Our fates on this planet are truly bound up together - from Nashville to Gaza City - and we cannot be free, we cannot be safe, while Palestine is occupied and under bombardment.
Sabina Mohyuddin, Lulu Abdun, Em Berkey and Benita Kaimowitz, Guest Columnists
The Tennessean, May 22, 2024
Right now, Israel is slaughtering Palestinians sheltering in Rafah and exacerbating starvation by preventing any aid from entering Gaza.
There is no time left. This genocide must be stopped. It is this urgent crisis that animates student protests throughout the country and around the world.
Student protests have a rich history as a powerful force for societal transformation, from the civil rights era's impactful sit-ins in Nashville to opposition against the Vietnam War and South Africa's apartheid regime.
Today, we commend the students displaying moral courage by advocating for the human rights of Palestinians, despite the potential risks to their safety and future careers. It is bewildering that protesting against the annihilation of a people remains a contentious issue.
Shouldn’t we be united in a call to end the brutal murder of innocent children? What’s controversial about wanting to stop a genocide unfolding before our eyes?
We must not stand for hatred against any group
Because the moral imperative is so clear, those who support Israel’s ongoing slaughter are doing all they can to divert attention from the legitimate concerns and grievances of protesters, often weaponizing charges of antisemitism against this growing mass movement.
The intergenerational trauma of the Holocaust within the Jewish community leads some to fear Palestinian liberation, but we cannot let the horrors of the Holocaust justify another genocide. It is uncomfortable to acknowledge that the Israeli government is responsible for the same brutality that so many experienced in their own histories. Yet we cannot look away. We cannot excuse what is so plain to see.
Read full op-ed here.
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