Stanford students protest at city council meeting, demand local government call for ceasefire in Middle East
Stanford University students from the "Sit-In to Stop Genocide" protested at the Palo Alto City Council to push for a ceasefire.
Stanford University students from the “Sit-In to Stop Genocide” protested at the Palo Alto City Council to push for a ceasefire.
Nearly a dozen students from Stanford held signs at the council meeting on Monday morning, according to the Stanford Daily. The students were pushing for a resolution that would call for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas following the October 7, 2023, terrorist attack.
A banner held by the protesters read “Israel bombed every university in Gaza. What if it was us?”
Several individuals in the crowd held pictures of Israeli hostages taken by Hamas, reading “Kidnapped. Bring them home.”
According to the outlet, many of the students present are also involved in the “Sit-In to Stop Genocide,” in which students have occupied a plaza on campus for 95 days, according to the Stanford Daily.
Students participating in the sit-in want Stanford to call for a ceasefire and also commit to supporting the boycott, divest and sanction movement.
Stanford student Pam Martinez told the outlet that the protests will continue.
“My hope is that every week, we’re just gonna remind them that women, children and also Palestinian men are suffering because this state is heavily militarized. The U.S. is supporting the Israeli state,” Martinez said.
One resident said during the meeting, “while the Palo Alto city council has no real influence on the conflict between Israel and Hamas, a resolution regarding the war would have a negative impact on our local community [and] increase hate, extremism and violence, as it has in other cities around the Bay.”
Council Member Julie Lythcott-Haims, a congressional candidate, said, “I am on the record, in writing and orally in this chamber at the Human Relations Commission, asking for a bilateral humanitarian ceasefire.”
A ceasefire resolution wasn’t brought up by council members during the meeting.
