End the Genocide! National Student Walkout October 7th
On October 7th, 2023, fighting broke out between the liberation forces in Palestine and the Israeli Occupation forces. These events reclaimed stolen land from Zionist territories, a breakthrough weakening of the US-funded Iron Dome, and ignited a prolonged period of mass resistance to the occupation. In a frenzy, Israeli Occupation forces carried out widespread massacres, bombings, and campaign of starvation and disease in Gaza, which have led to the confirmed deaths of over 40,000 Palestinians and the displacement of over 2 million more, according to Amnesty International.
The Palestinian struggle against genocide and ethnic cleansing did not begin on Oct 7th, 2023, with the invasion of Gaza. Zionist colonization of Palestine began in 1881, was formalized as a European project in 1917 with the Balfour declaration, and accelerated greatly in 1948, causing the Nakba and subsequent expulsion of over 750,000 Palestinians from their homes at the hands of Israeli settlers. The violence and mass displacement of the past year, as Palestinians flee and are shepherded up and down the Gaza Strip to escape indiscriminate bombings, has been referred to as the second Nakba by Palestinians. The year since October 7th is marked by an unprecedented acceleration of genocide from Israel, with ceaseless U.S.-made bombs falling on Gaza and ground invasions from Israel resulting in over 40,000 deaths and over 2 million livelihoods destroyed, the vast majority being civilians, women, and children.
This past year has also seen a historic rise in Palestinian activism across the world. People from all walks of life have been pulled into the Palestinian solidarity movement. Students in particular have led an important mass movement on college campuses across the United States, the country responsible for funding and arming Israel’s genocide. Militant encampments and a year of continued campaigning and protest has seen some real wins for disclosure and divestment across the country. We are not slowing down, even in the face of harsh political and institutional repression.
Palestinian resistance and resilience have not flagged in their century-long struggle. New Students for a Democratic Society, as well as all students in the United States, have a responsibility to keep protesting and pushing back against administrations' complacency and complicity with a genocide in Gaza, in Palestine, and the crimes against humanity committed there. We demand an end to US aid to Israel and we demand that our universities sever all ties with Israel. One year later, we remain steadfast in our support for Palestine, and we will not stop until Palestine is free from the river to the sea.
Walk out of classes this October 7th with SDS to show that the students stand with Palestine!