BETHLEHEM, Pa.— As protests of the war in Gaza have erupted on college campuses across the country, Lehigh University students organized a peaceful rally Friday to call for a permanent cease-fire and to demand their school cut ties with Israel.
“It is something that people should care about,” said Sarah Stevens, a student organizer and sophomore studying political science and global studies. “It is something that students at Lehigh care about and students around the world care about, and to continue to sit and watch this ongoing genocide happen is to be complicit with it.”
The rally, organized by the Student Political Action Coalition and Lehigh 4 Palestine, was meant to bring attention to a list of demands organizers have made of Lehigh’s administration. They include disclosure of all university investments and divestment from any weapons manufacturers, military contractors or other entities with ties to Israel.
“It's all about just recognizing that as a university, we have a voice,” said Dylan McFarland, a junior engineering and global studies major. “We have a responsibility as intellectuals to lead the charge.”
The event was the culmination of a week's worth of cultural and educational events on Lehigh's campus about Palestinians and the struggles they currently face.
The history
The war in Gaza began on Oct. 7 when Hamas – a terrorist group that violently took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 – invaded Israel and killed 1,200 people; more than 250 people were also taken hostage.
In the months since, Israel has dropped tens of thousands of bombs on Gaza and launched a ground invasion, killing more than 34,000 Palestinians, the majority of whom are women and children, according to Palestinian health officials. With Israel restricting food deliveries, famine has also broken out in Gaza.
International experts like those from the United Nations have said Israel is committing genocide.
“Innocent people are innocent people, and we as a movement are advocating for the liberation of all people and peace throughout the entire region,”Aisha Memon
Raya Abdelaal, a Bethlehem community member, attended the rally and has worked with student organizers. She is a member of the recently formed Lehigh Valley Palestine Coalition.
Abdelaal is Palestinian and her grandparents were expelled from their homes in the 1948 Nakba in which there was mass displacement of Palestinians during the Arab-Israeli War.
Abdelaal recently found out she had extended family members who died in the war in Gaza; her family had thought they died decades earlier in the 1948 Nakba.
The war in Gaza has been emotional for Abdelaal and her family, she said.
“It’s difficult,” she said. “You’re witnessing people from your land being brutalized and murdered and tortured at the hands of Israel and then people denying your existence at the same time and denying what’s happening even though it’s clear as day.”
Aisha Memon, a student organizer and junior engineering major, called for an end to the genocide of Palestinians and the return of Israeli hostages.
“Innocent people are innocent people, and we as a movement are advocating for the liberation of all people and peace throughout the entire region,” she added.
McFarland, who is a Jewish, said he’s struggled to hear his religion twisted by others to justify violence against Palestinians.
“We have a saying in the Jewish community that we pray with our feet, and we need to take that literally and demand that the killing stop and these oppressive systems be dismantled,”Dylan McFarland
“We have a saying in the Jewish community that we pray with our feet, and we need to take that literally and demand that the killing stop and these oppressive systems be dismantled,” he said.
College activism
Student activists also want Lehigh to release a statement acknowledging Palestinian suffering and the struggles Arab students may be facing. Additionally, they want the re-evaluation of any study abroad opportunities in Israel; a commitment to protect free speech on campus; and a promise not to allow excessive force against student activists by police.
In the past two weeks, nearly 400 pro-Palestinian demonstrations have happened at U.S. colleges, and 1,200 people have been arrested in these college protests, according to The Washington Post.
At Columbia University, more than 100 people were arrested this week as protesters took over a university building. Encampments have also formed at colleges across the country.
At Lehigh, administrators and students have worked together positively to organize rallies, they said. Students have gone through the correct process to have their events approved. Campus police have been present to ensure safety. Friday’s pro-Palestinian rally was the fourth of the academic year.
Student activists met with Lehigh President Joseph Helble last week. They also had a second meeting with administrators. Students said the first meeting with Helbe was productive, but the following meeting was not.
“They were willing to hear us out, but correspondence after that meeting seemed like they were prolonging doing anything concrete or directing us to the people in administration who have the hand to do anything concrete,” said Layan Suleiman, an organizer and junior engineering student whose family is originally from Palestine.
LehighValleyNews.com sent Amy White, the university spokesperson, a detailed list of questions about the school’s communication with students and Lehigh’s response to their demands. She said answers could not be provided by deadline but the following university statement was sent:
“We are in communication with student demonstrators to support a peaceful campus environment and their right to respectful free expression, while minimizing disruption to our educational mission. Our priority is the safety and well-being of our Lehigh community. We continue to encourage our community to express themselves in a way that is respectful to all; words and actions that contribute to a hostile environment or threaten to disrupt our mission are not acceptable.”
Pards 4 Palestine at Lafayette
Lafayette College student activists involved in Pards 4 Palestine also attended the rally at Lehigh on Friday. They have been active in rallies for Palestinians across the Lehigh Valley and held their own rally in April.
Lafayette students also issued a set of demands. Students want the disclosure of college investments and divestment from weapons manufacturers, military contractors and any other entities tied to Israel. They also want protection of student and staff protesters, a promise not to call police and a commitment not to reprimand activists for their work.
After the April rally at Lafayette, students received emails from the administration threatening code of conduct charges for their participation and “disruptive behavior” without detailing any specific actions that were an issue, according to an open letter penned by faculty to President Nicole Hurd. The open letter expressed concern about the emails and said students’ freedom of speech needs to be protected.
One student activist from Lafayette’s Pards 4 Palestine agreed to speak with LehighValleyNews.com on the condition of anonymity because of online threats of doxxing and reaching out to future employers about their activism.
The senior international affairs major said student activists met with the college president and administrators Friday to set up concrete steps for future communication and meetings about the students' demands.
LehighValleyNews.com sent Lafayette spokesperson Scott Morse a detailed list of questions about the students’ demands, but did not receive an immediate response.
The senior said students feel hopeful about future discussions.
“It’s really exciting in the face of a lot of repression of student organizers on campuses across the country,” they said.
