Amherst Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) marked one yr of “Zionist escalation” and “continued resistance against the Zionist project” at a rally Monday, the anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas assaults in Southern Israel that killed greater than 1,100 and ignited an Israeli army marketing campaign that has killed greater than 40,000 Gazans.
Before a crowd on the first-year quad, audio system mourned lives misplaced in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon, and inspired college students to construct stress for divestment following the Board of Trustees’ unanimous vote in opposition to it this summer season. And in a rhetorical change from protests final yr, some audio system from SJP appeared to rejoice the Oct. 7 assaults as a type of justified resistance.
“Today marks one year since Oct. 7, and one year since the United Front of Palestinian Liberation launched a counteroffensive against the Israeli occupying forces,” stated the primary of a quantity of SJP audio system who declined to establish themselves by title as they kicked off the rally.
“Oct. 7 will forever be remembered as a prison break, a day when the Palestinian people stood up to fight against settler colonialism,” stated one other.
On Oct. 7, Hamas militants killed greater than 1,100 folks, most of them civilians, kidnapped 252 others into Gaza, and dedicated acts of sexual violence in opposition to girls and ladies. The assault has been described by the United Nations as a violation of worldwide legislation and a warfare crime. On the quad on Monday, there was no reference to the Israeli lifeless or these taken hostage, many of whom are nonetheless lacking.
The UN has accused Israel of related crimes — together with intentional concentrating on of civilians, forcible switch of populations, and acts of sexual violence — throughout its army marketing campaign, which has killed greater than 40,000 and displaced practically 2 million.
Throughout the rally, SJP audio system emphasised the human toll of what they described as Israel’s genocidal marketing campaign in opposition to Palestinians and linked their motion to the historical past of working-class actions within the U.S., “the global struggle for Black, Brown and Indigenous liberation,” and a “global Axis of Resistance” that features Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, and Iran.
They additionally positioned sources of hope amid the violence.
“Not once in the entire history of the Zionist project has the Palestinian nation been wholly defeated, not in 1948, 1956, 1967, 2005, or 2024,” stated one speaker. “With dignity and honor, it defies the projects of colonialism and imperialism, undermines the logic of Zionism, and breathes new life into the revolutionary consciousness of oppressed nations across the globe.”
The rally on Monday, which was SJP’s first of the educational yr, additionally noticed the looks of some of the chants and slogans which have precipitated controversy on different campuses, however had been absent from protests at Amherst for a lot of final yr.
Last fall, organizers advised The Student that they deliberately averted the mantra “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” of their protests. Some see the phrase as a name for ethnic cleaning of Jews within the land. On Monday, the protest started and ended with that chant, and a SJP speaker at one level described their teams’ battle as a “global intifada,” one other phrase that has precipitated controversy.
Not all audio system used these phrases or endorsed the occasions of Oct. 7.
“Today, we join to honor the innocent lives lost in Gaza, Palestine, Lebanon, and Yemen in the past year,” stated Zakaria Shenwari ’25, who spoke on behalf of the Muslim Students Association. “In Islam, we hold those who have died unjustly as martyrs. Their martyrdom is a sign that the spirits of their loved ones left behind continue to live.”
One pupil, who declined to offer his title, represented the African Caribbean Student Union and spoke of his expertise assembly Palestinian refugees whereas finding out overseas in Jordan.
“Many of my friends who I would go out to have coffee with, smoke some shisha with, still lived in the metal-walled shacks that their parents and grandparents were forced into in 1948,” he stated. “Still more kicked out in ’67 are not even allowed to leave their refugee camps.”
He learn statements by Israeli leaders in regards to the want for “collective punishment” of the “entire nation” chargeable for the Oct. 7 assaults. “Anyone who has studied the genocide in Rwanda knows this is exactly what you must be terrified of,” he stated.
“I tell you, do not have blind confidence. Do not have hope,” he stated in closing, with a watch to the upcoming election. (*7*)
The rally closed with a rendition of “Which Side Are You On?,” a union track from the Thirties, and a name from organizers to “continue to show up and help us mobilize around the cause of divestment.”
Just a few hours after the rally, members of the campus Jewish neighborhood, together with Assistant Director of RSL and Campus Rabbi Shahar Colt, held a memorial service in Chapin Chapel. Attendees sang, prayed, and learn poetry that mourned Israelis and Palestinians who've died on and since Oct. 7.
Multiple members of the neighborhood expressed their dismay over the timing of the rally.
“It was profoundly disrespectful for an inflammatory rally to take place on a day when Jews are mourning the murder of over 1,200 people and the kidnapping of over 250 hostages,” stated Brett Donshik ’25 in an announcement to The Student.
Some pro-Palestine teams at faculties like Williams and Brown selected to not host their anniversary vigils and rallies on Monday. SJP organizers at Amherst, who declined to offer their names, stood by the rally’s date, reiterating their view that the Oct. 7 assaults have been acts of resistance.
“In response to oppression from a colonizing power, oppressed people have the right to resist by any means necessary,” the organizers stated. “The Palestinian resistance movement has exhausted every possible non-violent opportunity.”
They stated the rally was deliberate to coincide with the “week of rage” occasions organized by the nationwide arm of SJP and happening in school chapters throughout the nation. SJP organizers advised The Student that they continue to be dedicated to divestment regardless of the Trustees’ unanimous vote over the summer season.
“We understand the Trustees’ current position as an indication that we as supporters of justice for Palestinians have yet to disrupt Amherst College’s operations to the extent that will be necessary to make the college’s continued investment in the genocide untenable,” one organizer stated throughout the rally.
