Allendale, MI – Pro-Palestine groups demonstrated the campus of Grand Valley State University on Friday, January 19.

About 50 students and community members gathered around GVSU’s Cook Carillon Clocktower for the “All Out for Palestine'' rally. Undeterred by cold and snowy weather, demonstrators stood in solidarity with the Palestinian resistance and condemned the United States’ strikes on Yemen.

Before the rally, a sign-making event was organized by students in GVSU’s Calder Arts Center. Attendees of the rally grasped the signs they had made, waved Palestinian flags and held banner reading “Free free Palestine” and “No war on Yemen, victory to Palestine!”

Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), in collaboration with GVSU’s Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), Ferris State SDS and Palestine Solidarity Grand Rapids, organized the rally.

Members of the campus community were drawn towards the clocktower after hearing chants such as “Money for schools, not for war; U.S. out of Yemeni shores” and “Palestine is our demand, no peace on stolen land.” Many students on their way to classes expressed solidarity by raising their fists and vocalizing their support of the effort.

“Even as I speak, children and families are being systematically wiped out by weapons paid for by the Michigan government; Yemen is being bombed by U.S. and British forces,” stated a member of Grand Valley’s SJP. “The U.S. war machine holds no sympathy for those who are suffering.”

A series of short speeches by members of GVSU SDS and SJP called upon the Grand Valley President Philomena Mantella and GVSU faculty to agree to a statement that recognizes the liberation and self-determination of the Palestinian people. In October 2023, Mantella turned a blind eye towards genocide by releasing a statement that condemned the Palestinian resistance.

“We call upon GVSU, President Mantella, our faculty, Michigan as a whole and the world to support the Gazan people in whatever way we can and to free Palestine now,” said Grand Valley’s SDS president.

Demonstrators then weaved their way throughout campus, passing administration offices, dorm buildings and GVSU’s Starbucks location. While students marched, people driving through campus honked their car horns in a display of support. Students again took turns chanting, denouncing the U.S. war machine and expressing solidarity with oppressed peoples across the globe.

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