Next to the entrance of the Indiana Memorial Union Starbucks hangs a portrait of Martin Luther King Jr. Through the door there is a sit-in protest against Starbucks’ and Indiana University’s support of Israel.
The protest organized by the Palestine Solidarity Committee started the first Monday of February and has been held every Monday since. The protest was announced through a post on their Instagram. “We will continually make our presence known and reject institutions complicit in genocide.”
Since Oct. 11th, when Israel launched airstrikes with the goal of wiping out Hamas, at least 31,000 Palestinians have been killed according to a statement by the Gaza health ministry. On Jan. 26th the United Nations International Court of Justice described Israel’s actions as genocide.
Samia Halaby a Palestinian artist set to have an exhibit of her artwork shown at the Eskenazi Museum of Art was canceled over security concerns and her Instagram posts advocating for Palestinians. Thanks to the efforts of Elizabeth Housworth through the Bloomington chapter of the American Association of University Professors they were able to have a show on Feb. 17th entitled “Samia Halaby Uncanceled.”
IU has six cultural centers: the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center, LGBTQ+ Culture Center, La Casa Latino Cultural Center, First Nations Educational and Cultural Center, Asian Culture Center and the Jewish Culture Center. IU has not announced any plans to create a middle eastern cultural center.
Abdulkader Sinno, a political science professor and the old faculty advisor to the PSC was suspended from teaching until the upcoming fall semester. He violated university policy when he, according to the IDS “filled out a room reservation form for an event with Israeli American speaker and pro-Palestinian activist Miko Peled.”
A “car attempted to run them over,” said group member Lilia Wolf, when talking about an alleged hate crime committed in Dec. near Pizza X. She said that the incident was reported to IU but that nothing has been done to help the two women.
Pamela Whitten, the president of IU, has not released a statement regarding Israel and Palestine since Oct. WFHB reached out to IU for comment but did not get a response prior to publication.
The sit-in has encountered opposition. According to Hannah Hinshaw, a Palestine Solidarity Committee group member, a man at the first sit-in was calling protestors terrorist and making derogatory comments about their hijabs. Counter protestors have been present at several sit-ins with a sign that committee members feel is meant to mock the saying “free free Palestine.”
The Palestine Solidarity Committee plans to hold the sit-in protest every Monday from 7:30 a.m to 3:30 p.m for the rest of the semester and encourages people to stop by.
WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
