Dear MoveOn member,
Over the past few weeks, there has been a swell of student demonstrations from coast to coast, with thousands of young people exercising their First Amendment rights to protest against their schools’ support for the Israeli government’s assault on Gaza, which has killed nearly 34,000 Palestinians. There have been disturbing reports of police quelling the freedom to protest with tear gas, rubber bullets, and riot gear.1 Students deserve to peacefully exercise their First Amendment rights without fear of police or the National Guard.
Students and even faculty members being dragged out and arrested, screaming. Pepper spray and flash-bangs used by police to disorient protesters. Tear gas. Rubber bullets. Stun guns.2,3 Police presence at peaceful student protests is escalating tensions on college campuses—and it’s having a chilling impact on freedom of speech nationwide. And on some campuses, there are concerning reports of Black and brown students—who already experience racial profiling by campus police—being disproportionately targeted by police at protests.4,5
A student at Emory University said she was tear-gassed while trying to leave a protest.6 And at the University of Texas at Austin, university administrators had more than 50 students arrested, as police in riot gear shut down a Palestinian rights protest—despite there being no signs or reports of violence.7
Urge local leaders and electeds to protect the First Amendment rights of students and demand police STOP using tactics of fear, intimidation, and violence against peaceful protesters.
More than 34,000 Palestinians, including thousands of children, have been killed by the Israeli military, with more than 8,000 people missing under the rubble.8 That is one out of every 75 people in Gaza killed.9 You read that right. One person out of every 75 Palestinians in Gaza has been killed. 1.9 million Palestinians (85% of Gaza’s population) have been displaced.10 Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are starving right now in Gaza, with dozens of children dying slowly and cruelly due to dehydration and starvation.11 This is the heartbreaking and immoral reality that Palestinians are facing.
For generations, students at campuses have protested and changed the course of history. From sit-ins during the Civil Rights Movement to protests against the Vietnam War and the Iraq War, students have been powerful in shaping social movements and demanding change. However, unlike with past movements, colleges and universities have been swift to chill dissent.12 University administrators must take steps to protect students exercising their right to peacefully protest. Calling the police or the National Guard to attack them is unacceptable.
Let’s be clear: Any antisemitic, anti-Palestinian, or Islamophobic language and actions have no place at these protests or anywhere else on campuses or in society. And we condemn them in the strongest terms possible. All people deserve to feel safe in their communities, and police shooting rubber bullets and arresting students and faculty while targeting peaceful protesters with riot gear isn’t a safe environment for anyone, and harks back to some of the darkest parts of our history.
Thanks for all you do.
–Nakia, Isbah, Aliya, Chris, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. “Police allegedly use rubber bullets and teargas at university protest in Georgia,” The Guardian, April 26, 2024
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/25/emory-university-protest-arrests
2. Ibid
3. “Israel-Hamas war protesters and police clash on Texas campus, Columbia University begins suspensions,” AP News, April 29, 2024
https://act.moveon.org/go/189827?t=12&akid=382942%2E37680734%2Es4GBGA
4. “Colleges and Universities Have a Racial Profiling Problem,” ACLU, September 21, 2018
https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinian-campus-student-protests-war-19ed919ff6ff9573a8add4ec67e26181
5. “Police allegedly use rubber bullets and teargas at university protest in Georgia,” The Guardian, April 26, 2024
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/25/emory-university-protest-arrests
6. Ibid.
7. “How today’s antiwar protests stack up against major student movements in history,” Vox, May 1, 2024
https://www.vox.com/politics/24141636/campus-protest-columbia-israel-kent-state-history
8. “Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel | Flash Update #160,” ReliefWeb, May 1, 2024
https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/hostilities-gaza-strip-and-israel-flash-update-160
9. “Israel-Gaza war in maps and charts: Live tracker,” Al Jazeera, May 1, 2024
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2023/10/9/israel-hamas-war-in-maps-and-charts-live-tracker
10. “Most of Gaza’s Population Remains Displaced and in Harm’s Way,” Human Rights Watch, December 20, 2023
https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/12/20/most-gazas-population-remains-displaced-and-harms-way
11. “The 10-Year-Old Boy Who Has Become the Face of Starvation in Gaza,” The New York Times, March 9, 2024
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/09/world/middleeast/yazan-kafarneh-gaza-starvation.html
12. “How today’s antiwar protests stack up against major student movements in history,” Vox, May 1, 2024
https://www.vox.com/politics/24141636/campus-protest-columbia-israel-kent-state-history
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