Chicago students say: “Hands off Lebanon!” – Fight back! News

Chicago, IL – On Wednesday, August 25, the New Students for a Democratic Society (SDS at UIC) and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP at UIC), along with other progressive student organizations at the University of Illinois Chicago, successfully concluded the month on campus by organizing a casual Lebanon demonstration, not only after the terrorist cyber attack/bombing against Lebanon, but also after the deployment of US troops to the region.

Angel Naranjo of SDS opened the rally and spoke about the rapid escalation of US-backed Israeli attacks on Lebanon.

Beginning with Israel's cyberattack, Naranjo informed the crowd: “Just last week, the Zionists launched a cyberattack against the people of Lebanon, injuring more than 3,000 people and murdering dozens – including four children.” To carry out this attack, Israeli intelligence agents planted explosives in pagers and walkie-talkies, which then all exploded at the same time. Among the two children were an 11-year-old boy and a nine-year-old girl named Fatima Abdullah, who had just started fourth grade.”

Naranjo continued: “Furthermore, not only did US officials admit that Israel was behind the attack, but US intelligence agencies also reportedly knew that Israel had been planning this attack for years!”

The crowd responded, shouting “Shame!” Naranjo made it clear that the Biden/Harris administration is not only complicit in the genocide of the Palestinian people, but also explicitly supports it and is responsible for the aid Israel receives to help countries like the to attack Lebanon. He spoke of the victims as “ordinary people who were at home with their families, walking on the street, buying groceries in stores and going about everyday activities like you and me.”

Abdal Alfawaqa, a member of the SJP, told the crowd: “Dozens of Palestinians were killed in Jenin. Medics were blocked by IOF military vehicles. The bulldozers that are leveling houses and tearing apart streets are Caterpillar bulldozers that UIC is currently investing in. “UIC continues to ignore Palestinian voices on campus even as it demands divestment from companies that continue to enable genocide,” he added: “While our universities Israel continues to reject divestment and turn its back on its Palestinian students and their allies , who pay tens of thousands of dollars in tuition each year. Israel is conducting a genocidal campaign of ethnic cleansing using Caterpillar bulldozers built specifically for the IDF.”

Liz Rathburn, spokesperson for the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), expressed support for the united Palestinian and Lebanese resistance against Israeli terrorism and US imperialism. The United States' desperate need to maintain control of the Middle East through its support of the apartheid state of Israel shows its hypocrisy when it talks about democracy.

Rathburn stated: “Where was the Biden administration when the IOF kidnapped and tortured Palestinian Americans in Gaza and when it murdered a Turkish American activist in the West Bank? I can tell you that they were on the news defending “Israel” and excusing their crimes, welcoming Netanyahu to Congress and sending another batch of bombs to Gaza.”

Rathburn continued: “So when I hear you say that US troops are going to Lebanon to defend the Americans, I think that's nonsense! This government doesn’t care about the working and oppressed peoples of this country because it is not our government, it belongs to corporations, Wall Street and the 1 percent.”

Finally, Erin Boyle, also a member of SDS, explained: “They know that what they are doing is deeply unpopular and that people will not swallow their lies.” They talk about what they do differently – they feel the pressure of one Ceasefire – and we can tell by their duplicity that they are afraid. Fear of the power of our generation. Fear of the student intifada. Just look at an interview Hillary Clinton gave on CNN this week. She once again described the student protests in Palestine as dangerous.”

Boyle continued: “Just this week our own UI system banned SJP at UIUC! And in Florida, my friend and SDS colleague Victoria was stripped of her degree because she ran a camp! The same type of camp that DePaul sent to the CPD [Chicago Police Department] separate forcibly. But the more they oppress us, the harder the student movement will fight.”

Students marched past the Engineering Research Facility and Science And Engineering South (SES) buildings, where UIC corporations such as Boeing and Caterpillar, in collaboration with UIC, enable the bombs and weapons that the apartheid state of Israel uses against Palestinians. Student chants rang out on campus and in the streets: “UIC, it’s time! Stop funding war crimes!”

Students stopped by ROTC to remind everyone of the threat the U.S. military has posed to oppressed peoples around the world, not just in the past, not just now, but in the future if it is not stopped.

#ChicagoIL #IL #anti-war movement #Lebanon #Palestine #Safety data sheet #SJP