Editor’s note: We have received pushback regarding the labeling of the ongoing conflict in Gaza as a war. As many publications do, the Lutrinae follows the Associated Press style guide. AP calls for the use of the term “Israel-Hamas war” due to the widespread military operations between Israel and the militant Palestinian group, Hamas. Regardless of the personal opinions of Lutrinae staffers regarding this issue, we strive to report without bias to allow our readers to come to their own conclusions.
Around 70 students, faculty and community members marched around the administration building at Cal State Monterey Bay (CSUMB) on Monday, May 7, in protest of the Israel-Hamas war.
The demonstrators had seven demands for CSUMB administration:
Cut ties with the international partnership that CSUMB has with Israel’s Ustudy program.
Divestment from companies and corporations complicit in the occupation of Palestine.
CSUMB to publicly call for a ceasefire and end to the occupation of Palestine.
Drop the fines against and halt the punishment of student organizers by administration.
A removal of police presence from campus.
Amnesty for students, staff or faculty participating in any demonstration advocating for a free Palestine.
An apology for CSUMB’s “continued suppression of student and faculty voices which advocate for a free Palestine.”
The march was the culmination of “All Out for Palestine,” an all-day event organized by CSUMB’s Abolitionist and Decolonial Learning Collective (ADLC). Earlier in the day, students gathered on the grass in front of the Otter Express for a Q&A with the ADLC, student speakers and a teach-in with Professor Sara Salazar Hughes on her research in Palestine.
“We’re also here in solidarity for our many brave peers across the nation taking up every form of protest to draw attention to this issue,” said Edwin Lopez, fourth-year global studies major and president of the ADLC.
Monday’s event occurred amidst international protests on college campuses, with students calling on their universities to divest funds from corporations related to Israel. At many universities, these protests have been met with resistance from university administration, such as at University of California Los Angeles and University of Southern California where police were called to disband student-led Palestinian solidarity encampments. The Associated Press reports that since April 18, about 2,500 protestors have been arrested at around 50 campuses.
Despite this, Monday’s demonstration remained peaceful with no noticeable presence by counter-protesters or University Police. According to spokesperson Walter Ryce, the school is committed “to allowing students, faculty, staff and members of the community to engage in freedom of expression.”
Fourth-year Marina Aiwaz, who studied in Israel and lived in the West Bank for two years, said “just speaking out, being here … taking up the space, having people walk to the Dining Commons and seeing us out here – that’s solidarity.”
More on this story in next week’s issue of the Lutrinae.
I don’t mean to submit such a word wall, but I think as journalists, it’s necessary to make sure we get our facts straight. I also want to verbalize that I am aware there is a possibility for this to be an editorial error/issue but as a student who works hard to help organize these events, the story is getting way too twisted. We should not be remaining neutral on genocide, especially after AS has already come out with a ceasefire agreement. Not only because it shows that this newspaper remains neutral regardless of the issue, but also because it is not painting the truth that occurs during these type of events.
I’m sorry, I was debating commenting, but I have to speak on this. This event was highlighting and protesting against the ongoing genocide in occupied Palestine due to settler colonialism, staying away from the word war as it holds an unconscious connotation of equal power between forces. Also, this article says “no noticeable presence by counter-protesters“. Although these counter protesters didn’t have flags or anything that the outside eye would consider as “noticeable”, everyone present was aware of multiple different students and faculty that would record and even walk through the peaceful demonstration (who have a history of verbally protesting pro-palestinian movements held on campus in the past.) We keep us safe at these types of demonstrations and one of the safety protocols is alerting one another of unsafe presences, which we did throughout the ENTIRE 6 hours… This article also says that a fellow student “studied and lived in Israel”. She studied and lived in PALESTINE. I’m not sure if this was an intentional misnaming of locations but from my interactions with this student, she’s been vocal about her time in Occupied Palestine. She also verbalized that y’all asked her how long she lived/studied in PALESTINE, but in the article y’all put Israel? What’s that about? Lastly, the picture included at the end of the photo dump (showing students with a sign that says Free Palestine) was apart of a class event which was something totally unrelated to the All out for Palestine Rally put together by ADLC. I think conflating these two events, just because they both are advocating for a free Palestine, is why multiple deans tried shutting it down/silencing this class even though they were addressing other issues outside of the palestinian struggle (which I hope y’all write a story about since y’all were there and interviewed people who interacted with these deans.)