On Monday, Feb. 24, over 120 students, faculty and community members rallied in front of the Student Union at the University of Massachusetts Amherst to fundraise and bring attention to the ongoing struggles in Gaza.
“[The rally is] just to let people on this campus know that we’re still here, like Palestine is still an important issue,” Antinoe Kotsopoulos, a junior political science major at UMass and organizer of the event, said. “Just to make the Palestinian movement visible again on this campus.”
The rally was set up by several student organizations including UMass Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), the UMass branch of Young Democratic Socialists of America, Young Socialists and the Connecticut Palestine Solidarity Coalition. The Bengali Student Association and the Myanmar Student Association were there fundraising for the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund.
“This [rally] was a great reflection of all the different networks across UMass coming together to support the continued effort for Palestine celebration,” Tatiana Rodriguez, the chairperson of the Palestine Solidarity Caucus, said.
“I don’t think genocide or murder of anybody, of any innocent lives, is okay,” Irwin Mburu, senior communication major, said. “And the fact that it is still continuing, even after this so-called ceasefire has occurred, I think to me it’s just, it doesn’t sit well with me, and it’s a big reason as to why I wanted to show up today and show some support.”
The rally began with chants including, “Free, free, free Palestine” and “Free the people, fight the power, f**k the police, FTP.”
The first speaker, a member of SJP, shared the story of Aaron Bushnell, who set himself on fire on Feb. 25, 2024, in protest of the war in Gaza. The speaker called for listeners to fight for a liberated Palestine and oppose oppression as Bushnell did in his final moments.
The next speaker Kaia Dandelion, a member of the local chapter of Jewish Voices for Peace, greeted the gathered crowd, “We’re gathered here today because we know that none of us are disposable and that when Palestinians are dehumanized, we are all dehumanized.”
Dandelion emphasized the need for university divestment and following of the Palestinian led boycott, divestment, sanctions movement (BDS). “We need to get to a place where genocide cannot be profitable.”
“We’re here and we’re not going anywhere just like the Palestinian people,” speaker Santiago Vidales, an academic advisor and member of the Professional Staff Union at UMass said.
Vidales continued to discuss the issue of university bombings, providing the comparison that if universities in “western-acclaimed countries” were destroyed, there would be mass uproar.
“I feel like the University has a moral responsibility as a public institution to not allow our monies and our students to end up involved [in] war crimes, right?” Vidales said. “Multiple international organizations, from the UN on down have said what’s happening in Palestine is a genocide and we should simply not be involved in that, right?”
A UMass student then shared the story of Shaaban al-Dalou, a computer science student in Gaza who died after an Israeli bombing at al-Aqsa Martyrs’ hospital in Gaza, comparing what his experiences were like in Gaza, amidst a war, at the same time they were at UMass taking 200-level computer science classes.
“We cannot change our country in a day as much as we might want to,” Ethan Salvesan, a member of the River Valley Democratic Socialists and UMass alum said. “What we can change is how we react to historical circumstances that have been thrust upon us.”
Salvesan continued, “On the one hand, if we can turn our eyes away, we can plug our ears, we can distract ourselves and hope that things get better on their own, but they won’t, and this strategy will do nothing to help you when the fascists come for you next.”
Two anti-protestors disrupted the rally, yelling “F**k Hamas” and heckling the speakers. The crowd did not engage, but instead chanted over the counter-protestors with, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
Adrian Antoni, a junior economics major, reacted to the counter-protests: “When someone is so closed-minded and somewhat hateful, that is contagious … But at the same time we have to respond to that with passion and love, because that’s even more contagious.”
“There’s always going to be Zionists or people who are anti-Palestine Liberation,” Rodriguez said. “I think the fact that we didn’t engage with them speaks volumes as to the fact that we are here to listen to one another and to support one another. And those people were not meeting us with love or listening ears, and so we didn’t listen to them.”
“Just because of the repression that went on last year, that doesn’t mean that we’re not organizing for this anymore, and we’re not standing up for Palestinians anymore,” Kotsopoulos said, referring to the arrests that occurred in May 2024 after a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus.
Rodriguez was very happy with the turnout: “We’re obviously coming out of a hibernation period, not just because it’s the start of the semester, but also because it’s cold outside and it’s harder to organize when it’s this frigid in temperature.”
Because of the recent weather, it was the first outdoor and multi-group organized pro-Palestine protest of the spring semester. Many attendees wore thick jackets and boots amidst the snow and wind.
“I think it’s important to play my part, stand on the right side of history, and educate those around me, as well as educate myself in what’s going on in the world,” Antoni said.
Ava McEvoy, a junior English major, was inspired by the protest. “There’s a lot of censorship happening right now, and it’s important for communities to come together and even just talk about what’s happening, educate each other, and just make awareness of what is happening.”
The rally concluded with readings of “We Teach Life” by Rafeef Ziadah and “Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear” by Alicia M. Quesnel.
Andrew Venditti contributed to this reporting.
Alexandra Hill can be reached at [email protected] and Norah Stewart can be reached at [email protected].
