This afternoon students across campus participated in a walkout in solidarity with Palestine. Trojansforpalestine planned the walkout, promoting it on their social media platform and encouraging students, faculty workers, and staff to demand an end to the siege on Gaza.
In conjunction with the walkout, an exhibit was held in front of Tommy Trojan honoring some of the lives lost in Gaza. A silent protest followed as students made their way across campus to Marshall. We were able to talk with a student organizer about this event. She requested anonymity because she is fearful of retaliation.
Organizer: Today, we’re very happy to be here because there is actually an exhibit that we’re holding. This exhibit holds an incomplete list of all the names of people who have died so far that are known and registered in Palestine. At first, this list was made because the Western media did not believe the count of all the people that did die in the Gaza area. We spent hours and hours and hours working on these papers because they were a lot of work. However, we were only able to get 5,000 out of the 10,000 names and we can still barely fit them in this space.
An array of protests on both sides of the conflict have ensued throughout the last month on campus, and we asked her why it’s important to keep raising awareness. This is what she had to say...
Organizer: It’s so important to continue showing up because genocide is not something that should ever be taken lightly in any historical time. If you were wondering what you would have done when slavery was occurring, what you would have done when the Holocaust was occurring, what you would have done when any genocide on earth that occurred was occurring. You’re doing it right now.
It’s not only Palestinian students coming together, but students from all different backgrounds. Clara Carrasco, a senior at USC, explained why she as a Latina felt compelled to show solidarity.
Clara Carrasco: I’m here to show support for my Palestinian brothers and sisters. I know that their population may be small here at USC, but that’s why I think it’s very important as a woman of color to show support. I’m not Palestinian, but it doesn’t mean that we can’t be here to support them.
Carrasco: So Palestine is the most current version of settler colonialism. As a Latina, I understand that my ancestors were subjected to the same things that are presently happening to the Palestinian people.
Carrasco: And that’s why when we say in Spanish, “De Mexico a Chile, Palestina sera libre,” it’s saying that we are acknowledging our own roots, but also acknowledging the present that is occurring now.
Carrasco also emphasized that supporting liberation should be for everyone and she will always stand up for those with the quietest voice in the room.
Carrasco: At the end of the day, we’re here to say we don’t like settler colonialism, we don’t like the oppression of people. But that doesn’t mean that we’re favoring the oppression of others. In order for all of us to rise above, we have to support the people that are below. And that doesn’t mean we tear down everyone else to do so.
Students attending the walkout were asked to bring signs, inform classmates and professors about the walkout, protect their identity from backlash with a mask or a keffiyeh, and to abstain from interacting with counter-protesters.
Event organizers made clear that their efforts will not be stopping anytime soon.
For Annenberg Media, I’m Isa Johnson