San Jose, CA – On Tuesday, October 1, San Jose Students for a Democratic Society, Students for Justice in Palestine, and other organizations gathered in a speakout against the ongoing genocide as well as presenting their political demands to San Jose State University administration. Approximately 40 or 50 students attended.

Gathering near the Tower Lawn on the San Jose campus, the program included several speakers from various other student organizations. In addition, the League of Filipino Students, Young Democratic Socialists of America and Students Against Mass Incarceration had also sent their own speakers.

Slogans and chants included, “Occupiers, we want them gone, keep your hands off Lebanon!” along with “Killing children is a crime, from Lebanon to Palestine!” emphasized the war crimes and genocidal intent of the apartheid state.

SJP speaker Haddy Barghouti gave a speech expressing deep familial connections to Palestine, stating, “As a Palestinian whose grandmother was a victim of the 1948 Nakba and was forced to flee from her home, this situation leaves a hole in my heart.”

San Jose SDS President John Duroyan introduced their demands for SJSU to cut ties with war profiteers such as Lockheed Martin, and to end activist repression by immediately amending the strict and arbitrary “Time Place Manner” policies. He concluded, “So I end this speech today with a single word to encompass the energy and momentum of our unremitting struggle: Onwards. Onwards to liberation, onwards to a free Palestine, onwards to a better future!”

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