(L-R) Sohrab Ford, Students for Gaza SFSU organizer, and Rama Ali Kased, associate professor in Race and Resistance Studies, speak to an estimated 340 people at the Bay Area Popular Convention for Palestine inside the Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California in Oakland, Calif. on Sept. 15, 2024. (Dan Hernandez / Golden Gate Xpress)
Students for Gaza (S4G) at San Francisco State University, alongside a coalition of students, labor, and community, will come together to shut down their campuses through informational pickets and activities on Oct. 8.
According to an S4G Instagram post, students will be walking out of classes and picketing from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. so funds can continue to be spent on jobs and education at the university rather than war and occupation.
Faculty for Justice in Palestine’s SFSU chapter will have a line-up of teach-outs throughout campus with a student rally starting at noon at Malcolm X Plaza. At 6 p.m. a student-worker rally, United Across the Bay Area for a Free Palestine, will be held at Crescent Lawn at the University of California, Berkeley.
On Sept. 15, over 340 people attended the Bay Area Popular Convention for Palestine in Oakland where various community groups participated in discussions and came up with some demanded proposals to create a mass movement for Palestinian Liberation.
“We want an end to the siege and the occupation in Palestine. We want to end the U.S.-backed aid and then we want to support anyone who’s going through repression,” said Rosita, a healthcare worker for Bay Area Labor for Palestine. “So that includes students, labor, and community members. And then also no money for war and reinvest in education.”
Along with SFSU, other Bay Area schools including UC Berkeley, Berkeley High School, Berkeley City College, University of San Francisco, UC Santa Cruz, and San Jose State University will host campus actions throughout the day.
Highland Hospital in Oakland will also participate by hosting a rally at noon.
“For about a year now, we’ve been organizing around on-campus issues to build towards this kind of movement. So we’ve been talking with students in our classrooms. We’ve been building our relationship with our faculty via the issues that they’ve been organizing with their unions and from assemblies like these,” said Japneet Khanuja, a student organizer for S4G, during a speech. “We were the first city to host open bargaining sessions with our administration, making them meet on our terms.”
Students For Gaza joined Labor for Palestine, a group of labor activists in support of Palestinians, and created a convention planning committee to unite people.
“The students alone, we have a lot of power. Where? The core of our power comes from — is in our ability to act as a catalyst for laborers to go on strike, to actually put a stop to the weapons, to the logistics company that are sending over the bombs right now,” said Sohrab Ford, another S4G organizer.
The Action Coordinating Committee (ACC) formed within the conference will work among different sectors that attended and who endorsed the conference in aligning strategies, reviewing new interest forms, and inviting members to join.
“What we saw as the students who you know at these encampments had great education. They pulled in community members, they worked with local organizers. So we want to just really piggyback off that strength as well,” said Rosita. “It’s important for us to really challenge power but in a cohesive way where we’re all working with each other with a common goal.”
On Oct. 3, S4G and UC Berkeley speakers held another brief rally and informational picket near the main entrance of the Humanities Building to build momentum for the upcoming strike.
To check in, students can start at the Quad to get information and then have the option to participate in activities like a drum circle, music picket near the Muni Metro M stop and the 57 bus stop, poster making, chalking near the Humanities Building, and zine making, and chalking near Burk Hall.
About the Contributors
Melissa Garcia (She/Her) is a reporter for Golden Gate Xpress. She is majoring in Bilingual Spanish Journalism and minoring in Marketing. Growing up in a suburb outside of Chicago, IL, she later moved to Santa Barbara, California, where she graduated from San Marcos High School and Santa Barbara City College. During her time at SBCC, she wrote and was Editor-in-Chief on the school news site, The Channels. Melissa Garcia (Ella) es reportera de Golden Gate Xpress. Estudia Periodismo Bilingüe en español con una Especialización en Marketing. Creció en un suburbio fuera de Chicago, Illinois, y luego se mudó a Santa Bárbara, California, donde se graduó de San Marcos High School y Santa Barbara City College. Durante su tiempo en SBCC, escribió y fue la directora del sitio de noticias de la escuela, The Channels.
Dan Hernandez (he/him) is the A&E Editor for Golden Gate Xpress, majoring in journalism and minoring in business administration. He is an award-winning multimedia journalist, applying his skills in both news reporting and press photography. He got his start in journalism at 15 years old as a staff writer for The Advocate at Contra Costa College before becoming editor-in-chief as a high school senior. Outside of journalism, he is probably camping on a road trip, playing water polo, riding his bike or dancing at concerts. He also goes by the nickname “Biscuit.”
