Activities & Organizations Campus News

SJP plans protests, book club after ceasefire

Jose Gonzalez-Campelo/The Cougar

Students for Justice in Palestine HTX has become the voice of freedom for Palestinians on campus. Despite the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the organization continues to fight for justice and promote their cause.

According to the U.S. Department of Defense, the ceasefire was announced on Jan. 15 by former President Joe Biden and officially began on Jan.19. However, members of SJP stressed that the ceasefire does not mean the war has ended and they will continue to advocate for justice.

Protests

To continue their cause, SJP has future plans to host protests and start a book club to raise more awareness.

“Our advocacy will continue to focus on addressing the root causes of violence, namely, Israel’s settler colonialism, occupation and apartheid policies,” SJP said in the statement. “We reject any narrative that frames the ceasefire as a solution, when the underlying conditions of systemic oppression remain intact.”

Previously, SJP has held multiple protests including sit-ins at the Student Center South, confrontation of UH officials at multiple Board of Regents meetings and calls for boycotting brands like McDonald’s and Starbucks on campus. Another sit-in protest is scheduled for Feb. 19 at the Hilton UH Hotel during the BOR meeting.

“Students should not attend class on Feb. 19, in order to show the University that the students have leverage and power,” a SJP student representative said. “They should be attending the BOR meeting sit-in instead.”

SJP has continually fought for the University to divest from arms manufacturing and Israeli companies that are directly responsible for thousands of deaths.

Members of SJP believe attendance at their events strengthens their ability to advocate for justice. These events are held to not only to bring attention to SJP’s cause, but also educate other students.

Book club

SJP launched a book club on Jan. 30, focused on education surrounding Palestinian narratives. The first book they read was The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon, a work said to focus on decolonization, oppression and colonialism.

The goal of this book club is to challenge the normalization of colonialism in Western society and explore the current conditions of Palestinians and their path toward future liberation.

According to SJP, they discuss what it is like to live in resisting oppressors and explore life through Palestinian eyes or the eyes of anybody who has been oppressed. 

Misconceptions

As the ceasefire dominates headlines across major news outlets, it inevitably gives rise to misconceptions.

Against these misconceptions, members of SJP stressed that Palestine liberation cannot be viewed from both sides, as the Israeli perspective aims to erase the Palestinian people.

“From a moral standpoint, this is unacceptable and the focus should solely be on the Palestinian perspective,” a SJP student representative said.

The student representative also emphasized the ongoing humanitarian concerns, despite the ceasefire.

“Less people are dying now and they will be getting, God willing, the aid that they need. But a cease-fire is only a temporary solution,” a SJP student representative said. “It is better than the conditions that we were under during the genocide, a genocide that is till ongoing, but it was more severe during the last 15 months.”

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