SPOKANE, Wash. – Roughly 100 Gonzaga University (GU) students protested against the war in Gaza Wednesday. The group of students protested in solidarity with Palestine.
The protest as led by GU Community for Justice in Palestine. The group demands that GU disclose its investment portfolio, end study abroad programs in Israel and divest from arms manufacturing companies.
“Boeing is producing weapons that are being used in the violence against Palestinians…We also have close ties with Boeing with our engineering programs and the way we connect students with employers,” Juliana Maucione, a student at GU and protester, said.
Wednesday’s protest was overall peaceful.
The Spokane Police Department (SPD) told NonStop Local they were informed by GU about the protest.
However, there was no SPD presence on campus.
Some in the Spokane community still have concerns about the protest, including Juliet Baranti, a member of Inland Empire for Israel.
“They chant ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,’ which the U.S. Congress recently acknowledged is antisemitic. It’s a call to eliminate the State of Israel and all of the Jews that live there,” Baranti said.
Those protesting at GU Wednesday said that the protest was all about calling for liberation and peace in the Middle East.
“I’m a human-being and I see what’s going on. And I care. I’m a sociology student, so I study systems of power and oppression in my academic work. So, that has really informed my stance on this and my conviction for the dignity of the Palestinians,” Mia Foster, a GU student and protester, said.
According to the Associated Press, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has expressed concern that an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court for war crimes or genocide could be levelled against him in coming weeks.
