Understanding the World Student Movement to Vote for Palestine
A wave of student protests against Israeli atrocities in Gaza took place in several countries.
This article has been translated using AI. See Original .
About AI Translated Article
Please note that this article was automatically translated using Microsoft Azure AI, Open AI, and Google Translation AI. We cannot ensure that the entire content is translated accurately. If you spot any errors or inconsistencies, contact us at hotline@kompas.id, and we'll make every effort to address them. Thank you for your understanding.
By
RANGGA EKA SAKTI
·5 minutes read
AP PHOTO/ROGELIO V SOLIS)
A protester holding a Pro-Palestine sign protested the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, during a one-hour silent protest at a school campus in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, United States, on Tuesday, May 7th, 2024.
The ongoing atrocities in Gaza have sparked strong reactions from student groups around the world. A wave of protests centered on campuses bloomed in several countries simultaneously. This phenomenon indicates that the spirit of anti-war activism is still maintained, which continues to flourish among the world's academic community.
In the first week of May there were demonstrations related to the occupation of Palestine on six campuses in the US. From the University of Southern California to the University of Virginia, thousands of students expressed their outrage at Israel's brutality in Gaza.
The action taken by these students is met with strong responses from the authorities. At the University of Southern California, the police disbanded students who were camping as a form of protest. A more aggressive response was taken by the police at DePaul University, by arresting several students who participated in the action.
A similar situation occurred at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). There was a clash between the masses and the police at this university.
AP/THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
The academic community of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) supports students who protest the Gaza war and the deaths of Palestinian civilians in Gaza on the UCLA campus in the United States on Monday, May 6, 2024. Several protesting students were arrested early Monday morning in the UCLA parking lot for violating the campus curfew.
Repressive actions carried out by security forces have now developed into on-campus security operations where hundreds of students have been detained. What's worse, the university itself tends to support the repressive actions of the authorities instead of protecting the freedom of its students to express their opinions.
Not only in the United States, this protest action is also carried out by students on campuses in other parts of the world. One of them was carried out by students in the UK. They come from several big campuses such as The University of Manchester, The University of Leeds, York University, Newcastle University, The University of Sheffield, and The University of Bristol.
The sparks of demonstrations have also spread to Paris. In the city, hundreds of students from the prestigious Sorbonne Universite campus voiced their opposition to Israel's colonization of Palestine. This action was followed by students from the Sciences Po campus, which ultimately led to clashes with the police.
Even though they both condemn the Israeli occupation of Palestine, the protest initiated by these students has slightly different demands. In general, there is one big theme that appears in every demonstration, namely the demand for a ceasefire (ceasefire).
However, there are different demands emerging from US academic circles, namely disclose and divest. This lawsuit relates to academic activities at several universities in the US that are connected to the Israeli government.
In fact, based on data from the US Department of Education, around 100 higher education institutions in the US reported receiving funds in the form of grants or investment contracts totaling more than 375 million US dollars over the past two decades.
There are two issues highlighted by students related to this. First, this number is thought to not be the actual number. Because, based on a report from the Times of Israel, several cases of underreporting and "laundering" of grant funds were found through various foundations managed by universities.
Secondly, because of this ambiguity, it becomes difficult to truly know how the funds are being used. A report from a group of students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) showed that there were several researchers from their campus who received funds from the Israeli Ministry of Defense over the last decade.
The report also stated that this fund of around 11 million US dollars was an "investment" from Israel to develop Israeli drone and anti-missile technology.
Seeing this, students who knew that their campus received funds from Israel demanded that their campus disclose and divest. Disclose here means openness, while divest means divestment.
This means that the demonstrators are asking their campus to disclose the amount of funding or investment given by Israel and how that funding is being used. Furthermore, they are also requesting the university to cut business ties with Israel, especially those related to the country's military equipment modernization efforts.
Unfortunately, this demand seems difficult to be granted by the campus authorities. Based on information from Vanderbilt University, one of the campuses, the investment department in the campus rectorate cannot unilaterally divest for political reasons. This is because the campus must maintain "neutrality" and not be involved in boycotting certain entities or countries.
Apart from internal reasons, the rector of this university also stated that divestment could violate federal law aimed at preventing boycott actions against the US alliance countries, one of which is the law in the state of Tennessee. If violated, the campus could be sanctioned and no longer receive funding from the state government.
The impact of this student pressure cannot be said to be effective. The reason is, in the midst of the large wave of demonstrations, Israel actually increased the intensity of attacks on Palestine.
On Tuesday (7/5/2024), Israel issued an ultimatum to Palestinian residents in Rafah to immediately leave the area. Shortly thereafter, Israel launched a massive attack and mobilization to occupy the southern Gaza region.
This attack has triggered a strong reaction from the international community. As evidence, the US has even postponed the delivery of 3,500 bomb grants to Israel after the attack. Since the war began on October 7th, the postponement of the US weapon delivery to Israel is the first time it has happened.
AP PHOTO/STEVEN SENNE
Students and supporters at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) gathered in a camping tent, on Tuesday, May 7, 2024, at the MIT campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. MIT students set up the tent to protest what they claim is MIT's failure to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and sever ties with the Israeli military.
This reaction is not without reason. This is because Rafah has been a location for Palestinian residents in the northern part whose homes have been devastated by Israeli attacks. At least one million refugees have taken shelter in Rafah.
As a result, intensive attacks on Rafah will worsen the humanitarian situation in Palestine. It is certain that a wave of exodus will emerge in the near future, with hundreds of thousands to millions of Palestinians seeking asylum in countries in the Middle East, Africa and even Europe. No doubt, this attack also has the potential to worsen instability in these areas. (R&D COMPAS)
