College students across San Diego County on Wednesday showed their support for the Palestinian people caught in the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
On the campus of San Diego City College downtown, students and staff joined the national “Walkout for Palestine” at noon. They left behind school work for an hour of protest and for their beliefs to be heard.
Many of them had personal connections to the humanitarian tragedy that has continued since the Hamas invasion of Israel on October 7.
They’ve even found allies in their Hispanic classmates.
“We feel that we have a solidarity with the Palestinian people. Lives are being dictated with border walls, colonialism and oppression. We know how it feels," said Julio Cedillo with M.E.C.H.A De City College
Outside the student union at San Diego State University, many of the protesters would only be identified by their first name to protect themselves from retaliation.
“Every time we open our phones, we see new relatives and family members have been killed. That is why we are here to stand against Israeli aggression," said Mohamed, a sophomore studying civil engineering. He immigrated from Kuwait, but was born in Jerusalem.
“I’m Palestinian. I’m not a terrorist, and I am not a murderer," Farah, 19, shouted through a megaphone at the midday rally.
She is studying journalism at San Diego State. She was born in Jordan and came to the U.S. to finish high school and get a higher education.
“Obviously the loss of any innocent life is wrong. This did not happen in a vacuum. It's been happening for 75 years. One-hundred seven years of oppression or colonization, and I think it should be stopped," she said.
Among the faces and the flying Palestinian flags, there was also a Star of David flag representing the other side. A handful of Israeli students came to campus to be seen, if not heard. They declined to be interviewed for safety reasons, but their advisor did speak about the October 7 Hamas invasion that triggered the strong Israeli response.
“They’re pretending as if the bombings, the air strikes that have been going on the last couple of weeks, are happening in a vacuum for no reason at all. That is just historically disingenuous and intellectually dishonest," Yiftach Levy said. He is a Jewish student advisor on campus.
Despite the disagreement, there was hope expressed by a Palestinian-American professor at City College.
Mona Alsoraimi-Espiritu said, "The awareness that’s been given in the past couple of weeks is like nothing I’ve ever seen in my entire life," as she smiled.
