Cal State LA activists hold latest 'die-in' for divestment from Israel
Student demonstrators at California State University, Los Angeles held a 'die-in' protest on July 1 to oppose the university's ties to Israel.
Student demonstrators at California State University, Los Angeles held a “die-in” protest on July 1 to oppose the university’s ties to Israel. The purpose of the protest was to demand that the administration divest from companies that have financial investments affiliated with Israel.
The protest was reportedly organized by Cal State LA’s chapter of the anti-Israel group, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).
”As Cal State LA Admin gear up for orientation and welcome new students on to a failing campus, a campus advertising rising tuition, mass budget cuts, and mass cutting of classes — we lay here to remind them that there are NO universities left in Gaza,” a campus group promoting the protest stated on Instagram.
“We lay here to remind them of the 38,000+ martyrs and children who will never step foot in a classroom,” the post continued. “We lay here calling for immediate divestment of CSULA funds, our tuition, and our retirement funds from the gen0cidal [sic] occupational forces [sic] that is Israel.”
“Long live Palestine!” the students chanted during the protest. “We will continue to fight for disclosure and divestment.”
“I decided to get involved because I really believed in the demands, specifically divestment,” one protester said. “Our school is a publicly funded university and should absolutely be divesting from companies that are profiting from genocide and things like that.”
“We’re trying to not only bring awareness to that, but it’s a physical thing that people have to see and hopefully spread urgency and awareness of the cause and why it is so important,” another student said.
So-called “die-ins” involve protesters pretending to be deceased, lying on the ground to symbolize the individuals who lost their lives in Israel’s war against the terrorist group Hamas over the past year.
The “die-in” came just a few weeks after the clearing of the pro-Palestine encampment that protestors had set up on Cal State LA’s campus.
The encampment was allowed to remain in place for more than five weeks, according to a statement released by university President Berenecea Johnson Eanes on June 27.
The encampment was shut down after vandalism of a building perpetrated by pro-Palestinian protesters on June 12.
Campus Reform has contacted California State University, Los Angeles for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
