During class hours, a crowd waving flags of red, green, black and white and shouting “Free Palestine!” confronted Demaray Hall on Thursday, Jan. 25. The courtyard was filled with thirty-plus faculty, staff and students, impassioned for an immediate ceasefire in Palestine.
For nearly two hours, protestors waved flags, delivered speeches and held signs – carefully written on the back of envelopes and printer paper – to highlight the harsh realities of the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
After the initial welcome from organizers Rae Perez and AJ Setala, the megaphone was left open for protesters who wished to speak, some of whom read poems of grief and hopeful liberation — self-written and by Palestinian poets.
Sophomore criminal justice major Ani Segall expressed her profound sadness and anger through the megaphone, describing the homes and communities destroyed in the West Bank, where her grandmother worked.
“I came here because I’m tired of silence, and I’m tired of us as a society being complicit,” Segall said. “Just think about what is home to each and everyone, and how people’s homes are being uprooted and exploded. We need to continue to talk about how this is a genocide and not a war.”
After the first round of speeches, Perez asked each attendee why they were there.
“Resistance!” shouted one, “To grieve,” said another.“Because I’m tired,” said a third.
The crowd wound inside Demaray, chanting and marching outside classes in session and staff at work. Here, the chants held a common thread: SPU’s role.
Many exclaimed that SPU as a Christian university must stand against Israel’s actions, however, the lack of a definitive statement from SPU has given students hesitation to hold demonstrations.
Madalynn Stark, a sophomore environmental justice major, helped organize a candlelight vigil on Nov. 8, 2023.
“We were actually nervous for our jobs on campus, about organizing anything. So we did an impartial ‘dip our toes in the sea’ [vigil event],” Stark said. “That in itself was infuriating, that we didn’t know if we could do anything. The vigil was nice, but it wasn’t enough.”
While Stark felt that the vigil was not enough to bring awareness to campus, the protest was a step in the right direction. The goal was to bring people together in the community to voice support for an immediate ceasefire in Palestine; something that many students believe is a Christian university’s moral obligation.
Freshman art major Kate Marcus spoke in front of the crowd, urging her community to seek out the truth and to lead with love and empathy for those who are suffering.
“Inform yourself, inform your neighbors,” Marcus said. “And love your neighbor as yourself.”
That conviction comes from the all too familiar Bible verse from the Book of Leviticus 19:18, NIV.
“ ‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.’ ”
Students marched, chanted and spoke out for the Palestinian people with love and conviction in their hearts.
“This is not the end of our campus showing up, coming together and doing something about it,” Perez said.
