On Monday April 28th, San Francisco State University officially joined the wave of schools participating in student encampments in support of Palestine. Students and attendees of the rally on campus locked arms around the quad in protection of our campers while they set up their sites to protest the Israel-Hamas war and to demand change. According to NPR, the death toll of Palestinians continues to soar over 30,000. The encampments official list of demands are as follows:
DISCLOSE
institutional expenditure, including direct and indirect investments, stocks, bonds, hedge funds, and more. Students for Gaza demand full financial transparency about how our endowment is spent. Further, we demand SFSU President Lynn Mahoney to publicly oppose any and all CSU investments complicit in the Israeli Occupation. We demand President Mahoney to pledge to bring her opposition of CSU investments in Israeli Occupation publicly to the CSU Board of Trustees.
DIVEST
from all companies and partnerships which actively participate in the colonization and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people. This includes financial investments, academic partnerships with institutions and programs in ’48 Palestine, and institutional relationships with companies participating in the genocide on Gaza
DEFEND
the Palestinian people and the courageous struggle for Palestinian liberation on campus through rejecting the racist, Islamophobic censorship of speech and activism on campus. We demand SFSU President Lynn Mahoney publicly oppose SB 1287, and defend our right to protest, speech and assembly just as Mahoney and SFSU praise the 1968 Third World Liberation Strike.
DECLARE
fully and publicly the illegal occupation, colonization, and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people and the U.S.-Israeli genocide on Gaza.
On other campuses across the country, responses to encampments have varied. At Columbia University, police were sent to clear the encampment and arrested over 100 protesters, which only backfired and sparked more encampments across the country and reinforced the movement, making it stronger than ever. Columbia has switched all of their classes to be hybrid, and officially canceled their main commencement ceremony. On April 24th, the Los Angeles Police Department was sent to clear out the encampment at USC, countless videos captured the escalation of violence brought on by the LAPD. USC has since shut down campus and sent for another police crackdown on Sunday May 5th, their main commencement was canceled as well. Over 2,500 protesters have been arrested since April 18th on campuses across the country. On a local level, CSULA set up camp on May 1, 2024 and has since doubled in size and in exciting news, after eight days of the encampent being set up at Sacramento State University, President Luke Wood announced that the campus and its five auxiliaries will refrain from investments in, “corporations that profit from genocide, ethnic cleansing and activities that violate fundamental human rights,”
If you wish to support the demands and our local SFSU encampment, and are unable to join here are some ways you can help out:
DONATE:
The link below that can be found @studentsforgaza_sfsu includes their venmo, a sign up sheet for meals, and lists of items needed for the encampment based on priority. It also includes a list of items not needed anymore. Make sure all items are BDS-friendly, there is a link on the website to verify..
https://cryptpad.fr/pad/#/2/pad/view/+eeufsKDuI0rn0q5Yzy+Z6lJrjHO4v2OWvqAk3x80fc/
STAY UPDATED AND EDUCATED:
Everyday monumental events are taking place in this conflict. Stay updated on the events occuring in Palestine from reputable sources. On a local level, stay updated on the events of our encampments, they are constantly hosting events and releasing information and resources. Most recently, on Monday May 6th there will be an open bargain session with SFSU President Lynn Mahoney taking place at the SFSU encampment. Here are just a few accounts to follow on IG to stay updated with our local encampments and current events:
@sfsugups
@studentsforgaza_sfsu
@fjp.sfsu.comms
@nationalsjp
SPEAK UP:
Make this issue known to your friends and family. Educate and encourage involvement and support. Anything that can bring attention to the current genocide will be beneficial in keeping momentum.
The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the views of Her Campus.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at San Francisco chapter.