On Tuesday May 7 at 1pm, hundreds of students attended a snap rally organised by the USyd Gaza solidarity encampment, in response to the most recent attacks on — and beginning of an invasion of — Rafah after Israel rejected a ceasefire.
Jasmine Al-Rawi, convenor of Students for Palestine, opened the rally by chanting and stating the demand, “Hands off Rafah”.
Al-Rawi explained that Israel has demanded Palestinians evacuate Rafah, and this means no aid can be provided to Palestinians through the crossing with Egypt.
“Rafah was meant to be the only safe zone for Palestinians, and now Israel is razing it to the ground”, Al-Rawi exclaimed.
Photography: Ishbel Dunsmore
Al-Rawi then read out a statement of support from a USyd alumni, living in the West Bank: “we love your courage to stand up against the system.” They also urged protestors to “stay loud and stay safe”, as they cannot while “Israel escalates this genocide.” She also made note of the encampments that have either started or about to start in La Trobe University, the University of Wollongong, RMIT (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology), University of Tasmania and Deakin University.
The first speaker was Palestinian activist Salma Mardawie, who explained that there are “1.9 million people sheltering in Rafah”, but that “they are not just numbers, they are people just like us.”
She compared how people in the encampment can sleep in tents voluntarily, whereas those in Rafah often cannot find tents to sleep in. Mardawie also denounced “Albanese, Penny Wong, Joe Biden and Netanyahu” as “criminals” before pointing out that “we shall fight until the bare minimum will not be considered a privilege.”
The next speaker was the chair of USyd’s Arabic Languages and Cultures Faculty, Dr Lucia Sorbera. Sorbera explained she “felt the duty to be here, and express her support for our articulated support for campus activism”.
She noted that there are now encampments in various Italian universities, including the University of Bologna and then ended her speech with a quote from Egyptian political prisoner Alaa Abd El-Fattah: “I don’t have much to say by way of advice. I am, after all, out of touch. The best I can do is repeat things from the past: Fix your own democracy. This has always been the answer for ‘how can we help?’.”
Photography: Ishbel Dunsmore
Palestinian activist Taleen Jameel from Students For Palestine spoke about how Palestinians were promised the south of Gaza would be a safe zone, which has now “completely disappeared”.
She said that “Uni management contacted them this morning to ask if they could negotiate in private”, but “they are not interested in negotiating with a University which refuses to call this a genocide”. Jameel then repeated the encampment’s demand in the US-imported slogan: “Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest.”
Al-Rawi then declared that Vice Chancellor Mark Scott was handing out graduation certificates, and urged that chants should be loud enough to be heard by him. Al-Rawi led a march to the area outside the Great Hall, where the rally chanted before returning to the encampment.
The convenor of Jewish Women for Peace then spoke of her lifelong active opposition to the occupation in Palestine. She said “I want to distinguish between the people of Israel and…Netanyahu.” She explained the demands of Jewish Women for Peace, that they “want to protect Palestinians, but also see a return of the Israeli hostages.” She also said that we need to keep applying pressure on various institutions, before declaring her message “as a mother” is that “children in Gaza and Tel Aviv deserve to live.”
Al-Rawi spoke afterwards to the fact that “Netanyahu is being used as an excuse” for Israel’s right-wing government now, and that we are “not just calling for a ceasefire, but we are calling for an end to the occupation and the right of return to homes in pre-1948 Palestine.”
Photography: Ishbel Dunsmore
Managing Director of the International Interest Sami Hamdi spoke next. He noted the continuous ringing of the carillon and organ during the speeches, saying that “the bells will not silence you no matter how much they ring.” Hamdi then emphasised the power which protestors have in influencing Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s behaviour, affirming that “you are the reason why public opinion is changing…why discourse is changing.”
“The students were not wrong on Vietnam, the students were not wrong on Iraq, the students were not wrong on Afghanistan and they are sure not wrong on Gaza,” he added.
Hamdi then spoke about how the decentralisation of media allows for the truth of what is occuring in Gaza to be spread. He applauded the efforts of all protestors in the solidarity movement, saying “you entered areas Palestine couldn’t enter before” before pointing to the Channel 9 cameras. “You guys are significant enough that Channel 9 came down,” he continued, “…hoping that one of you slips up because for the first time since 1948 people are not only being told what is happening but they are seeing it.”
Hamdi recounted the stories of the children murdered at the hands of Israel, including the recent killing of a baby who had been orphaned after their parents were killed in Gaza. He also reminded the attendees that the Palestinians are not the ones calling for genocide, but it is the “rabid Zionist project” that threatens co-existence. He also warned of the “rebrand” of antisemitism, and said “do not let them change history, the antisemites are the one supporting genocide…the massacre of the Semites of whom the Palestinians belong… I am a Semite, make it absolutely clear.”
Al-Rawi spoke again, uttering the statement: “I will not forget when the US greenlit the invasion of Rafah…in exchange for a regional war”, before reiterating the importance of cutting ties with Israel as student research should never go towards weapons manufacturing and “used to kill people across the world.”
Photography: Ishbel Dunsmore
Salma and Omar from the Palestinian Youth Society at UTS (University of Technology, Sydney) then spoke about how this “brutality did not start on October 7”. Omar shared that his uncle was murdered in Rafah and that many of his family remain in Rafah, stating that “the next chapter in the genocidal onslaught has begun”.
He reminded that, “justice will make its arrival, no matter how long it takes” and addressed the Israeli government, “do what you will, try to eradicate us…we will never submit to your corruption.”
The rally then marched down to F23 (the Michael Spence Building on the corner of Eastern Avenue and City Rd) and engaged in a protest tactic known as a “die-in.” This involves the crowd lying down and imitating dead bodies to emphasise the death and destruction in Gaza.
Al-Rawi encouraged everyone to attend the Student Strike contingent to UTS on May 9, and the rally at Town Hall at 5:30 pm this evening to demand Hands Off Rafah, as well as the weekly Sunday protests by Palestine Action Group (PAG). This Sunday’s PAG protest will begin at Belmore Park at 1 pm and the march will conclude at the USyd encampment.
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Photography: Valerie Chidiac