On January 23rd, the University of Massachusetts chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) disrupted the career fair at Mount Ida Campus in collaboration with UMass Boston’s chapter of SJP, Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Boston, and Palestinian Solidarity at UMass Lowell.
Students alternated between picketing outside of the fitness hall, where the event was being held, and beside the UMass Foundation booth. Other members of the groups handed out flyers detailing how various companies at the fair had contributed to the war in Gaza.
“Just like every career fair we’ve disrupted and canvassed at, we want to make sure students are aware of what they’re doing when they sign up for jobs at these career fairs,” Samuel Whalen, a member of SJP from UMass Amherst, said.
He hoped to educate students a bit more about the background of these companies, as well as provide alternatives. “We want to make sure that they know that they have other options and career paths they can take to support a more sustainable and demilitarized future.”
“CyberArk is an Israeli cybersecurity company, whereas the UMass Foundation has funds invested in illegal West Bank settlements that fund weapons manufacturing and war profiteers,” Anya Epstein, a member of the UMass SJP, said. “We need to bring attention to the fact that we all play a part in this war, no matter how much we don’t want to. Our tax dollars are going towards it. Donation money is going towards it.”
While the UMass foundation booth ignored protestors, Epstein said flyers and signs garnered a positive response from students. “We had a few students that came up to us, tell us that they’re glad we’re here, which is so wonderful to hear that our message and energy is held by some of the student body.”
Though Israel recently reached a ceasefire deal with Hamas, protestors emphasized the need to keep advocating for Palestine. “We want to make sure students know this fight isn’t over,” said Hailey Ho, a member of UMass SJP. “We are still complicit in this genocide, even though there is a ceasefire going on. We still want to continue this divestment campaign.”
Even after a ceasefire was announced, Israeli strikes continued. Within hours, drone strikes and targeted attack took the lives of 73 Palestinians in the midst of celebrating the agreement. As Palestinians attempt to return to north Gaza, Israeli forces killed two more civilians.
Israel assertions that Hamas violated the agreement by not returning hostage Arbel Yehud delayed the return of civilians to North Gaza. Yehud is not being held by Hamas, but the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, who said she would be released by Saturday.
Ho emphasized that these violations alongside the temporary nature of the deal is why protesting must continue. “The anti-war movement has been going on for decades; we’ve seen this with Vietnam and South Africa. These sort of movements last over several years.”
Max Hirchman, from UMass Boston’s chapter of SJP, agrees: “I think there is an attitude among some people that because of the ceasefire we can all go home and stop. In reality, it is more important than ever to keep fighting, both to continue until Palestine is clearly free. It’s more than just this one battle; it’s a long liberation struggle.”
Hirchman said, “From a UMass Boston perspective, we want to get system-wide work [regarding Palestine] with UMass done. We have the same president, board of trustees, and the same UMass Foundation. Instead of focusing on each school, we’re trying to unite them.”
By joining together, the UMass chapters hope to convince UMass to divest from the war profiteers they’ve partnered with.
Hirchman continued, “The UMass system has deep ties with the state of Massachusetts and local community governments and the community in general. The idea is we can get a significant portion of the state divested if we succeed in getting the UMass system to divest. This is a brief start to what will hopefully be a larger kind of system wide campaign.”
Hailey Furilla can be reached at [email protected].