DRAPED in the Palestinian flag, Michal stands amidst the fervent crowd, her hand raised in a defiant victory sign.

“We’re not seeking victory; we’re here because we’re wounded. We demand an end to the bloodshed in Gaza, now,” she declares, her words echoing the collective anguish of those gathered.

A student at George Washington University (GWU), Michal arrived early at Thursday’s rally in the iconic University Yard (known locally as U-Yard), not merely to participate but to spearhead the protest. The yard pulsates with energy; it is the beating heart of the university, situated in a pivotal locale within the US capital, a stone’s throw from influential institutions such as the White House, World Bank and IMF headquarters, and only a short stroll from the State Department.

An expanse of determined students from eight universities in the Greater Washington area converged at U-Yard when I visited on Thursday, emboldened by a recent US court ruling affirming their right to protest.

Despite cautionary notices from university administrations barring external participation, approximately 30 faculty members from nearby Georgetown University defiantly marched to GWU to stand in solidarity with the cause.

David, a Christian from Karachi and a former GWU alumnus, remarked that there’s little the administration could do to suppress the protest, given the charged and determined participants. “If the Biden administration wants to end the protest, they need to halt the genocide in Gaza,” he told Dawn. “Nothing else would work.”

Many veiled their faces with the iconic keffiyeh, a symbol of unwavering solidarity in the face of Israeli oppression in Gaza. This checkered scarf, woven with threads of Palestinian nationalism, billowed in the wind as the protest swelled in numbers. The protesters at GWU are calling on the Biden administration to halt arms sales to Israel, support a ceasefire and want universities to divest from companies profiting from the conflict. Universities in America often invest funds in commercial organisations.

The coalition also involves students and faculty from Georgetown University, George Mason, the University of Maryland in Baltimore, Howard and Gallaudet.

Similar scenes are unfolding across the United States every day, with New York’s Columbia University emerging as a bastion of dissent. In these protests, the keffiyeh transcends mere fabric; it becomes a shield against oppression, a banner of resistance.

But amid the fervour, it is easy to forget just how much these brave demonstrators are putting on the line to make their voices heard; earlier this week, 104 students were arrested from the Columbia campus alone.

Crackdowns on protesters were also seen in Texas, where a large security presence was brought to bear with at least 50 demonstrators being picked up from the University of Texas in Austin. More than 100 were arrested at Emerson University, more than 40 rounded up at Yale and dozens more at the University of Southern California.

New York City, meanwhile, has emerged as the epicentre of this wave.

In the heart of the city that famously never sleeps, voices are rising in solidarity with Palestine, while on the opposite end of the country, the din of protesters at California’s storied UCLA and Berkeley schools has added fuel to the fire of resistance.

Many activists, left-leaning politicians and political commentators have condemned the use of law enforcement to break up largely peaceful protests, arguing that it violates the students’ free speech rights and will only serve to heighten the risk of serious clashes.

“Calling in police enforcement on nonviolent demonstrations of young students on campus is an escalatory, reckless, and dangerous act,” Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote on social media.

At night, tranquility envelops the U-Yard as the chants and drumbeats subsided. A group of Latin students, who had been vocal in their support for Palestine throughout the evening, dispersed, while four Jewish students who exercised their right to dissent by standing in the midst of the protest with a pro-Israeli banner, also packed up and left.

The pro-Palestinian demonstrators retreated to their tents in the U-Yard, preparing to spend the night. Huddled around their tents, they shared food and engaged in conversation, intermittently drifting off to sleep.

Come the next morning, the protests pick up right where they left off, with even more people joining its ranks.

Liberal arts colleges and institutions that preach ethical and moral lessons of human rights and democratic values seem to be taking on the role of authoritarians by stifling peaceful protest.

The question the US must grapple with now is an existential one: are they still the good guys or have they become as authoritarian as those which they most reviled?

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2024