'Rally for Palestine' held at Georgia Southern's Statesboro and Armstrong campuses
For the second time this week, peaceful protests occurred on both Georgia Southern University campuses ― this time, the gatherings sparked by pro-Palestinian movements at colleges and universities across the nation.
On the Statesboro campus
An hour or so into a pro-Palestinian rally at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, chants of "1-2-3-4, we don't want your bloody war" from the pro-Palestinian students and "USA USA USA" from a small group of counter-protestors mingled briefly. Despite that, the rally remained peaceful, a contrast to some of the pro-Palestinian protests and encampments on college campuses across the nation.
Many of those protests have stemmed from students wanting their universities to divest from companies owned by or associated with Israel, such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Alphabet and Amazon.
One of the organizers of the Statesboro protest, Logan Collins, a sophomore in anthropology, said that wasn't their goal Thursday afternoon.
"We've had some other events on campus already and this is our final one just to show students that we do have support for this cause," Collins said. "Also, to show support for protests across the nation. We have no reason to ask for divestment, and this is just us showing our support for Palestinian students on campus, for now."
Other students shared the sentiment. Sierra Shumake, another organizer who said seeing the "atrocities committed since October 7 by the IDF on the Palestinian people will never leave me."
Ella Cendrowski, a third-year student from the Savannah College of Art and Design, drove the hour west to participate in what she thought would be a larger, more centralized protest than what they could organize at SCAD.
The rally drew about 50 people, 20 more than the sit-in organized by Collins and Shumake in January, and lasted for an hour-and-a-half under the outdoor Russell Union Rotunda. Students handed out pamphlets that discuss the developing famine in Gaza, an informational sheet with the number of deaths in the Israel-Hamas war and a page full of QR codes for students to call their congressional representatives. Several students came up and read poems or essays they wrote.
Just a few feet from where students held signs reading, "CEASEFIRE NOW" and "FREE PALESTINE," Jacob Russell sat alone under the shade of a tree in a lawn chair, his speaker blaring country music whenever someone spoke.
"I'm really just here to show my support and love for America and American values and stuff like that," Russell said. "I think that the people who are for the free Palestine movement got it wrong. I don't believe Israel is committing genocide; I think they're protecting their people and doing what needs to be done."
Slowly Russell was joined by other students, mostly those who saw what was happening and just decided to stop and stand with him. Landon Donowenby was one of those students, and made a quick poster that said, "PUT OUR COUNTRY FIRST."
"I just saw everything that's gone down on campuses over the past week, and I thought it was a bunch of bullcrap," Donowenby said. "I think we should be more worried about the economic downfall of our country instead of somebody else. [Palestinian's] have their own army; they can go fight if they want."
Heath, a student who declined to use his last name for safety reasons, said his entire family is Jewish, and believes people should be protesting the Israel soldiers instead of all of Israel. One pro-Palestinian student spoke about being anti-Zionist in his speech, which led Heath to believe the student protestors were targeting Jewish people.
"They need to be targeting the IDF, which is the main perpetrator of all this," Heath said. "Instead, they're targeting Jewish people and the state of Israel who have nothing to do with the military, and most of them just want peace and unity."
While the groups mostly stayed to their respective sides, a few counter-protestors went under the rotunda and waved their American or Israeli flags to the shouts and claps of their friends.
When the rallies started to wrap, the counter-protestors began praying for the pro-Palestinian's while the protestors went into their last chant.
"It's interesting, I mean, they weren't out here until we were, and we're not saying anything against Israel or Jewish people or being antisemitic in any sense," said Slater Barlow, a sophomore. "It's just for a Free Palestine and to end the occupation, and if they feel the need to be pro-American, pro-Israel, then you know, that's just where they stand."
A few campus police and staff were present. Vice President for Student Affairs Shay Little said they encourage students to engage and get involved but make sure it's a respectful event.
On the Armstrong campus
Roughly 80 students and community members gathered on GSU Armstrong campus in Savannah for a planned “Rally for Palestine.” The rally took place on the Student Union lawn, starting around 12:30 p.m.
A student who asked to be identified only as Nijma, said no official group had organized the event. She later was the main speaker at what ultimately remained a peaceful rally. The stated purpose of the rally was not immediately clear and depended on whom was asked.
Laila Abdallah, a representative of Savannah4Palestine, said the rally was for awareness and engagement aimed at “continuing to amplify the message around a free Palestine.”
GSU student Grace Miller, an International Studies and Sustainability Science freshman, identified as Jewish and pro-Palestinian. Her reasons for attending the rally (she did not want to speak for the group) was to advocate for peace. When asked about some of the attendees’ signs and chants that stated, “From the River to the sea, Palestine will be free,” Miller said, “I think that is actually a peaceful statement.” She took out a self-made pamphlet that featured an image of Israel and Gaza with a section of it highlighted in green representing what used to be Palestine. “I, personally, am pro two-state solution.”
Abdallah, however, later said a two-state solution is a “whole other conversation.” She cited that May 15 is the 76th anniversary of what is known as the Nakba, or the Catastrophe, which was a mass displacement of Palestinians from their land in 1948. She said that was when "outsiders came into the country of Palestine and began the process of displacing, forcibly, the natives that lived there, which are the Palestinians."
Chants led by Nijma consisted of familiar phrases being said on campuses around the country, including, “Expose, divest. We will not stop, we will not rest.” When asked what divestments students wished for Georgia Southern to make, Abdallah and Miller said there were not aware of a specific list, but both did mention Gulfstream. A sign at the rally claimed Gulfstream makes warplanes.
Savannah Morning News has reached out to Gulfstream for clarification.
Associate Vice President and Dean of Students Aileen Dowell found out about the rally on Monday. She was attending as a “student affairs representative and also a university administrator representative.” She stressed the importance of and the right for students to have their voices heard. "We're here to provide the utmost services and ensure that our students are successful even as we journey into the final week of classes." She also stated that GSU police department officers were on standby as they are for “any other major events that we have or any just day-to-day patrols up on site.” Officers remained in the background as the rally unfolded.
One instance of conflict arose as a single student walking across the Student Union lawn yelled at the rally attendees, saying “It's not their land” before she headed into the Student Union building. It’s not exactly clear who she was referring to exactly.
Also in attendance was Rania Afaneh, a life-long Savannahian, who said she returned from Gaza three days ago. She was not sure if she could name the organization she volunteered with, but reached out to see if she could. During a speech at the rally and afterward with Savannah Morning News, Afenah stated that she was a volunteer EMT who spent six weeks on missions serving in various hospitals in the south and north of Gaza. She talked about working on patients as drones flew overhead and bombs exploded nearby. She shared a story about how a badly injured baby was overlooked at one hospital until she approached it only to discover that the child had passed.
Afaneh attended predominantly to spread awareness of the Palestinians' suffering in Gaza. She also shared a message that she said was from Palestinian people she met along her journey. “Nothing is enough until we stop the war. They don't want food. They don't want medical supplies. They don't want anything except for the war to stop. Because if the war stopped, they wouldn't need any of this stuff.”
The rally wound down around 1:30 p.m. and the crowd dispersed without incident.
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Destini Ambus is the general assignment reporter for Chatham County municipalities and Joseph Schwartzburt is the education and workforce development reporter for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach them at dambus@gannett.com and jschwartzburt@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Students rally to support Palestinians on Georgia Southern campuses
