We spoke to people about Palestine at the Marsh Plaza ‘die in’

Marsh Plaza is a normal place to have protests and demonstrations. On Thursday afternoon, it was home to a “die in” for Palestine with students part of the Boston University Students for Justice in Palestine.

I was able to talk to a few of the participants and find out what they represent and what message they would like to get across to people here at Boston University.

Hanaan, Environmental Science

Hanaan is the girl in the upper left

“Lives lost in Palestine are often overlooked by the media. We laid on the ground and held signs with names of actually people who have died during this conflict in order to remember them.”

Towards the end of the participation, a student, Nico, came over to talk with one of the demonstrators about the Israeli side of the topic. The demonstrator talking to Nico started to become less calm as the conversation continued and soon he as yelling “there is no space for discussion here.”

A few other demonstrators started saying “when people are occupied, there is no such thing as resistance” and “no discussion what-so-ever. Stop illegal activity!”

As the yelling continued, Jack Weldon, BU’s Associate Dean of Students, came over to talk it out with the students.

This is one of the photos posted on the Boston University Students for Justice for Palestine Facebook page with the caption ‘Hey Israel what do you say? How many kids have you killed today!?;

As Nico left, he said: “hopefully someday I can sit down and talk with you. I would like that. Have a good day.”

After the demonstration ended and a few students were talked to by the Associate Dean, I was able to talk with another student about this sensitive topic.

Joost, Questrom

“I think it’s important that we did this because there’s a side that’s getting labeled as a terrorist. Women and children are being labeled and dehumanized. The media has been showing [a side of them that is] white washed, green washed, pink washed. We don’t [nor should] dehumanize people. [And when we talk about this conflict, we can’t forget that] It is not a balanced thing, there’s an oppressor and the oppressed.”

Later I was able to talk with Nico and ask him about what happened earlier in Marsh Plaza.

“The ongoing conflict in the Middle East today is a conflict that deserves proper discussion and conversation among students. Such topics should be allowed to be discussed by the public and should be properly addressed. The conflict is a two way street where both sides of the conflict should be respected and understood.

“I believe being open to discussion and disagreement is key to finding a proper solution to the conflict. Every person should listen to both sides of the argument before forming an opinion regarding the Middle East.”