Maria Simpson / Copy Editor 

Anjali Dalal-Whelan / News Editor 

Violence in the Middle East has been at the forefront of many peoples’ minds during the past months. Throughout November, the USD community gathered to discuss the ongoing issues in Palestine. Two events took place on campus in which USD undergraduate and graduate students, as well as faculty, showed support for people in Gaza. On Nov. 9, around 40 members of the USD community participated in a Palestinian solidarity demonstration in front of Founders Hall, calling for a cease-fire in Gaza. The event followed an international call to action from the website shutitdown4palestine.org which advocates for the free Palestine movement. The website states the purpose of the action was “to demand an immediate ceasefire, cutting all aid to Israel, and lifting the siege on Gaza.” Since Hamas launched an attack on Israel on Oct. 7, the Gaza Strip has been under siege by Israel. According to the New York Times, 14,000 deaths have been reported in Gaza as of Nov. 28. The walk out event was not affiliated with the Palestinian Solidarity Committee at USD (PSCUSD) or the Palestinian Alliance of Law Students at USD Law (USD PALS), but the event was promoted on the USD PALS’ Instagram. Some USD undergrad and grad students as well as faculty members worked independently to organize the event. 

The event included a memorial, displaying printed names and photos of those who were killed in Palestine during the first three weeks since Oct. 7 and the Hamas attack on Israel. The pages included over 600 names and photos of young Palestinian children who lost their lives. USD junior Reema Tuffaha participated in the walkout and shared why the list of names and the walkout was important to her.

“We just wanted to show the names and pictures of the people, because I think a lot of times Palestinians are dehumanized in the media, and we’re seeing that a lot right now. We just wanted to call attention to the humanity of it, and really just raise awareness in a peaceful way and do our part, because there’s not much we can do right now,” Tuffaha said. “The main goal that we want is a cease-fire, and that’s what we’re advocating for ultimately.”

USD senior Amaya Rodriguez-Agiss explained how the walkout works.

“My professor canceled class, people are not going to meetings or not attending stuff that they usually would, [in order] to walk out here,” Rodriguez-Agiss said. “It’s a way to raise awareness, especially on a campus like USD, a private PWI (predominantly white institution). It’s important to make sure this education [about Palestine] is getting out, too.” 

Taking the time to participate in the walkout was a way for Rodriguez-Agiss to share her voice on the issue: she shared why advocating for a cease-fire is important to her.

“My best friend and closest friend from USD is Palestinian, and I think seeing her and her struggles as she’s going through this and all the news and how it’s affecting her in her day-to-day life, maybe I can pick up here, where it’s too much on her shoulders now,” Rodriguez-Agiss said.

Some USD faculty also participated in the event. Zachary Hill, a Lecturer in the Art History and Architecture department helped make a flier to promote the event and explained why he decided to participate. “Over 10,000 Palestinians have died [as of Nov. 7], so we need to do something to stop that. Every day that we just go to work or just go to school we are not stopping genocide,” Hill said.

Dr. Bahar Davary, USD Professor of Theology and Religious Studies, offered some background on the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“For the past 75 years, Palestinians have lived under occupation. Occupation means thousands of political prisoners, torture and humiliation, denying children water — 97% of water of Gaza controlled by Israel was unfit for human consumption even before the recent bombardmentand destruction,” Davary said. Davary explained that “mass attacks, expulsions and displacement of Palestinians has been continuous, and have only been exacerbated since Oct. 7, with the Hamas attack breaking out of besieged Gaza Strip.” At another seperate event on Nov. 16, PSCUSD organized a demonstration for Palestine. The protest took place in front of the Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice from 12 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Around 75 people attended the protest including USD undergraduate students, graduate students and faculty. At the protest several USD undergrad and graduate students spoke, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and for the U.S. to stop supporting Israel.

 Most organizers of the protests declined to give comment to The USD Vista due to concerns for their privacy and safety. USD junior Zeina Battikha is on the executive board of PSCUSD and explained what she hoped the protest would accomplish. 

“I’m hoping to raise awareness about the current crisis that’s happening in Gaza,” Battikha said. “I think that there’s a lot of misconceptions about what the crisis is, and how it’s been misconstrued as a war and as a conflict when really, down to its core, it is a genocide.” 

At the same time on Nov. 16 in front of the Knauss School of Business, the organization San Diego Hillel set up a table showing support for Israel. San Diego Hillel is an organization of Jewish students across four colleges in San Diego. Around eight people gathered at the table, which had photos of Israeli hostages taken by Hamas in the Oct. 7 attack. USD student Nathaniel Mannor explained the intention behind the table.

“To raise awareness about what’s going on in the Middle East, there’s a lot of false information going around, we just want to give the Israeli perspective, [and] show that Israel is not committing genocide against the Palestinians,” Mannor said. “The 10,000 Palestinians, unfortunately, the reality of war is that civilians will die on both sides, but the IDF [Israel Defense Force] is not committed to committing genocide against anyone.”

Speakers at the Palestine protest encouraged protesters to not engage with the San Diego Hillel table, and the groups did not appear to interact with each other.

According to the New York Times, Israel and Hamas reached a temporary cease-fire on Nov. 24. During the cease- fire Hamas has traded hostagestaken on Oct. 7 for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Students spoke out in support of Palestine and called for a cease-fire in Gaza at a protest organized by PSCUSD on Nov. 16. Emma-Kate Squires/The USD Vista