On Thursday, Sept. 26, around 80 students participated in a rally hosted by UMass Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) that began outside of the Student Union, before migrating outside of the Whitmore Administration Building.
“It is more important than ever that we gather in protest and continue to emphasize our demands,” said Samar Haddad, a sociology major and member of SJP.
SJP reiterated their goals from last year while bringing attention to the Israeli military presence in Palestine and recent attacks in Lebanon at their first rally of the semester
At the end of the Spring 2024 semester, SJP held a string of protests, including an encampment that resulted in around 130 arrests and a vote of no-confidence in Chancellor Javier Reyes from both the Student Government Association and the Faculty Senate.
“At the end of last semester, SGA voted no confidence in Reyes. Over the summer, the faculty voted no confidence in Reyes. He has barely addressed the fact that his faculty has voted no confidence in him, so let’s keep the pressure on and remind him that we have no confidence in him,” said Haddad.
Reyes has sent out multiple emails regarding the protests and arrests last semester and created a Campus Demonstration Policy Task Force aimed at defining and regulating demonstrations on campus. An independent review of the arrests and the events leading up to it is underway.
“In the past year, we have witnessed our university trying to silence us from arbitrary enforcement of campus policies to censorship of Palestinian advocacy, to the mass arrests of peaceful protesters,” said Haddad.
This semester, Haddad said that SJP’s plan is to “keep our momentum going [and] keep disclosure and divestment at the center of our agenda.”
One of SJP’s main demands from the University is divestment from war-profiteer Raytheon. In a May 2024 undergraduate referendum vote by SGA, a 73.1 percent majority of students voted for divestment. 2,725 UMass students participated in the vote.
“We demand that our university provides better and more sustainable … jobs for our students, and doesn’t recruit students into the war machine that bombs and kills civilians in Gaza and around the rest of the world,” said Kivlighan Finch de Montebello, sophomore Social Thought and Political Economy and Sustainable Community Development major.
Ava Harrington, Social Thought and Political Economy major, addressed UMass’ ties to war-profiteer Raytheon, which held a recruiting event on campus on September 25.
“Further and further, we are making [UMass] something that is not accessible to the people, and we are using the money that we take from people looking to get education and investing it in something that is killing our future, that is killing humanity. We are investing it in war profiteers. This is something that we need to be aware about.”
When it comes to the first protest of the semester, Haddad said the energy was enthusiastic.
“Lots of new faces, lots of people who seem to genuinely care. I also think our movement is centered [in] a place of love, and I think that I can really feel that prominent this year. And I think everyone’s here because they care about people, and they want to make the world a better place,” she said.
Haddad, de Montebello and Harrington all said that there will be future events hosted by SJP, and they are working on “solidifying that right now.”
They ended the rally by encouraging the crowd to engage and participate within SJP and thanking them for rallying in the rain.
“Every single one of you here has the power to make an impact, and have your voice heard,” said De Montebello, speaking in a megaphone to the crowd.
“Here’s to another year of advocacy and work – we will see a free Palestine in our lifetimes,” Haddad said.
Johnny Depin can be reached at [email protected].
Eve Neumann can be reached at [email protected].
Alexandra Hill can be reached at [email protected].
