Nov. 1 — October 7th, 2024 marked the one year anniversary of the escalation of the Israeli occupation in Palestine and the ongoing genocide. The loss of life occurring before, on, and after that day in 2023, has led to a rise and re-invigoration of student activism and protests on campuses around the world—including the student walkout that occurred on Hampshire campus this past October 7th.
Though Hampshire College’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (or SJP) supported the event with their resources and numbers, this walkout was planned solo by F23 transfer student Theoderic Strider.
“The primary purpose of the event was to prioritize a space for the value of Palestinian grief to be front and center,” Theoderic explained to Leapfrog. “Much of the work done by SJP has been educational and creative work for the purpose of educating those at Hampshire. [The walkout] was part of my attempt at lessening the workload for the group, so that people across campus could realize the need for support for students who are being impacted by the genocide.”
I was one of the many students who attended the walkout, and grief was the emotion that took the event’s central focus. Grief for the thousands of Palestinians killed by the Israeli occupation, grief for our Palestinian classmates, acquaintances, and friends experiencing devastating losses, and grief for the fact that Hampshire as an institution still refuses to acknowledge the genocide in Palestine for what it really is.
As Mia Sanghvi, an F22 student who attended the walkout, put it: “The walkout was a moment of grieving as a community. It was also a way to encourage continuous speaking about Palestine and not let it fade into the background of our lives.”
This sentiment was part of Theoderic’s speaking to the gathered community that attended the walkout. He also took the time to point out that student organizing can be done without the express permission of any institution, and that his spreading of flyers around campus as well as SJP’s publicity helped the walkout to happen.
Several students, including myself, read out distributed poetry from Palestinian poets at the event, such as Mosab Abu Toha, Ibrahim Tuqan, and Rafeef Ziadah. SJP provided art-making materials for signs to carry and display, and shared information about upcoming vigils and action items, like the protest the following day at L3 Harris, a weapons manufacturer in Northampton.
As part of the art-making, SJP also provided materials to make poppies out of construction paper. Poppies are a symbol widely used as synonymous with Palestinian resistance and liberation, in part because of their pervasiveness in the Palestinian landscape, and its colors of red, white, black, and green that match the flag.
The walkout was just one of many actions that SJP and students who care about Palestinian liberation have taken part in. If you are interested in learning more about Palestine or student activism, do not hesitate to do your own fact-finding on the Internet and talk to members of SJP.
Keep an eye out during pre-registration for Professor Nathalie Arnold’s class, Daily Life in Palestine, and follow @hampshirecollegesjp on Instagram for updates on more actions for Palestine.
REVIEWED BY: Blaise Paine, Kenzie Doherty, Axen Wetzel, Ryan Nivus
