IN OUR THOUSANDS, IN OUR MILLIONS
A PALESTINIAN-AMERICAN STUDENTS PERSPECTIVE
This Anonymous News Submission highlights the ongoing campus movement to Boycott, Divest, and Sanction the ongoing genocide occurring in Palestine. If you want to get involved, we recommend organizing locally and contacting SJP or other Anti-imperialist/Liberation Movements. Here are a few:
University of Oregon Students for Justice in Palestine (UO SJP): UO SJP is a student-led organization advocating Palestinian freedom, justice, and solidarity. They organize events and rallies to raise awareness about the Palestinian struggle against apartheid and occupation. You can find their statement on current events here.
Solidarity: Solidarity is a group that embraces anti-imperialism and international solidarity. They stand against proxy wars and colonial violence, including the situation in Palestine.
US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR): USCPR works to advance a rights-based, accountability, and justice-oriented framework for Palestinian liberation. They collaborate with local organizers, activists, policymakers, and media to support Palestinian freedom.
Toward a Free Palestine: This movement has gained momentum globally, activating a new generation to join Palestinians in resisting apartheid and U.S. imperialism’s support for it.
My grandmother, my family's matriarchy and a woman of unwavering strength, bears the scars of displacement. She carries the weight of two homelands lost, yet her spirit remains unbroken, a testament to her resilience. First displaced from Palestine as a child, fleeing with her parents and settling in Latin America, then again forced to seek refuge in the United States with her own young children. She fled to save her children, just as her mother before her had. My great-grandmother, who left her generational home in Palestine as a young woman, never had the chance to return to the place she once called home. She passed away many years ago, never witnessing the dream of a free Palestine. In our lifetimes, we will.
As I march on campus, engaging in impassioned debates with fellow students and raising my voice in protest to both my campus and politicians, it is not just a cry for justice but a heartfelt scream for her. Every impassioned outcry echoes for every Palestinian child lost, for those who have lost parents, for families shattered—each not merely lost but brutally murdered. With my voice raised in solidarity, I feel the echoes of past generations, their cries for justice through time. We cry for a free Palestine, undeterred by the distances we have been forced to, steadfast in our resolve that no matter how long it takes, Palestine will be free.
Witnessing the ongoing genocide has been a heart-wrenching experience, one that transcends the boundaries of geography and roots itself deeply in my family's past. To mourn, to feel the pain, and to discover that the victims are not just distant faces but bear the same bloodline as mine has been an indescribable sorrow. My mother's family is my anchor. As immigrants, the ache of yearning for a place called home is ceaseless. Day by day, more of us join the ranks of the displaced and refugees.
30,000 People, mostly children, have been killed in Gaza. The soil has been soaked in blood and trampled by the boots of occupiers and imperialists. I think of my family tree – how it once stood, perhaps smaller, with fewer branches. Today, it has grown, but the haunting reality is that many of those branches have withered away victims of a genocide that has claimed far too many lives. As I reflect on the ancestral home that has become synonymous with loss, I am reminded of the countless relatives I never had the chance to meet, the silent stories that echo through the void left by those who are no longer with us.
In the face of this tragedy, my heart aches for the people who share my blood, for the resilient spirits silenced too soon, and for the enduring pain that transcends generations. Unearthing my Palestinian roots has become a journey of mourning, remembrance, and a silent promise to carry the stories of my ancestors forward, preserving their legacy amidst the devastation that continues to unfold.