On May 10th, 2024, a pro-Palestine student demonstration was held on the steps of the Guerrieri Academic Commons starting at 1 p.m. Dozens of students were present, displaying signs and playing music as faculty went in and out of Chesapeake Coffee Roasters to bring the protesters beverages.

This demonstration comes one week after a sole SU student decided to demonstrate on the front lawn of Conway Hall. Over the past few days, the idea of demonstrating has gained traction in the community, attracting a large number of students this Friday.

A new instagram page called Students for Justice Palestine (SJP) was recently created by SU students. They shared a post encouraging students to attend the demonstration in front of the Guerrie Academic Commons.

“Come join us for a sit into show support to all the families and individuals in Palestine experiencing genocide,” the post read.

Joshua Weeks, an SU Junior majoring in Social Work, has been a key voice on campus for Palestine. He came to the demonstration to show solidarity with fellow students.

“What’s happening to Palestine is unjust, it is oppressive and for seventy five years Palestine has been under occupation,” he said. “It’s not right, I think for liberation to occur for all oppressed people, Palestine has to be liberated.”

Weeks believes that there are a lot of people within the Salisbury University community who care about what is occurring in Gaza and support the actions of students chooisng to demonstrate.

“Students have always been on the right side of history,” Weeks said. “They’re on the right side of history now for Palestine, in Gaza and Rafah, and they have always been on the right side of history.”

“So the question that we always have to ask when we’re looking at them is, what side of history will we be on?”

Ryah, an SU Junior majoring in Political Science and History, came to show support for Palestine and to demonstrate that people on the Salisbury University campus care about the ongoing conflict, even if there is not much activity at the institution.

“I hope [the demonstration] makes the people who are scared to come out and protest because their friends disagree with it, I hope it shows them that it’s the right thing to do and that they should come out and not be afraid to show support,” she said.

In prestigious colleges throughout the country, college protests have been springing up for nearly a month and the number of arrests continue to surge. On May 10th, dozens of arrests were made at the University of Pennsylvania and MIT. More than 2,800 people have been arrested on college campuses over the course of the nation-wide protests.

“I feel like it’s inevitable; it’s sad, but every time we have a protest, whether it’s about Palestine or about Black Lives Matter, or any situation, that is what happens,” Ryah said.

Jayden Adams, an SU Freshman majoring in Exercise Science, learned about the demonstration through a post on Instagram and decided to show support by attending.

“I think it’s important to show solidarity with things that you care about, and I think this is a topic that should be cared about,” he said.

Adams thinks the ongoing protests throughout college campuses is a good thing, as it shows that young adults are not merely subscribing to whatver they are told by the government.

“We have our own minds, our own opinions, and when the government doesn’t represent what the people think, I think the people have to take it into their own hands,” he said.

“I think we’re just trying to achieve having our own voice, to have our opinions be out, we just want what’s right to go on.”

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By COLIN McEVERS

Editor in Chief

Featured image courtesy of COLIN McEVERS