College Students Taking The Lead Standing Up For Gaza

I often experience a push-pull between organizing and writing; both are time intensive and, for me, best done earlier in the day. Yesterday was a case in point. I had two unwritten blog posts cued up, one about the moral queasiness of U.S. government responses to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling against Israel's genocide in Gaza and one about the pernicious lie that eternal wars are a good jobs program.

But then the efforts of many organizers in a statewide coalition here in Maine paid off and my husband and I spent the day in Farmington near the U Maine campus at a rousing protest for Gaza.

All four corners of a downtown intersection were filled as more than 50 people showed up. Several of the students said some version of, This never happens in Farmington. About half of those who came were students, the result of fantastic organizing by the new Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter on campus. They did this despite their fears of losing financial aid for speaking up against genocide -- yes, we are in that world.

In contrast to other Saturday afternoon protests around Maine, no passing cars honked. One rolled down the window to yell, You are supporting people who rape their own babies -- showing that propaganda works, especially on people who want to hate and don't want to examine actual evidence. Farmington is less of a college town and more of an economically struggling former mill town. Left-leaning students say they feel isolated on campus and that most students are apathetic.

Well, they weren't isolated yesterday and many reported that made them feel hopeful. 

Students who spoke after we reconvened in a nearby park gazebo shared that they will be pressing UMF and other U Maine campuses to divest from apartheid Israel. This is the D in BDS, a highly effective way to bring pressure and the reason that many U.S. states have outlawed it at the bidding of the Israel lobby.

Other notes: a student who'll be interviewed soon on radio about this work got some support and coaching from a young teacher who often acts as an articulate spokesperson for the Maine Coalition for Palestine. Yay!

Two students from the far away University of Southern Maine had driven up from Biddeford to attend the protest after they heard about it through SJP on their campus and also Healthcare Workers for Palestine.

Would it surprise you to know that even though a press release with powerful quotes from students went out to all media in Maine, not a single reporter showed up?

We didn't attempt our usual group picture but I did try to take a panoramic shot when most of us were in the gazebo for cookies, tabling, and speeches.

When it was my turn, I spoke about the ICJ case -- subject of my recorded interview the previous day in response to a blog post "If Gaza Were In Maine.." That post shared an powerful map analogy that I expanded on but did not create.

Map created by Will T of the Maine Coalition for Palestine

So the synergy between writing and organizing is a thing. Even though one makes me feel like my head is going to explode while the other reduces the pressure (I'll let you guess which is which), they're both things I can do on behalf of those living under siege and watching their children die of dehydration.

I still want to write that post on the ICJ decision once I've had time to consider the varied responses I've seen and heard so far.

But first, there's some organizing that needs my immediate attention.