Emily Sawaked ‘24

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We don’t want your bloody war!

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Israel is a terrorist state!

Photo Credit: Anya Tucker

The sounds of chanting, of the waving signs crinkling in the breeze, permeated the air. Students gathered on the South Lawn in front of Westlands for the national walkout planned by the Sarah Lawrence Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) in accordance with the national SJP organization.

The walkout route went across campus, past the Old Dorms, down Bates Hill, and back up again ending at Heimbold Circle. The large group of unified students chanted proudly throughout the walk, which ended with speeches by SJP organizers and other students.

Chants of Every time the media lies, a neighborhood in Gaza dies!; Sarah Lawrence, you can’t hide, you’re complicit in genocide!; and Not another nickel, not another dime, no more money for Israel’s crimes! were heard throughout Sarah Lawrence: in Westlands, Bates, the Barbara Walters Campus Center, and Heimbold.

Though the Sarah Lawrence SJP chapter has existed for a few years, the organization really took off with the arrival of more passionate students last year, including Olin MacIntosh ‘24 and Anya Tucker ‘24, according to Jenna Abu-Hassan ‘25, one of the co-chairs of the organization here at Sarah Lawrence.

Since its reignition, SJP has hosted multiple events. MacIntosh noted that the most impactful of the events has been the fundraisers held for Gaza, but they also have hosted and continue to host film screenings, trips to the Palestine museum, educational sessions, events, and meetings. Since Oct. 7, 2023, when the Hamas attack on Israel happened, followed by constant bombing by Israel on Gaza, SJP has hosted a vigil, several educational meetings, a film screening of Israelism, and, most recently, the walkout.

“Since Oct. 7th, we had a meeting… to explain what was going on and explain how the media was portraying what was going on… We’ve been organizing as a group to go to the city for protests that have been going on. We responded to President Cristle’s statement that she released what we felt was lacking, what was wrong with that statement, and we met with the administration to talk about some demands that we had for the college. One of those included adopting a BDS resolution, and that’s still in the works,” said Abu-Hassan.

Since then, Israel has killed thousands of Gazans through the use of missiles, white phosphorus, and automatic rifles. Though many have tried fleeing, the routes to safety–which were first publicly outlined by Israel–were bombed, killing the families trying to make their way out of the carnage. A majority of Gazan citizens have not fled, and are instead trapped in their houses or neighbor’s homes.

The walkout was a call to action by the national SJP movement, which the Sarah Lawrence chapter answered dutifully, and planned quickly. Their first point of action was to have educational speeches that would amplify the voices of Palestinians like Abu-Hassan, and a call to action, especially for Sarah Lawrence.

“We decided later that we should probably march because that way we could reach more people than just being outside of Westlands. The idea was for more people to hear and see what's going on, and maybe it'll spark them to either learn more or join us. Also, part of the walkout, which I think was why we also added a loop around campus, is because it's meant to disrupt our day-to-day lives, which continue on even though such horrific violence is going on with our tax dollars,” said MacIntosh.

Thousands of bombs have dropped on Gaza since Oct. 7th. People have been taken hostage, and many have died in the open air prison that is the Gaza Strip.

Gaza has been an open air prison since 2008, meaning that Israel controls the food, water, fuel, electricity, and other supplies that go in and out of Gaza. In addition, half of the population of Gaza are minors, meaning half of them have lived in an open air prison for almost their entire lives. . Hamas has also been the governing body of Gaza since 2006, though it is mostly known for its armed defense against Israel. Because of the attack against Israel, there has been a clear example of collective punishment against all Palestinians, in Gaza, ongoing ever since, through the bombing of hospitals, civilian neighborhoods, and the use of white phosphorus– a violation of international law, outlined in Common Article 33 of the Geneva Conventions and Article 6 of the Additional Protocol II.

“People are so willing to turn out when this violence is in the media and the news and when it seems more intense than usual or when it's the topic of conversation, but when the day-to-day violence Palestinians face [continues] going on, people don't care and don't speak about it and aren't involved,” said MacIntosh. “Once it's been two months, or once it stops being talked about in the media, people no longer care about Palestine. I really hope that this shows people the extent of the violence Palestinians face and commits them to advocating outside of just these moments of heightened violence.”

This has been going on since al-Nakba, or the Catastrophe, when the occupation first began. Over the decades, solutions have been attempted, with borders drawn in 1967 by the United Nations to create two states following the Six Day War (which occurred between Israel and Egypt, Syria, and Jordan), but Israel has continued expanding, due to an inability to come to a compromise that benefited both parties. Throughout the years, the world has seen the creation of Hamas– a primarily militant group in the Gaza Strip that was supported by Israel in order to overthrow the PLO– and countless deaths in Palestine. More violence between the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and the Palestinians has been a regular occurrence.

The history between the Palestinians and the Israelis is long and arduous. Settlers have occupied Palestine since the 19th century, living in yishuvs as business owners, farmers, and more. There had been skirmishes between the two groups, but the creation of Israel in 1948, which killed thousands of Palestinians and displaced many more, saw the start of a decades-long conflict and periods of ethnic cleansing. Now, Palestinains face genocide, though mainstream media and official US reports deny this. Despite the UN’s original role in the world being a space to stop genocide and other atrocities, director of the New York office of the UN high commissioner for human rights, Craig Mokhiber’s, resignation is evidence that little is being accomplished. “Once again we are seeing a genocide unfolding before our eyes and the organization we serve appears powerless to stop it,” said Mokhiber, upon his resignation.

Meanwhile, the United States continues to fund the IDF and provide advanced weaponry and technology to them. The media continues to favor Israel, the Israeli government, and the IDF in propaganda campaigns that compare Palestinians to animals and as less worthy of life. The Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was recorded saying, “There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed. We are fighting human animals and we act accordingly.”

The climate on campus has been overwhelmingly supportive, though, in spite of the atrocities and history of violence, and in spite of the battleground that the free speech board at Bates has become. Though there have been cases of students “putting up flyers with a QR code to donate to the IDF”. As Abu-Hassan stated, “I thought it was really heinous, and it made me uncomfortable, as a Palestinian student, for people to be posting flyers to donate to an organization that is actively trying to kill members of my family.”

The flyers were promptly taken down.

As SJP calls for a ceasefire (one of the primary calls during the walkout), Abu-Hassan said, at the end of a moving speech, “Please, please, don’t let my people die.”

Photo Credit: Vance Johnson Jr.

SJP Calls for Ceasefire Now