On Oct. 7, the anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel which began the year of brutality then unleashed by Israel, activities took place on U.S. college campuses across the country, from calm interfaith vigils to a pro-Palestinian “week of rage,” according to the Washington Post. Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) held walk-outs and other events at campuses including in Maryland, Colorado, and California. Thousands were in the streets in New York City and there were activities stretching from Columbia University to Wall Street, conveyed the New York Post. Hundreds of protesters were at the Low Library at Columbia and the crowd filled the street around the New York Stock Exchange. Many protesters demanded to send federal money to help the victims of Hurricane Helene instead of sending money to finance Israel’s genocide. The New York Post reported that 75 protesters gathered at NYU, while vandals, allegedly tied to the protests, broke windows at CUNY at 1 a.m. and wrote “Divest Now” on the building.
Thousands protested across California, and at USC hundreds of protesters shut down the intersection of Jefferson Boulevard and McClintock Avenue while holding signs and chanting, “Free, Free Palestine,” reported the Los Angeles Times. On Oct. 6, demonstrators filled the Mission District in San Francisco to protest the “oppression of Palestine,” and in Irvine, crowds gathered along the main thoroughfares waving Lebanese and Palestinian flags.
