Fourth Estate/Andani Munkaila
SJP Mason unrolls large list of at least 5,000 names of deceased Palestinians during recent protest, expanding from the sixth floor balcony of Horizon Hall down to the second floor south entrance.
BY ANDANI MUNKAILA, SOCIAL MEDIA AND GRAPHICS EDITOR
On Jan. 31 around 11:30 a.m, Students for Justice in Palestine at GMU, or SJP Mason, led a school-wide walk out and protest starting at Student Union Building I and ending at Horizon Hall.
Later during the protest, SJP Mason would unroll a large banner extending from the sixth floor balcony of horizon hall down to the southern entrance of the building.
The banner, which at the top said in large words, “26,000+ Palestinians Martyred By The Israeli Occupation Since Oct. 7 2023,” was claimed to contain at least 5,000 names of deceased Palestinians according to a SJP Mason protest organizer.
In an Instagram post by SJP Mason, they announced their plan to meet at the Student Union Building I. “Take a stand by walking out of your classes, workplaces, or any activity you’re engaged in,” SJP Mason said. “Let your absence be a powerful statement, urging our university to address and acknowledge the atrocities taking place.”
The protestors then moved from the SUB I Quad to Horizon Hall.
Before entering Horizon Hall, an SJP Mason protest organizer said, “We want everyone to just follow us inside. We’re not going to be chanting or disturbing in any way.”
Among the crowd, protesters could be seen holding various signs, some stating that Israel has “destroyed every university in Gaza in 116 days” and “Arab lives only matter when there’s oil under their feet.”
Fourth Estate/Andani Munkaila
After entering Horizon, an SJP Mason protest organizer began a speech and said that thousands of students have died as of January 2024. “As of January 2024 there have been a number of [4,327] student deaths and 7,819 others have been injured. As students, we must recognize that this is an assault on the pursuit of knowledge as education is a form of resistance, and the most peaceful one at that,” the SJP Mason protest organizer said.
The protest organizer then began to read the names of students who had passed away in Gaza. They said one child, aged five, “had just finished kindergarten, and was looking forward to starting first grade. He was killed alongside his parents and siblings. His cousin wrote, ‘Let the world know that we buried the body of my cousin without a head. His head is still under the rubble.’”
A long banner, said to be filled with at least 5,000 names, later descended from the balcony of the highest floor of Horizon Hall down to the 2nd floor expanding short of the south exit.
After the speech, the SJP Mason protest organizer ended the protest, leaving their crowd with the words, “We will never back down. We will never give up, until Palestine is free.”
SJP later hosted a Vigil on Feb 1. at the Horizon Amphitheatre.
