A group of approximately 250 pro-Palestinian protesters gathered at the Michigan Capital in Lansing yesterday.
Chanting slogans and carrying signs that said “Anti-Zionism is not Anti-Semitism” and highlighting what they called the apartheid regime in Israel against Palestinians, protesters gathered to showcase support for the citizens of the Gaza strip as they are under siege from the state of Israel after the weekend bloodbath where death estimates now range into 1,200 killed by Hamas militants flying in on paragliders to attack a concert held in the southern Israeli desert.
None of the speakers condemned Hamas, but most gave platitudes about not wishing for violence. The speakers were careful not to call for violence, but gave repeated statements minimizing, mitigating or dismissing violence especially through comparisons to the struggles suffered by Palestinians in Gaza and in the West Bank. No speaker condemned Hamas, but every speaker condemned Israel.
The event was notable for the radical rhetoric expressed by the speakers, not subtly encouraging and embracing violence, on the steps of the Michigan legislature, here were a few examples from the speech:
- “It is Palestinians legal rights under international law to resist the military occupation of their homeland.”
- “liberation will not come without cost”
- “…how many Palestinians have to die for them to have the right to defend themselves?”
A later speaker specifically thanked a Communist group for having helped organize the protest and event. Globally, generally speaking, Communist parties and entities have been siding with Palestinians.
One speaker contests the label of ‘terrorism’ to describe any violent act by Palestinians:
“…the use of the word terrorist, which has been used to describe myself in the past as a Muslim, and many of my brothers and sisters to describe Arabs and Muslims is an extremely offensive slur rooted in imperialism. It is often used to delegitimize and dehumanize indigenous peoples struggles for freedom from colonial rule. It is not an appropriate descriptor of Palestinian resistance to colonial rule.”
Professor Wassem El-Rayes from MSU spoke to the crowd. Prof. El-Rayes runs the Michigan State Muslim Students Association.
El-Rayes told the crowd, “You don’t need to be Palestinian to believe in basic human rights.”
A student from Michigan State also spoke up to decry the blacklists being used to ensure pro-Palestinian petition signers and leaders do not get jobs. The speaker claimed that students had already suffered employment discrimination and job losses because of their pro-Palestinian activism.
Almost all speakers condemned Israel, and none condemned Hamas. One board member, an MSU student, explained this by saying “the world has turned a blind eye to the atrocities Israel commits on almost a day to day basis.”
Speakers justified the Hamas terrorism against Israelis by pointing out hypocrisies in how the Western governments have treated the conflict in the Ukraine: “The whole world paraded the Ukrainian resistance. But as soon as Palestine resisted, we were labeled as terrorists and barbarians.”
That speaker continued, “How long should the Palestinians be expected to quietly die before they can react? How many Palestinians have to die for them to have the right to defend themselves?”
This is all happening in the context of radicalism on college campuses which has seen militant pro-Palestinian demonstrations at major educational institutions like Harvard, New York University and Stanford.
The Gateway Pundit has provided the full video of the 21 minute presentation below, and also a transcript of what was said to ensure fairness and contextualize their remarks fully.
TRANSCRIPT:
“And in recognition of the innocent lives lost, you want to take a moment of silence, to reflect on this and to remember that even though even though we are fighting for liberation, that liberation will not come without cost. And unfortunately, many people have lost their lives and that is something that we deeply, deeply regret and we do not want to continue for much longer. So please have a moment of silence for just a minute.
Thank you everyone.
For the speeches today, I would like to read students rights official statement on this week, and on things that have been happening. I’ll try my best.
This weekend Palestinian resistance fighters have shown the world that their oppressors are not invincible in the biggest step towards liberation that they have ever taken, the resistance movement in Gaza orchestrated and pulled off a mass prison break, Palestine’s youth you are now fully exercising their right to resist colonial occupation.
Their advancements into parts of Palestine that have been occupied for over 75 years, constitute many fighters first return to their families lands after having lived through 16 years of siege in Gaza, and after having been ethnically cleansed from their homeland in response to the intensification of hostilities in Palestine SUPER would like to make a number of points for the community’s consideration.
First of all, Palestine was ethnically cleansed in 1948 by Zionist settler colonists none of whom were indigenous to Palestine. Israel continues now to operate as a colonial state that oppresses indigenous Palestinians through apartheid, mass violence against civilians, destruction of civilian buildings and infrastructure restricts movement, denial of basic resources such as water to Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, imprisonment without trial or charge, including of minors, as well as widespread sexual abuse of minors in prison and other forms of repression.
The West Bank and Gaza have been under military occupation since 1967 56 years, the longest military occupation in history.
This is a military occupation that has been ruled illegal by the international community.
And as such, it is Palestinians legal rights under international law to resist the military occupation of their homeland.
This year has been the deadliest ever for Palestinians in Israel. Sorry for Palestinians as Israel has routinely the assaulted and bombed civilian centers including refugee camps, schools, hospitals, and religious institutions such as mosques, churches, and graveyards.
This unfortunately represents an uptick in Israeli violence against civilians. That has always been characteristic of Israel and of other colonial states like it. The third holiest site in Islam has been attacked multiple times by the IDF during prayers this year. And in the past four years, the idea of notably targets during the holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims come together to pray and fast. Israel’s government has continued to expand illegal settlements in the West Bank despite international condemnation.
This expansion has come at the expense of Palestinian homes and villages, which have been depopulated and demolished to make way for Jewish-only settlements.
An example of Israel’s ongoing ethnic cleansing in Palestine. Finally, the use of the word terrorist, which has been used to describe myself in the past as a Muslim, and many of my brothers and sisters to describe Arabs and Muslims is an extremely offensive slur rooted in imperialism. It is often used to delegitimize and dehumanize indigenous peoples struggles for freedom from colonial rule. It is not an appropriate descriptor of Palestinian resistance to colonial rule.
With these considerations in mind, SUPER unequivocally analysis all war crimes by Israel and otherwise and targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, ours is a just fight for liberation, and should never harm innocents. Thank you very much.
We’ll be hearing from a number of speakers, some of many of whom are Palestinians themselves and who have been fighting for years for the Liberation of Palestine, through the words through their actions. These are great people that I think deserve our respect.
Our first speaker Professor Wassem (El-Rayes) from MSU
EL-RAYES:
Palestinians… oftentimes, in my generation you don’t have the luxury sometimes you know what we feel. So we have to be why my generation have to be very measured. And as such, I had written my statement, which I hear that I mean, everything. So my name is Wassem. And from the beginning… we deplore the loss of innocent life. That said, I am here as a Palestinian, a former refugee whose parents Israel made refugees in 1967. More than three quarters of my family still live in this suffering city called Gaza. As we speak, my uncles and cousins are living moment unsure if they will survive another day. Entire neighborhoods have been wiped out.Schools universities, civil and commercial buildings, houses of worship. All gone. Fuel, water, electricity and food have been completely cut from the city. Entire Palestinian families have been wiped out by targeted bombings.
We have documented cases of journalists, paramedics and even people trying to buy foods in the early days of the slaughter who have been directly targeted by missiles. Israeli officials have made clear that … by their words and actions that the international Geneva convention do not apply to them.
What we have here is the same shirt and nothing short of a genocide. Meanwhile unconditional moral and material support of Israel dominates the narrative in mainstream media and among our elected representatives. The US, EU and Israel have engaged in campaigns of misinformation.
We have open calls for genocide among US politicians, like Lindsey Graham, alongside the rampant use of dehumanizing language that casts Palestinians as animals and savages. Thus, all of this is part of an effort to provide cover for to provide cover for and justify the unjustifiable: the slaughter of the innocents.
The devastation did not start last weekend with Hamas military operations.
Let me briefly call from a recent letter. … To the University President reminding him … On this Indigenous People’s Day, we remind you that over 70 of Gaza’s residents are descendants of those expelled by Israel in 1948 many Gazans are originally from the land around … and were expelled in 1948.
We remind you, that Gaza has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007. We remind you that in 2022 Israeli war in Gaza 30 Palestinians were killed in Gaza, including women and children. We remind you that in 2022 Israeli work on Gaza 261 Palestinians were killed in Gaza, including women and children.
We remind you that in 2014 Israeli war on Gaza 2,271 Palestinians were killed in Gaza, 562 of them children.
We remind you that in 2008-2009 Israeli war on Gaza 1,400 Palestinians were killed 314 of them children.
We remind you that when Gazans held peaceful marches in 2018-2019 is the great march of return to the border fence. Israeli snipers responded by shooting tear gas canisters, rubber bullets and live ammunition, as a result 214 Palestinians unarmed Palestinian civilians including 46 children were killed and over 36,100 including nearly 8,800 children were injured.
There will be no end to the suffering of the innocent.
There will be no end to the cycle of violence as long as especially in the mainstream media, and elected officials are able to see Palestinians as human beings with the right to live free from occupation.
Apply international law equally to all, when we selectively choose who is worthy of human rights and who is not? We empty the concept of its meaning.
And that is a danger. To all. We all lose. Thank you.
Allah akhbah! Allah akhbah!
Thank you very much professor for those fine words about what is going on in Palestine?
Somebody you guys have a university and I want to say thank you very much for always helping around whenever we needed you give it up for …
Hello everyone! As some of my fellow colleagues MSU I was debating attending due to recent events that happened yesterday are weak. And this year students that are in solidarity with Palestine had been pleased fully painting the rock at MSU. And we have received retaliation in different forms whether it’s hate speech, whether it is being labeled horrendous phrases, called anti-semitic for painting on the rock that doesn’t consist of painting more than two words. I’m proud of the MSU student body for doing this and restraining against fighting back against it. As one of the reasons why I was debating to come and all that is because the Arab Cultural Society and with contribution of other clubs at MSU are working together to make MSU force MSU to protect students from things such as the canary mission, and I did not want anything like this to get in the way. But I came to the realization that no intimidation or no intimidation tactics are going to work, as many have reached out to us and tried saying that we should push we should not speak about this because others are grieving. And in no way shape or form. Did we ever disrespect anyone’s process of that. However, the existence of the word Palestine alone is threat enough to a lot of people and they will try to stop us, all of us, from exercising our basic constitutional rights. Is it a surprise if they deny the acknowledgement of Palestinians international law to defend themselves? Because they will try to scare us off of our constitutional rights.
Their tactics will not work on us. We’ll be here day after day. We’ll continue saying the word Palestine Free Palestine. Those words have no implication of any type of defamatory speech, hateful speech, anti semitism or anything of that sort. And that narrative will continue to play out and we will continue to push and fight for it. And we will continue to push for MSU to protect its students from such things as the canary mission. That’s why you see many students are covering their Facebook — a blacklist that it’s a propaganda blacklist of law students on there, and it has cost people jobs, admissions into colleges. And stuff like that other important stuff.
I want to keep this short because I will be leaving immediately to go to the ASM issue committee policy meeting, where we will be introducing a bill that pushes for recognition of ongoing events and the long history of colonization and genocide against Palestine.
It will be hard and yesterday alone we received a lot of threats and stuff like that, that tell us to push it or or any of that, but we won’t be scared. And I know that we have a community here and it’s the entire will done will support us and they will not silence us at all. And I know that us and the future generation how many future generations will continue to fight up until we can free Palestine. Thank you.
NEW SPEAKER:
I’ve realized that now that I’ve got dementia SUPER is not the only organization that helped to get us here today. So I want to take a moment to thank the Arab Cultural Societies, ACS. The Youth Communist League, YCL. Lansing DSA, Democratic Socialists for of America, and Sunrise Spartans, thank you everybody. Our next speaker is a board member of SUPER.NEW SPEAKER:
Salam alaikum! Everyone, thank you for joining us today.I stand here you I said before you here today with the heart weighed down by the gravity of the situation unfolding in Palestine. It is a plea born out of deep concern and a call to action regarding a moral issue of the utmost importance.
Instead of coming together in hostility, we’re here to advocate peace and justice for the people of Palestine. For far too long the United States government has been a significant financial supporter of Israel.
While the intention may be rooted in political reasoning, political interests and historical alliances, it is urgent that we acknowledge the stark realities on the ground.
The funds going into this conflict do not exist in a vacuum they directly contribute to the constant cycle of suffering, a cycle that the world cannot afford to ignore for any longer.
The atrocities committed against Palestine Palestinian people are not mere statistics or headlines… for 75 years they have endured hardships was suffering. Families were torn apart, homes were destroyed communities were shattered. It is a history of pain and struggle that simply cannot be ignored for any longer.
Recent events in Israel have caused outrage all around the world.
While our hearts go out to those who have lost loved ones.
This is the reality of Palestine for the past seven decades.
And the world has turned a blind eye to the atrocities Israel commits on almost a day to day basis.
Gaza is the most densely populated city on Earth. Can you even call it a city anymore.
It is an open air prison. The electricity and water supply are controlled by the state of Israel and they have all been cut off. So the question right now as we’re speaking it is being bombed mercilessly by the Israelis. So the question is how long? How long should the Palestinians be expected to quietly die before they can react?
The whole paraded the Ukrainian resistance. But as soon as Palestine resisted, we were labeled as terrorists and barbarians. So I asked you how many Palestinians have to die? For them to have the right to defend themselves?
How many Palestinians have to die for their lives to matter?
We’re gathered here today to show the United States government that we stand with the people of Palestine. Reexamine their priorities. APartheid state of Israel.
I would like to quote Malcolm X. I know a lot of people are sharing this quote on this on their stories recently. But the quote is good. “If you’re not careful the newspapers will have you hating the people who are oppressed and loving the people who are the oppressors.”
Allahu akbar! Allahu akbar! (God is most great)
New Speaker:
This just goes to show that you don’t have to be Palestinian to care about basic human rights.
