Fresno State community holds protest for Palestine. ‘No neutral stance on the genocide’

Hundreds of Fresno State students, faculty and staff gathered in solidarity with Palestinians on Wednesday as the Israel-Hamas war entered its seventh month.

Around 250 people gathered for the peaceful sit-in organized by Students for Palestinian Liberation at California State University Fresno.

Organizers thanked university administrators Wednesday for their support and emphasized the event was a peaceful gathering to bring attention to the atrocities and devastation in Gaza.

Student protesters thanked the Fresno State Associated Students Inc. for signing a ceasefire resolution last month.

They also called for the university to speak out against the genocide in Gaza and for the CSU system to divest any investments that support Israel.

In a statement posted on Instagram, the SLP student group said the university has “failed to stand with its students against injustice and ongoing genocide.”

“We just would appreciate a little more recognition of a genocide. Once again, it is a genocide. There’s no neutral stance on the genocide. A genocide is a genocide,” said Rahaf, 20, a junior majoring in English who declined to share her last name due to fears of future professional repercussions.

She thanked her colleagues for coming out in solidarity “I’m getting goosebumps. I’m about to cry (tears of) appreciation,” she said.

“I feel a peaceful sit-in is really sending a powerful message here, especially in the Central Valley where we don’t really see any type of student activism like this standing up against the genocide and speaking up against international political issues,” Haneen, a Palestinian student and leader of the SLP group, told reporters, who declined to share her last name with reporters for security reasons.

Protests have erupted at universities across the state and nationwide as over 34,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 77,000 have been injured in the war, according to local health officials.

The war started on Oct. 7, when Hamas — Palestinian militants — launched an attack into southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people, primarily civilians, and abducted around 250 hostages. Since the October attack, Israel has launched an offensive in Gaza. Nearly 1.7 million people in Gaza have been displaced, the United Nations reported last week, a humanitarian crisis that has left many without access to food, water and medical care.

Some Fresno State students shared testimonies of their families who have been impacted by the conflict. Others led the group in chants and passed out water and snacks to attendees.

Sean Gordon, a professor of English Literature at Fresno State, came out to support his students, holding a sign that read “Faculty Against Genocide.”

“As we see at institutions of higher learning across the country, students have as powerful voice,” Gordon said.

He said that his students are concerned about the destruction of universities and the possibility of higher education in Gaza, a phenomenon known as “scholasticide.”

The Associated Press reported that the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a news conference in Israel Wednesday to call for a cease-fire deal, saying “the time is now.”

An expert from the UN said last month there are “reasonable grounds” to believe Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

Members of the public and representatives from community groups such as Peace Fresno and representatives from CAIR California Sacramento Valley/Central California also attended the sit-in.

Most attendees were in support of the protest, though a few students were asking protesters whether they considered Hamas a terrorist organization and other questions related to the conflict.

Fresno State ‘upholding free speech’

Fresno State President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval came out to greet students during the first hour of the sit-in.

When asked by a reporter whether his presence at the protest indicated he was taking a side, Jiménez-Sandoval said: “I’m saying hello to my students.”

He told reporters that the university has “had a lot of dialogue with our students.” He said the conversations have gone well and have been opportunities to share information.

In a May 1 email shared with The Bee by a Fresno State student, Jiménez-Sandoval said the university was committed to “upholding free speech.”

“We firmly believe that a thriving academic environment is one where all perspectives are welcomed and respected and we want to reaffirm our commitment to ensuring the safety and well-being of every member of our campus community and upholding our Principles of Community,” the email said.

The university also created a Free Speech website to answer frequently asked questions about the universities policies and students rights.

Students share testimonies

Seja, 20, a Fresno State philosophy pre-law major and officer of the SPL student club, said she doesn’t know much about her family in Gaza due to the lack of reliable communication.

“My aunt had a stroke (but) there’s no medical help that she can get,” she said, declining to share her last name due to fear of retaliation against her family in Gaza. “My cousin who’s her daughter just had a baby... she had to give birth with no anesthesia, there’s no way for them to check the health of the baby.”

Seja said she’s very sad for her family — but was grateful to the university leadership for the opportunity to gather on campus.

“It does remind me that people are supporting me and people are in support of the genocide to end,” she said.

A Palestinian-Mexican student who only gave her first name, Alia, said she still has family in Gaza. Due to the blockade, she said she was never able to meet many of her Palestinian relatives. ”I never met my grandma, I never met my cousins my aunts, my uncles,” she said.

A first-generation Ukranian-American who did not share his name said he wanted to highlight the different response to the suffering of people in Gaza and Ukraine, which has experienced a full-scale attack by Russia for the past two years.

“Humanity is granted to the people in Ukraine and humanity is not granted to the people in Palestine often,” he said.

The sit-in was expected to wind down around 4 to 5 p.m. Students were not planning to hold an encampment like those on other college campuses.