USC students gathered Tuesday to march on campus supporting Palestine and calling for peace in Gaza a week after violence broke out between the State of Israel and Hamas, a militant Palestinian organization recognized by the U.S. as a terrorist group which governs the Gaza strip.
Students marched on campus for more than two hours chanting in support of Palestine and calling for an end to Israel’s occupation, which they characterized as actions of apartheid and attempted genocide against the Palestinian people whose freedom of movement has been restricted by a joint Israeli-Egyptian blockade since 2007.
USC Department of Safety officers and USC Free Expression ambassadors stood by, keeping watch while maintaining distance from the crowd, which remained peaceful throughout the night.
“I’m really pleased with the turnout,” An Iranian senior, who requested anonymity because they said they received threatening notes about being at the protest, said. “I think it’s become extremely polarizing; whenever you criticize Israel, you’re [accused of being] antisemitic.”
The protestors also criticized USC President Carol Folt for what they described as pro-Israel aligned comments, and accused her of not supporting all students.
Folt’s original Oct. 8 statement following the attacks in Israel by Hamas received widespread complaints from the USC community for not explicitly condemning the mass murder and hostage taking of civilians by the organization.
This led to a revised post from Folt’s official Instagram account, which then neglected to mention civilian deaths in Gaza following retaliatory strikes from Israel. Unlike the first post, the comments for the revised statement were turned off.
A Lebanese junior studying economics said they wanted to be able to respond to the statement. “She’s silencing us,” said the student, who asked for anonymity out of concern for how they could be treated on campus.
Asked why comments were turned off on the Instagram post and further questions about student concerns regarding USC’s public position on the conflict, the university’s public relations team only referred Annenberg Media back to Folt’s statement. They did not respond to further inquiry.
Another issue that was raised at the protest was safety.
“We had to keep this under wraps,” the Iranian senior said. “Israeli students don’t feel the need to cover their faces, but our security is threatened by something called Canary Mission, which is a website that puts names of students who have gone against Israel on North-American campuses.”
The Canary Mission, an organization that is not audited by any third party, publicly displays students’ names that have made statements against the State of Israel. Canary Mission also includes private information such as students’ private social media profiles and has been criticized for combatting free speech. Annenberg Media also asked the USC PR team about Canary Mission and did not receive a response.
As the march continued on from its starting point at the Hoover-Jefferson entrance to campus, more students joined in, chanting slogans rallying around Hahn Plaza next to the Tommy Trojan Statue. DPS estimated that more than 150 students were in attendance.
After the demonstration ended, a small group of Muslim students gathered in front of Tommy Trojan for the Maghrib prayer, the fourth of five mandatory prayers in sects of the Islamic faith meant to take place after sunset.
The prayers were led by Talha Rafique, a junior, who told Annenberg Media that while the Maghrib was a general prayer, students who participated added prayers for the Palestinians in Gaza, and for peace in the region.
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Another group of protestors attended the USC Undergraduate Student Government Senate meeting, filling the hall to capacity, to request a statement in support of Palestinians in Gaza, as well as Palestinian students at USC. USG previously passed a resolution in September to recognize the the Azerbaijan incursion into Nagorno-Karabakh as a genocide against Armenians. During a public comment period, students who had been protesting noted the previous resolution.
By the end of the meeting, multiple senators agreed to work with concerned students to craft a similar resolution for the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza, where Israeli strikes have killed over 2,800, with nearly two-thirds being children according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
This story has been updated to protect a source’s identity.