from Mondoweiss
Five days after the ceasefire in Gaza took effect, Oxford Action for Palestine (OA4P) occupied a “landmark Oxford library,” renaming it “The Khalida Jarrar Library.” Occupiers reiterated the demands for an academic boycott of Israeli institutions and for divestment from all arms companies while also reinvesting in the urgent Palestinian-led rebuilding of higher education in Gaza. This action forced much-needed attention on Palestine after the ‘ceasefire’ in Gaza placated the efforts of many—as if Israeli machinations of genocide had ceased, even as manufactured starvation and the targeted destruction of the healthcare system continued unabated. Against the backdrop of almost 1000 violations of the ceasefire by Israel and the ramping up of invasions and settler pogroms in the West Bank, the urgency of keeping eyes on Palestine was paramount. Israel proved this by unilaterally shattering the ceasefire on March 18th with hundreds of simultaneous strikes on Gaza, killing 1,263 Palestinians in 17 days.
OA4P’s seven-hour occupation encapsulated the current state of pro-Palestine student organizing globally. Pockets of students are escalating their actions, such as protestors at Bowdoin and Columbia, though in many other cases, the efforts have dwindled. Amid increased repression of protest and free speech by police and state actors worldwide, and declining media coverage of Palestine, the acceleration and intensification of actions that disrupt the status quo and reject the normalization of Zionist violence are imperative...
read more here
No comments:
Post a Comment