About 50 UTRGV students and community members rallied Oct. 7 on the Chapel Lawn on the Edinburg campus, advocating for Palestine solidarity and shouting “Israel, USA, how many kids did you kill today?” while holding “Stop the genocide” signs.
The event, hosted by RGV Young Democratic Socialists of America, marked the one-year anniversary of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
On Oct. 7, 2023, the Islamic Resistance Movement, known as Hamas, launched an attack on southern Israel, where more than 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals were killed that same day, according to an Oct. 4 Congressional Research Service report.
A year after the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, over 41,000 Palestinians have been killed since then in Gaza, the report states.
The spokesperson for RGV Young Democratic Socialists of America, who identified herself only by her first name, Miriam, said she has a strong connection with the ongoing issue as a Palestinian.
“I do have that survivor’s guilt to see what’s happening and then continue with my day-to-day activities,” Miriam told The Rider in tears. “… It feels like a responsibility to come and do this.”
During the rally, the organization handed out pamphlets describing the organization’s purpose and information on the Gaza death toll.
“I think it is our responsibility as human beings to do something when we see such injustice,” Miriam told the crowd. “It’s such a scale, especially when our government, our tax dollars are playing a role in it. I’m not asking people to try to stop every injustice in the world–that’s impossible. But when it’s one that you are actually contributing to, I think it should be your responsibility to try and do something.”
The president of the organization, who identified himself only by his first name, Jacob, told the crowd he is ashamed of his “own national identity.”
“It’s made me furious, furious [about] our priorities as a nation,” Jacob said. “Furious that our political system [is] so rotten that we as a society are focusing more on a genocide than helping our own people. … I am here because I cannot stay silent as I see images of homes destroyed, entire families butchered and thousands of children murdered, and you can’t stand for it, either.”
He encouraged the attendees to not stay silent.
“You’re here today because you have shown that you will not be silent about this,” Jacob said. “If the United States is to truly tout itself as a democracy, if we are to be a government truly of the people, why should we ever prioritize a colonial genocide over our own needs? If the U.S. wants to call itself that, it must immediately divest from Israel. It must immediately stop this genocide, and it must immediately address the concerns of its people.”
The United States has spent $17.9 billion on military aid to Israel since the war in Gaza began, according to Brown University’s Costs of War project.
Miriam said politicians continue to supply Israel with weapons.
“It’s become the norm to retrieve your family members’ bodies ripped apart,” she said. “Either you don’t get their head. Either you don’t get their body. Either have a tiny bit of their hair to identify them with. But either way, you are lucky because you’re getting their body back, you got them back to know that they’re dead. …
“You got them back and for that you’re lucky to have their torn-apart bodies by U.S. weapons. … Laying them in the ground in a mass grave with the rest of the bodies identified. And for that, I am lucky. For that, I am lucky.”
Ana Carolina Diaz Beltran, an assistant professor of curriculum and instruction at UTRGV, said she attended the rally in support of students.
“I came to make sure students are respected and protected,” Diaz Beltran said. “… I’m here because I recognize the effort students are making to gather and to bring these topics on campus. This is super important. … I think the reason why this is so important is because there are students from Palestine, there are students from the Middle East and … they need to know that there’s a community that supports them.”
