April 26, 2024

Global attention has turned to universities across the United States, where students have erected encampments to demand action to end Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip. The growing protests have taken root on the campuses of some of the country’s top academic institutions, including Columbia and Harvard. And over the past weeks, they have spurred heated debates around freedom of speech, Palestinian solidarity activism in the US, and the use of force to disperse student protesters, among other issues. But the students at the heart of the movement say the reason they began their demonstrations – the pressing need to end Israel’s deadly bombardment of Gaza – risks being lost amid a cacophony of voices and distractions. “Gaza is why we’re here. Gaza is why we’re doing this,” said Rue, a student at The New School in New York City who asked to only be identified by her first name due to a fear of reprisals. They have also urged an end to reprisals against students who have spoken out in support of Palestinians and for administrators to pledge not to send police or other law enforcement agencies onto the campuses to break up their protests. Images of throngs of New York Police Department (NYPD) officers marching onto the Columbia University campus to disperse a Gaza protest encampment earlier this week galvanised students in other parts of the US to set up their own protest sites, too. A first-year PhD student at New York University (NYU), who spoke to Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity due to a fear of reprisals, said students are acting “on the ideals and the histories that [they’re] being taught”. “As students who are being taught in class about colonialism, about Indigenous rights, about the effect of non-violent protest across history, it would be extremely hypocritical — or it would totally undermine the point of our education — if we didn’t act,” the 25-year-old said. “At the very least we can show that there was resistance” to what is happening in the Gaza Strip, the student added. “The horrors in Gaza are really beyond imagining. These small acts of resistance, these are small sacrifices — [they] are nothing compared to what is happening on the ground in Palestine.” ‘Scholasticide’ in Gaza Like other protesters across the US, many American students have said they felt an impetus to act given the US government’s long-standing support for Israel. The US gives Israel $3.8bn in military assistance annually, and President Joe Biden has continued to provide staunch support to the country amid the Gaza war. On Wednesday, Biden signed into law a massive funding package that will provide an additional $17bn to Israel. The Israeli military’s attacks on Palestinian students, teachers and academic institutions across Gaza during the war also have acted as a catalyst for the university protests, the students said. Last week, a group of United Nations experts noted that 80 percent of schools in the Palestinian enclave have been damaged or destroyed since the war began in early October. Nearly 5,500 students have been killed, alongside 261 teachers and 95 university professors. “It may be reasonable to ask if there is an intentional effort to comprehensively destroy the Palestinian education system, an action known as ‘scholasticide’,” the experts said in a statement on April 18. “These attacks are not isolated incidents. They present a systematic pattern of violence aimed at dismantling the very foundation of Palestinian society.” Etta, a senior at NYU who also asked to only be identified by her first name due to a fear of reprisals, told Al Jazeera that it was “appalling” to see her university fail to acknowledge the destruction of Palestinian academic institutions. “As an institution that should have a function of education, of shaping minds, of academic freedom, they can’t even take the time to acknowledge, to mourn, to discuss the destruction of those institutions in Palestine,” Etta said. “There’s a refusal to even acknowledge that this is going on when we’re all bearing witness [to it].” ‘Bigger than us’ As uncertainty swirls around the future of the US university encampments amid threats they will be dismantled, the students say they remain committed to continuing their protests — and to keeping the focus on what’s happening in Gaza. “Palestine is the centre, liberation is the centre of this conversation,” said Etta. That was echoed by Rue, the student at The New School. “I feel like there’s a moral imperative that everyone does everything that they can to the best of their abilities to protest and fight against and end this genocide,” Rue told Al Jazeera. “We’re a part of something that is bigger than us,” she added. “We are part of a global movement right now and we’re really inspired and strengthened by the incredible solidarity [we’re] seeing across the United States, across different college campuses, across the world.” Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/26/with-eyes-on-us-college-campuses-students-stress-gaza-is-why-were-here

Three terrorists including two ringleaders — Sohail aka Azmato and Haji Gul alias Zarkavi — have been killed by security forces in an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Khyber district, Inter-Services Public Relations said on Thursday. The operation was conducted by the security forces on April 24-25 on the reported presence of terrorists in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s tribal district, the military’s media wing said.  Security forces eliminated three terrorists after intense exchange of fire, as well as busted their hideout during the operation, it added. The ISPR further said that weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the killed terrorists, who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area. “Locals of the area appreciated the operation. A sanitisation operation is being carried out to eliminate any other terrorist found in the area as security forces are determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism from the country,” it concluded. Military pays tribute to martyred Customs officials Separately, the senior army commanders visited the families of eight martyred Customs’ officials who laid their lives in the line of duty in Dera Ismail Khan in two separate incidents that took place earlier this month, the ISPR said on Thursday. In due recognition of this selfless sacrifice in fight against illegal spectrum and as an expression of solidarity, the commanders met the families of the martyred officials at their homes to express condolences, pay tribute and pledge unfliching support on behalf of Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Syed Asim Munir. The familes expressed their gratitude to the Pakistan Army for the support and respect. The military’s media wing said: “Shuhadas and Ghazis are our pride and their respect and honour is binding on each Pakistani. We must never forget that the peace and freedom we enjoy today is due to the ultimate sacrifices rendered by these brave sons of soil.” “We as nation salute Shuhada families for sacrificing their loved ones for Pakistan,” it concluded. Source: https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1182198-security-forces-eliminate-3-terrorists-including-ringleaders-in-khyber-ibo