Every Martyr Is A Universe: The Student Intifada, Thu 1st May -Thu 15th May
National Month of Rage in the Netherlands, occupation in the UK and hunger strikes in the USA, and much more from The Student Intifada.
Welcome and welcome back.
For 77 years now on Nakba Day, on May 15th, the Palestinians, the diaspora, and the wider Arab world have commemorated the Nakba (‘catastrophe’) of 1948 by honouring the many thousands of murdered and displaced Palestinians, driven from their ancestral homeland. For some of those years — certainly interrupted by periodic uprisings, intifadas, and ‘wars’ — the horrific scale of settler-colonial land theft, occupation, subjugation, and outright killing perhaps felt like an awful memory, one carried collectively as a scar upon Palestinian bodies. But, as with last year’s 76th Nakba Day and too many before, that is no longer the case.
Now, today, that distant memory, this unspeakable nightmare, is borne and lived, each and every day, by Palestinian families — men, women, and children, young, old, and infant — in an unimaginably more violent and apocalyptic hellscape. Their collective dystopia is created with every explicit intent from genocidal Zionist politicians and done so with the unerring support of Western Euro-American politicians (not to mention their various clientele Gulf states and India — see end). And still the academic institutions of Europe and America have proven themselves time and again to be utterly inept, not to mention shamefully complicit, in the violent political extremities marked today by rampant, rapacious Zionism.
Yet the millions of students across the world’s academic institutions (and, to be fair, a small, minoritised number of staff) have stood proudly and defiantly in the name of the Palestinians, by their side and in their honour. These past two weeks have been no exception; in fact they have been quite exceptional in many ways, perhaps especially across the universities of the Netherlands. Students there declared a ‘National Month of Rage’ — more than justified by present horrific circumstances — and certainly followed through on that calling. Read more about this in the weekly updates section below.
In this newsletter, we at TSI pay tribute to the many martyrs of the Nakba 77 years ago, to all of those martyred each and every year since then, and to every family today whose cherished ones’ lives have been extinguished in the latest episode of genocidal, Western-backed Zionist psychopathy. Each of them was a world unto themselves and their families, and each one of those 60-, 70-, 100,000 compels our memory and our honour. Let their souls rest and return. In that spirit, an excerpt from a 2024 poem by Palestinian-American poet George Abraham:
“We'll abandon the doom scroll & feed,
instead, the masses of us, as our beloveds return
& return only to be put to this work of miraculous
care: yes, even in dreaming, this world requires
the work of everybody…”
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What did we miss?
Netherlands
On April 30, students from Radboud University (Nijmegen) climbed a university chimney in protest of the university’s complicity in the ongoing genocide. In response, the university called riot police on the students.
On April 29, Eindhoven Students for Palestine protested TU/e’s complicity and refusal to reasses ties with institutions involved in occupation and genocide.
On April 24, Students at Radboud University disrupted the university career day.
Updates from the intifada, 1st May -Thu 15th May
Australia
On Wednesday 7th, the University of Melbourne issued formal notice of misconduct to several of its pro-Palestine students relating to sit-ins held in protest against the university’s ties to israeli institutions. The students have been given only ten days to prepare a defense for themselves. To evidence misconduct, the university has used wifi tracking data. This tracking took place while the university was under formal investigation by the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner regarding the use of wifi tracking to persecute students.
Netherlands
On Thursday 1st, Dutch students and University staff have called May as a National Month of Rage. Actions and events across the Netherlands are expected this month to pressure universities. Here is a summary of the action so far.
On Tuesday 6th, students at Leiden University have set up an encampment and occupied the University. They were violently evicted the same day. A student activist was quoted as saying: “This is only the first in a longer series of actions, at Leiden University and across the country, that you must put your effort and support into.”
The next day, students and staff at Utrecht University occupied Drift Courtyard, declaring it a liberated zone under the name Hussam Shabat Encampment. Tents have been erected and events, lectures, and activities have been ongoing. The University Board of Directors has spoken with students about their demands but no meaningful discussions have taken place, leading to further protests from students and staff on Sunday 11th, Monday 12th, and Wednesday 14th, demanding that the Board engages with activists and cut ties with israel.
On the same day, during a silent march for Palestine at Radboud University (Nijmegen), that was organised to highlight the university’s ongoing collaboration with israel, the university called police on campus, who came with dogs. Students were beaten by police, with one having a broken kneecap. Another student was bitten and severely wounded by the police dog, and was hospitalized overnight. The individual ended up requiring surgery. Several students were arrested and held for 2 days at the local police station. There are further reports that police did not allow individuals to file complaints against disproportionate police violence. Radboud University security also used physical violence against student protesters. Students and staff at Radboud are calling for the resignation of Alexandra van Huffelen, the head of the Radboud Board of Directors. 133 staff have signed a letter requesting van Huffelen’s resignation, and activists have stated they are planning to sue the University.
On Friday 9th, students organised a noise demo in front of the Nijmegen police station, where student activists were being held following the May 7th protests. During this demo, police arrested another student. The student was targeted by a passerby who used racist language against them, which Radboud University activists report was ignored by police, and who was then arrested without reason. One police officer was overhead stating: “This will make you learn your lesson”. The student was released later that day.
On Monday 12th, Radboud University announced a preliminary decision to suspend ties with Hebrew University and Tel Aviv University. However, students and staff criticize the decision, as it is not fully endorsed and falls short of meeting student demands. For example, the preliminary decision proposes the suspension of individual collaborations but not suspending consortiums, which is an institutional framework through which the majority of academic collaborations are undertaken. Additionally, Radboud University announced it will be suspending ties until certain conditions are fulfilled by the israeli universities, this has been criticized for being ineffective and not a long-term guarantee of divestment.
The following day, students and staff occupied Radboud University again, making three demands: cut all ties with zionism, including all academic ties with israel and consortiums, condemn the genocide in Gaza, and support Palestinian students and staff. In a university area that activists have named Yahya Sobeih Liberated Zone, students and staff have set up tents, information points, first aid and wellbeing areas, and are creating daily programs with lectures and activities.
On the same day, students and staff at Erasmus University (Rotterdam) occupied the university, re-establishing the liberated zone Shireen Abu Akleh Square. The encampment is organizing lectures, events, and has released demands and a statement regarding the University’s complicity in israel’s genocide on Gaza.
On Thursday 15th, Dutch student mobilized nationally on Nakba Day with a series of coordinated actions across the country. This includes marches in Utrecht, Maastricht, and Zwolle, and sit-ins at the central train stations of Middelburg, Zaandam, Alkmaar, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Enschede, Deventer, Den Bosch, Eindhoven, Breda, and the Hague. A University sit-in is planned at Amsterdam University, which will be followed by a teach-in.
South Africa
On Tuesday 6th, it was reported that 26 Palestinian medical students from Gaza who were rescued from Palestine and brought to South Africa to complete their degrees at the University of Cape Town have graduated this week. South Africa continues to be a country that supports Palestine’s struggle for freedom, having experienced systemic racial oppression and cruel Apartheid for 46 years.
United Kingdom
On Tuesday the 6th, students at Cardiff University occupied a number of rooms at their University’s Glamorgan building. This is in response to the university’s continued complicity with the genocide the Palestinian people. The students have demanded their University to disaffiliate with israeli companies, support Palestinians by creating targeted scholarships, apologize for previous discriminatory comments, and have also called on their Vice Chancellor to resign after her failures to address students’ concerns. After 24 hours, the students ended their occupation, and proclaimed that ‘this was only the beginning’ and that they will continue to take actions against Cardiff University’s complicity.
On Wednesday 7th, students at University of York occupied their university’s exhibition centre in protest against the University’s invitations to arms companies and other organisations complicit in human rights abuses onto campus. These companies include Expleo, a global engineering, technology and consulting company with long standing involvement with the israeli military. The University also has ties to the British navy which is rooted in British imperialism and colonialism, and has contributed to the Saudi-led sea blockade of Yemen. They have called out the hypocrisy of the University labelling themselves as a ‘place of sanctuary’, whilst at the same time they are profiling Muslim students and consistently infringing on students’ right to protest.
On Monday 12th, students at King's College London started their encampment for the second time. This was due to KCL’s failure to divest from weapons companies, end partnerships with israeli universities, and their inaction to support Gaza’s education sector. One day after the encampment was set up, KCL management served the students an eviction notice, however the students have decided to stand their ground and have refused to end their encampment until full divestment.
On Wednesday 14th, students from University of Warwick set up an encampment for the second time in order to reclaim their university in solidarity with the Palestinian people. This action came after failed communications between students and the University. The latter have delayed meetings with students and dismissed the seriousness of their demands. The students have called on the University to enact full divestment from arms companies and to create academic partnerships for Palestinians, among other demands.
On Wednesday 14th dozens of current students and alumni from the London School of Economics (LSE) gathered to mark one year since the publication of the historic Assets in Apartheid report and the launch of the five week (Marshall) ‘Bloom’ Building occupation. The gathering in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, a park next to the university, commemorated the ongoing suffering of the Palestinians but also honoured the vast shows of support and solidarity from around the UK and the world’s universities and beyond.
United States
On Sunday 3rd, nine student protestors at Swarthmore College were arrested at the university’s encampment, with police aggressively destroying the encampment. Police kneeled on protestors’ backs during the arrest and many students reported bruising and lacerations due to their brutal treatment while having their wrists zip-tied. Following this, Swarthmore SJP released a statement on Monday 5th, reaffirming their commitment to protesting university administration placing capital as priority over students, “For Gaza, for the West Bank, and all who suffer at the hands of the zionist death machine, we will continue to rise.”
On the same day, all charges brought against students at the University of Michigan for their involvement in the university’s encampment were dropped. This was after seven felony charges were brought against students for their activism. Soon after, an official statement announced the resignation of the President of University of Michigan (Santa Ono), who is notorious for his harsh repression of pro-Palestine student action and for dismantling campus DEI policies. He has stepped down, leaving this position to take up work for the University of Florida.
On Monday 5th, students at CSU Long Beach, San Jose State, Sacramento State, and San Francisco State began a hunger strike in solidarity with over 2 million Palestinians in Gaza currently being starved by israel’s blockade of food entering the strip. Their demands also include calls for divestment and cutting ties with israeli institutions.
On Wednesday 7th, students at Columbia University reclaimed Butler Library, renaming it the ‘Basel Al-Araj Popular University’. Students continue their calls for divestment as well as, NYPD and ICE off campus, an end to collaborations with zionist institutions, and the return of public land to Harlem community members. After encountering heavy repression from Columbia Public Safety, the university’s police force, who locked-in over 100 people by closing exits, both students and community members showed up in great numbers to express their solidarity.
Starting Sunday 11th, six Yale University students have announced their hunger strike in solidarity with Gaza. The action has been launched to pressure the university to divest both financially and ideologically from the zionist entity, ensure further protections for student protestors, and repeal restrictive free speech policies.
Parting thoughts
As a new wave of encampments and campus occupations intensify, we reflect on the importance of resisting effectively within the movement. We must always be open and able to animate our activism so we might mobilize ourselves by ongoing learning and unlearning that is necessary to build relations of solidarity among connected struggles. By opening ourselves to connecting with diverse struggles we begin to see connections and make alliances with peoples encountering oppression within their own contexts. India’s bombing of Kashmir is a clear breach of international law and an escalation of its 70 year long military occupation of Kashmir. At the same time, India maintains strong diplomatic and military ties with the zionist entity, with both states promoting ethno-supremacist ideologies.
To learn more about the alliance between India and israel, we at TSI recommend reading Kashmiri author Azad Essa’s book Hostile Homelands, which examines the political and ideological links between the ethno-nationalist projects of India and israel. Essa provides much needed context and historical analysis that shows India’s relationship with israel is a political alliance that supports an intensification of legal and market measures to repress Kashmir’s sovereignty. Essa also explains the origins and interconnections between the Hindutva and Zionist ideologies.
In solidarity and resistance, The Student Intifada.
Written this week by comrades from India, UK, US and the Netherlands.