held discussions, cultural exchanges, and strategic planning meetings for future actions.

The UChicago encampment immediately transformed into a vibrant community, becoming a second home for hundreds of students. The community spirit within the camp was evident as participants voluntarily brought food from their homes to share for free.

While Muslim students performed their prayers, Jewish and other non-Muslim students used keffiyehs and Palestinian flags to shield the Muslim students from being photographed, targeted, and harassed by counter-protesters.

As hundreds of students who met each other for the first time, maybe we could not see each other’s masked faces throughout the encampment, but we cared for each other as family members.

At this encampment, I experienced the same sense of humanity I felt when I slept outside in the freezing cold in earthquake-stricken Hatay, where Syrian refugee children covered me with blankets at midnight.

This is fundamentally about humanity, nothing else. The solidarity among students from diverse backgrounds, united in opposition to genocide and ethnic cleansing, reaffirms that the Palestinian cause is not merely a concern for Palestinians or Muslims but is a matter of humanity.

Gaza has been the moral compass for humanity. Consequently, Israel’s actions have become not only the bane of Palestinian Muslims but of all humanity and universal moral values.

Gaza is a moral cause, not political or religious

The Palestinian cause is not just a matter of politics or religion but of humanity and morality.

At the UChicago encampment, people with different worldviews and political, religious, and ideological perspectives came together. As students at this encampment, we had many reasons to be divided, but we chose to unite around a noble cause.

Nothing else can bring these cosmopolitan groups together other than humanity, conscience, and universal moral principles. This moral imperative was what brought Rachel Corrie to Rafah in 2003, where she was killed by an Israeli armoured bulldozer that crushed her.

Unfortunately, today, the same murdering force continues to kill innocent people; and no, this story did not start on October 7.

All that is necessary to feel the suffering of the innocent people of Gaza is to be human. Those young people, my friends, they all had beautiful hearts. Their moral stance on Gaza has been a beacon of hope and a reminder for me that humanity still thrives in the hearts of those willing to stand up against oppression.

During a pre-dawn raid, UChicago police dismantled our Gaza solidarity encampment after rejecting our demands, citing institutional neutrality on political issues.

I will not enumerate all the contradictory actions and policies of the UChicago administration that clearly reflect double standards in applying this principle.

However, I must assert that Israel’s genocide in Gaza is not a matter of politics but of morality and common human decency.

Stronger than ever

The pro-Palestinian student movement at UChicago is stronger and more resilient than ever. Here we shall steadfastly stay on the right side of history.

We are on the right side of history because we have a noble cause based on moral principles – principles we are willing to sacrifice our careers and futures for, as my fellow protester Christopher says.

To all my fellow student protesters at UChicago and around the world, we stand on the right side of history because we are fighting for freedom and against genocide.

We are on the right side of history because we are fighting for innocent kids like six-year-old Hind and not for a regime driven by genocidal bloodlust.

I know it seems dark now, but it is always darkest before the dawn.

Sooner or later, resistance, justice, and freedom will prevail; occupation, oppression, and genocide are doomed to fail. Here we shall stay, standing on the right side of history until the pain ceases and the melody of peace sweetens.