St. Paul, MN – On a cold autumn morning on November 2 over 90 pro-Palestine demonstrators gathered in front of the O’Shaughnessy Theater at Saint Catherine University to stand in solidarity with the global Palestinian movement and to express their outrage for Israel’s bombing campaign of Gaza over the last three weeks.

The demonstration began with chanting and a march around campus which was followed by five speeches. Speakers from all different ages, organizations and backgrounds gave heartfelt speeches and expressed their sorrow and mourning for the over 10,000 Palestinians that have been killed by Israeli Occupation Forces in Gaza since October 7.

Mariam El-Khatib, member of American Muslims for Palestine, was the first speaker at the rally, stating, “This is not normal, this is not acceptable, and definitely we should not be silent about it. As Americans, whether you like it or not, our government, our country, is not only allowing this to happen but actively participating in the genocide. President Biden, rather than doing anything meaningful, is actually putting out statements to Congress to suppress the free speech on college campuses. They are scared of what we are doing here, they are scared of students speaking out and talking about the genocide that is happening, about Israel’s atrocities. Campuses are a battleground and you best believe that the work you are doing matters.”

Next, Bushra Chebli, a Saint Catherine alum, spoke about what it’s like to be a part of the Palestinian diaspora. “My family was kicked out of their homes in Haifa in 1948, 75 years ago to date, and became refugees in southern Lebanon in a refugee camp. My father was born stateless, my sister was born stateless, I was born stateless. I came to this country on a Palestinian travel document for refugees, and I didn’t have citizenship in any country until I was 12 years old.”

Chebli continued, “I have to see my people mutilated and dead every single day and people still deny their humanity. I have not seen a single Israeli body and I should not have to; I do not need to know someone is dead to recognize their humanity, but we have to show you our babies in our hand and still people say we are not human.”

Yossi Aharoni, an anti-Zionist Jew, spoke for the Anti-War Committee, stating, “In just three short weeks over 10,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air strikes, over 3000 children have been murdered, tens of thousands are injured. Netanyahu ordered 1.3 million Gazans in the north to flee and then bombed fleeing caravans. 1.3 million Gazans have been made homeless overnight. Hospitals have run out of fuel, many have already collapsed with more to come. Women and children forced to drink boiled sewage, if energy is even available to boil it. Netanyahu told Gazans to head to Egypt, then pressured Egypt not to open its borders, then bombed the Egyptian border. Israel has cut off Gaza from food, water, fuel and electricity for three weeks, then Israel cut off all internet and telecommunications from Gaza so it could commit its massacres in the dark.” Aharoni added, “Israel has effectively cut off Gaza from the rest of the world, this is not a war, it is an Israeli campaign of eradication; this is textbook genocide.”

After the speakers, participants marched to another building on campus and held a prayer for all attendees.

The rally was initiated by a new student coalition called FORCE. The protest was endorsed by American Muslims for Palestine-MN and the Anti-War Committee.

The next Palestine action announced at the rally was the upcoming Minnesota Peace Action Coalition event being held at 2 p.m., Saturday Nov. 4 at Mayday Plaza in the West Bank of Minneapolis.

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