In its attempts to rescue the dozens of Israeli hostages still being held by Hamas, the Israeli government resumed military action in the Gaza Strip on March 18, breaking a 42 day-long ceasefire. Emory Students for Socialism (SFS) hosted a protest on March 20 at 1 p.m. on the Emory University Quadrangle. At the event, student speakers and community members stood in solidarity with Palestinians and student mobilization efforts on other college campuses. SFS, Emory Students for Justice in Palestine, Faculty & Staff for Justice in Palestine - Georgia, Emory Revolutionary Students Collective and Public Health for Palestine & Collective Liberation publicized the event.
SFS co-President Zachary Hammond (23Ox, 25C) said one of the reasons for this “impromptu” protest was the U.S. government’s attempt to deport Mahmoud Khalil. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained Khalil, a Columbia University (N.Y.) graduate and permanent U.S. resident with a green card, and moved him to a Louisiana detention center on March 8. At Columbia, he was a part of the group Columbia University Apartheid Divest. According to the Trump administration, ICE arrested Khalil for hiding information on his green card application.
Hammond said student movements are key as the national and global political landscape shifts to increased crackdowns on protest movements, calling for stronger student organizing.
“What we have to do is meet those attempts to inspire fear with bravery,” Hammond said. “We need to build the mass movement because we know that mass movements play a huge role in a political calculus.”
At the start of the demonstration, 30 people gathered on the Quad, with speakers referencing the importance of keeping protestors’ attention on the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip.
“Disclose, divest. We will not stop, we will not rest,” protestors chanted. “Money for jobs and education, not for Israel’s occupation.”
EmoryUnite! co-Chair Everet Smith (27G) spoke about Emory and the Trump administration’s suppression of pro-Palestinian protests. They also commented on the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange program, a partnership between the Atlanta Police Department and various international law enforcement agencies, including Israel. Smith urged listeners to recognize the relationship between Atlanta and its connection to Israeli law enforcement and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
“The brutalization of our students on campus connects to the colonial demolition occurring in the West Bank,” Smith said. “It is all part of the same story. As Atlanta residents, this has been clear to us from the beginning.”
Hammond connected the United States’ continuing role in the Israel-Hamas war with Trump’s support of renewed military action in the Gaza Strip.
“In Palestine, Trump has continued the genocidal policies of Joe Biden, sending the missiles and 2,000 pound bombs to level entire neighborhoods,” Hammond said. “In effect, doing everything with his campaign of ethnic cleansing but pulling the trigger.”
Another speaker urged people outside of the Emory community to support their cause.
“We want to say as clearly as possible: We welcome outside agitators to our struggle against the ruthless genocide of Palestinians,” the speaker said.
Jawahir Kamil, a pro-Palestinian activist from Atlanta, emphasized the importance of students standing up for their beliefs.
“Those billionaires and this fascist, racist government, they trying to put us down,” Kamil said. “They trying to put you down, but they not going to succeed because I see you guys here.”
Following several speeches from students and Atlanta community members, around 40 protestors marched across campus, moving from the Quad through Asbury Circle and around the Emory Student Center before returning to the Quad. While marching, the group amassed more participants, growing to around 75 during the procession.
After the marching, Hammond encouraged participants to move forward with the values of unity and organization in mind, particularly among left-wing student organizations at Emory and in Atlanta.
“If we’re going to get out of this moment of chaos, oppression and ethnic cleansing abroad, we will have to do it together,” Hammond said.
Following the event, SFS released a statement on Instagram condemning Chabad at Emory’s Rabbi Zalman Lipskier for encouraging students to report foreign pro-Palestine protesters to ICE. The accusations center around a screenshot of a forwarded message from Lipskier to a Jewish graduate student group chat. In the image, Lipskier provides an ICE tip line with details about Trump’s executive order to deport people “who support Hamas.”
The Wheel cannot confirm the accuracy of these accusations against Lipskier. Lipskier did not respond to the Wheel’s request for comment by press time.
“We reject any attempt to intimidate or silence students fighting for justice, and we stand in firm opposition to such political repression,” SFS wrote in their Instagram post. “Rabbi Lipskier’s actions are not isolated, but part of a broader pattern of increasing attacks on Palestinian solitary, free expression, and resistance to occupation and genocide — attacks we will not tolerate.”
Ellie Fivas (she/her) (26C) is from Cleveland, Tenn., and is majoring in political science and history on the pre-law track. She manages the Wheel’s opinion section and the Editorial Board. When she is not writing for her political column Electoral Ellie, she works in prison education, leads a human rights club and works at the Emory Writing Center. In her free time, you can find her reading trashy romances and The New York Times, basking on the Quadrangle and doing crossword puzzles.
