Gaza Genocideupdated 51m ago2 min read
Pro-Palestinian Protesters Rally at UCLA, Seattle, New York to Demand Gaza Ceasefire and Divestment
Pro-Palestinian protests erupted at UCLA and New York on the Gaza war's third anniversary. Demonstrators urged Gaza ceasefire and divestment from Israel, with chants and flags reported.
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Third anniversary protests
Pro-Palestinian protesters gathered at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus in Los Angeles, California on Wednesday to mark three years since the war in Gaza began, with demonstrators chanting "Stop the genocide" and "Free Palestine." Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) organized the UCLA demonstration, and protesters carried banners reading "Gaza will rise" and placards saying "We will honor all our martyrs." Protesters also staged demonstrations outside California, with dozens marching through Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood and onto the Seattle Central College campus Wednesday afternoon.
On the East Coast, more than 100 people gathered at Washington Square Park to demand New York University withdraw investments from Israel and shutter its Tel Aviv campus, and more than 70 protesters gathered outside Columbia University's gates, according to the Columbia Daily Spectator. A student protester told Xinhua that the anniversary marked "three years of escalated genocide in Palestine," and the student said SJP wanted UCLA to divest from Israeli companies and weapons manufacturers.
Clashes and competing vigils
Verbal altercations broke out between some demonstrators and pro-Israel counterprotesters during the UCLA anniversary demonstrations, as protesters chanted slogans and carried banners.
In New York, anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian events around the October 7 anniversary included a walkout at 12:30 p.m. in Washington Square Park as NYU Students for Justice in Palestine staged its "NYU WEEK OF RAGE."
At 2 p.m., anti-Israel demonstrators arrived at the gates of Columbia University, where demonstrators from The Columbia Intifada and others chanted "globalize the intifada" through a megaphone.
Zohran Mamdani told the public that "we grieve alongside our many friends and neighbors" who are dealing with the loss experienced on Oct. 7, 2023, while he also blasted Israel for an "ongoing genocide in Gaza."
Outside the United States, the Times of Israel described competing demonstrations worldwide, including London and Berlin rallies that led to arrests and police barriers separating pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel crowds.
What is at stake
Zohran Mamdani accused Israel of committing "genocide" and "apartheid" in Gaza in a statement marking the third anniversary, and he said Hamas killed more than 1,100 Israelis and abducted 251 people in the Oct. 7 attack.
Mamdani also claimed that more than 74,000 Palestinians, including more than 21,000 children, had been killed, and he said Israel had killed more than 1,400 Palestinians since what he called the "so-called ceasefire."
Israel rejected accusations that it is committing genocide in Gaza, and the statement reported that Israel said its military targets Hamas and other terrorist groups while seeking to minimize civilian casualties.
In parallel, the International Legal Forum launched its "Dictionary of Terms" on the third anniversary of October 7, describing an effort to reclaim terms it argues anti-Israel activists have "hijacked" and inverted.
International Legal Forum CEO Michal Cotler-Wunsh said the dictionary would help "remember, reclaim, and renew the foundational principles of the law that have been systematically hijacked" and the dictionary so far has nine terms with six more in progress.