Students, community members gather to express solidarity for Palestine

Chants of “Free Free Palestine” echoed outside the Cathedral of Learning on Friday as students and community activists expressed their support and solidarity for the Palestine people. 

“We want to address the root causes,” Karim Safieddine, a doctoral student studying sociology and an organizer of Friday’s rally, said.  “We know there’s been loss of life, and we know that people from all sides have been mourning.”

About 200 people gathered in front of the Cathedral on Friday to advocate for a ceasefire after the recent escalation in Gaza. The rally was hosted by several individuals and community organizations. Safieddine explained that people support the Palestinian cause for many reasons.

“There is a direct relationship between the policies of the US government and the ramifications of that policy in Palestine,” Safieddine said. “And we believe that there is a direct role that we have to play to influence that policy and the pressure for a ceasefire, but also pressure for just a political solution.”

Friday’s rally is the second on Pitt’s campus this week. Over 300 people gathered for a similar rally in support of Palestine on Thursday afternoon as well. 

To start off Friday’s rally, Ilyas Khan gave a speech in which they made a land acknowledgment. 

“In the spirit of anti-fascism, I want to honor its sides and peoples and nations that stood here on this land before us, whose legacy we remember, whose words and languages and stories we must keep alive, and in our hearts,” Khan, a linguistics major at Carnegie Mellon University, said. “Land all around the world is being robbed and stolen from Indigenous people every day and that is today why we are here to stop this same theft of land in Palestine.” 

Safieddine said the violence in Gaza is not something that just began recently, but it has been increasing over time.

“We are not witnessing regular violence,” Safieddine said. “We are witnessing people’s stories and Palestinian futures being exterminated. It is very public. It is very out there. The violent scene in Gaza has almost no precedent in the past decade.”

Ibrahim Haydar, a speaker at the rally and a graduate student studying history and philosophy of science, feels Americans are becoming more aware of what everyday life looks like in Israel and Palestine.

“For the first time, more and more Americans are seeing the dishonesty between how things are represented in the news and the reality of life,” Haydar said. “We are fed a very one sided narrative of what the reality of Palestinian lives looks like.” 

Organizers passed out fliers to attendees, which  explained that they were protesting to “articulate solidarity” and detailed some demands for the University. The flier asked the University to “play an active role in siding with its Palestinian students.” Last week, Chancellor Joan Gabel’s made a statement about the attacks in Israel. In response to the chancellor’s statement, Pitt’s Chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine released a letter demanding that she recognize the suffering of Palestinian people.

Khan feels that the universities in Pittsburgh are somewhat complicit in the Palestinian plight.

“Personal technology that is being invested in by the University is being used to imprison Black and brown people,” Khan said. “And that same technology is being used to attack Palestinians in Palestine must remember that the institutions that surround us here in this city are complicit in this genocide. We must remember that all of the land that we are standing on once belonged to people who suffered the same genocide.”

Taima Homms, a community activist who spoke at the rally, told The Pitt News she spoke at the rally to inform people of the situation on the ground in Palestine.

“We’re here to let people know where their tax money is going,” Homms said “It’s literally going to fund a genocide. Kids are being carpet bombed. Families and their lineages were wiped out of the earth. So we’re here today to show the world what’s happening and to show America where their tax money is going.” 

Safieddine emphasized that Friday’s rally is a “counter hate movement” that holds no space for antisemitic or Islamaphobic sentiments.

“This movement is against all forms of hatred that are accompanied by Nazis and fascists who go off and use the grievances of people to either spout hatred against Muslims or Jews,” Safieddine said. “We’re here to mobilize for the just rights of indigenous people in Palestine who are being affected by a government that is directly in cahoots with the far right fascists.” 

Homms said it’s important to spread the word about and advocate for the liberation of Palestine, not to encourage hatred towards any one group of people.

“This is not an antisemitic thing,” Homms said. “This is not a racist thing. We do not condone, we do not stand with any groups. We do not stand for the killing of civilians. We’re just here for the liberation of Palestinians. That’s all we’re here [for]  to end the suffering. We’re here to spread the word and spread our knowledge.”