Solidarity by the peoples of the world over the attacks on Rafah
Feature image: Smoke after the attacks on Rafah. Source: The Associated Press
On May 7, the operation of the State of Israel on the city of Rafah began, a city where are concentrated around 1.4 million people, most of them displaced from other parts of Palestine after constant bombings and attacks by the State of Israel, which primarily target civilians, including the elderly, women and children, who account for almost half of its victims, around 15,000.
Since the beginning of the attack, more than 34,900 have been directly murdered by Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip alone. Now, in less than 24 hours, another 60 people are reported to have been killed due to direct attacks on Rafah, the largest open-air prison in the world. Many of these deaths have occurred because the Israeli army has prevented ambulances and medical services from approaching the victims, violating one of the most basic “human rights.”
But it is not just the attacks, famine and lack of water continue to plague Palestine due to Israel’s deliberate blockade. According to the BBC news site, 53% of water treatment plants have been destroyed, increasing the so-called “indirect” deaths by Israel, that are actually murders. Hospitals in southern Gaza are also reported to have barely three days of fuel to continue operating, which will further dramatically increase the number of deaths due to lack of medical assistance.
The appearance of the seventh mass grave in the Al-Shifa hospital has also been reported, adding to the others that we have already reported and where there are clear indications that those killed at the hands of the IDF were patients and medical personnel who could not defend themselves against the attack of the criminal and genocidal army.
Faced with the genocide committed by Israel, peoples of the world rise up against the support of the genocide and fight to pressure governments for a free Palestine and the end of state support for Israeli companies and universities.
In France, the Student Union Federation announced that it was joining the mobilizations that are already sweeping large parts of the world.
According to reports, today, May 9, some of the mobilized students have been detained and a campaign is being carried out to free them. Some have already been released, while others continue to be detained due to the mobilizations at the University of Lille.
In Brazil, A Nova Democracia has denounced the relations of Brazilian universities with Israeli universities linked to Zionism and the Israeli army.
The article explains how the universities of Sao Paulo (USP) and the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), whose rectors belong to the PCdoB, have 7 scientific agreements with Israeli universities. These agreements range from “Scientific and Technological Cooperation” to “Nuclear Energy” agreements. It is also denounced how these Israeli universities have historical and deep ties with the Israeli army and the Zionist movement.
In the belly of the imperialist beast, the United States, students from the country’s main universities continue to camp and demonstrate for the freedom of Palestine.
In Washington DC there have been 33 arrests by police. The use of pepper spray to clear up protests has also been reported. The House Oversight and Accountability Committee canceled a scheduled hearing after the police action, with its chairman and other Republicans praising the police action to “protect Jewish students.”
Lawmakers, local professors and parents have openly denounced the 33 arrests at an event at the university.
In San Diego, students marched during classes to protest Palestine. Thousands of them left the classrooms this Wednesday, May 8, two days after the “Gaza Solidarity” camp was dismantled, resulting in 60 arrests by the police. Other methods of repression used were the use of pepper spray or threats to students with “sanctions such as suspension or legal action.”
In Chicago, police detained 70 students from the Chicago Institute of Arts while clearing the camp. According to the police themselves, the museum itself asked them to clear the demonstrations when the students began to camp to demand the freedom of Palestine.
These protests have moved to Europe, where for example in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, after only two days of protests, the students have been repressed and three of them have been detained by the police at the University of Amsterdam. After police cleared the blockade on the ground floor of the university, hundreds of students moved to a nearby square to continue protests demanding an end to the war. That is where they suffered repression again, with many injured and several detained by the police.
In Ireland, at Trinity College Dublin, the students in struggle have achieved that in an official statement the university has agreed to divest from Israeli companies that have activities in the occupied Palestinian territory and appear on the UN blacklist.
Also in the Spanish State, in different cities such as Madrid, Barcelona or Valencia, encampments and protests have been organized at universities.
Also at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, students have decided to camp. Between 50 and 100 people reportedly participated in the demonstration. In their statement they stated that they were campaigning for a free Palestine whose capital is Jerusalem, the end of the genocide carried out by the State of Israel and the right of refugees to return to their lands. They also demand the recognition and condemnation of the genocide and a ceasefire, stopping investments or agreements with companies that benefit from the occupation in Palestine, among others.
Roede Fane also announced that the Anti-imperialist Collective will hold a movie screening in Copenhagen with the documentary “Jenin Jenin” on May 13.
In Bremen, Germany, a rally by the Red League was held in the proletarian neighborhood of Gröpelingen. At this rally, residents of the neighborhood showed their support and the police attempted to harass the protesters with a large police presence. In the end of the rally the police attacked it and beat up a protester, in protest of which another rally was formed spontaneously.
