Editor’s be aware: A earlier model of this story misquoted an indication held by a protester. The Texan regrets this error.
The scholar-run Palestine Solidarity Committee gathered on the steps of McCombs to protest in opposition to Palestinian mistreatment by Israeli forces, chanting straight in entrance of the Israel Block Celebration on Wednesday.
The Israel Block Celebration is a yearly occasion placed on by Texas Hillel, UT’s Jewish pupil heart, and is the nation’s largest pro-Israel faculty occasion, in response to their web site.
Round 70 college students and neighborhood members protested throughout from the occasion situated on Speedway Mall, opposing human rights violations in opposition to Palestinians by Israel. PSC additionally protested the occasion final 12 months.
“We at all times put together quite a bit for this occasion, this huge protest,” mentioned one of many pupil organizers, who requested to stay nameless as a consequence of security causes. “We plan a weeklong sequence of occasions known as Israel Apartheid Week.”
Israel Apartheid Week consists of a sequence of cultural occasions meant to maintain Palestinian tradition alive and dismantle oppression, in response to PSC.
“(It’s to) hold our tradition alive and to reveal college students round us to Palestinian artwork, Palestinian cultural historical past to point out the world that we’re nonetheless right here,” mentioned the organizer.
In line with Human Rights Watch, a world group investigating human rights abuses globally, Israel is an apartheid state during which Palestinians are sometimes forcibly displaced in disputed territories by Israeli officers.
Texas Hillel declined to touch upon each the Block Celebration and the opposing protest.
One participant, Michael Katz, mentioned though he’s not a pupil, he wished to point out assist. He held an indication that mentioned, “I’m Jewish, and I don’t assist Israel. Please ask me why!”
Though PSC is student-run, they typically host occasions to unfold consciousness of Palestinian liberation to the final Austin space.
“Folks would say, ‘With all of the human rights violations on this planet, why are you targeted on this one? Do you hate your self or one thing?’” Katz mentioned. “No, I don’t hate myself. I don’t hate the Jewish faith.”
Katz mentioned he believes individuals who assist Palestinian human rights are unfairly known as antisemitic, given the spiritual historical past of Israel.
“I really feel like I’ve to be right here and say no, that it’s not antisemitic to assist the fitting of Palestinians to return,” Katz mentioned.
UTPD was current for the student-led protest on Speedway, however mentioned they have been there to observe as they do yearly.
“There’s probably not an expiration date on our protests,” the organizer mentioned. “It’s not one thing that we’re quitting. Palestine just isn’t one thing that we (will) ever cease representing.”