Opinion: Students who walked past UO’s pro-Palestine encampment wondering where the idea came from, its end goal or its effectiveness should read this
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably seen or heard about the UO pro-Palestine encampment, which took place on the Memorial Quad and in front of Johnson Hall from April 29 to May 23. The goal? For UO to stop using student tuition to fund Israeli companies, including ones funding the weapons and surveillance in Gaza.
But where did this idea sprout from? What influences have students across the country and many parts of the world relied upon to guide their plans?
A significant student protest that has been brought up is the student protests against South African apartheid. While these protests occurred in 1985, their impact was widespread. For example, students at UC Berkeley began a sit-in, where they reclaimed Sproul Hall and slept in sleeping bags in the outside plaza of the building, which they renamed “Biko Plaza” after South African activist Steve Biko, who was killed by South African security officers while protesting.
The tents and sleeping bags were a representation of the brutal living conditions being forced onto South Africans on a daily basis.
When officers began arresting students who were protesting, 10,000 students boycotted classes, and celebrities like Alice Walker came to the campus to express their belief in freedom of speech.
The result of all of this was a $3.1 billion divestment from companies and businesses associated with the apartheid. Pretty successful, to say the least.
An even earlier example of U.S. college students exercising their right to peaceful protest on campus is the 1968 protests fighting against the Vietnam War. As with current events, Columbia University was at the forefront of those protests as well. In fact, five campus buildings were overtaken at Columbia alone during those protests.
The end result of that protest? Columbia University’s disaffiliation with the IDA (Institute for Defense Analyses).
In both cases, the aftermath was the students’ demands being met, so how much are the protests of the past informing current students?
Diego Duarte is a UO sophomore and was a member of the UO pro-Palestine encampment. According to Duarte, his group was calling for UO to disclose its investments; “divest in any military industrial company that is contributing to the genocide in Gaza”; boycott products on the BDS list, specifically ones heavily used on the UO campus; establish a Middle Eastern studies building on campus; and finally, for the students involved to not be punished.
When I asked about a connection between the 1985 protests and current ones, Duarte said that the UO encampment protest took “a lot of inspiration from the apartheid divestment movement.” He declined to comment when asked if there were any current attempts for government intervention in UO’s investments, like what happened during the apartheid protests.
Throughout history, college campus protests have made a difference. They do make a difference. They are a crucial way that students ensure that their voices are heard. Now that the encampment has reached an agreement with the UO Administration, we have more proof of that fact.
So, the next time your voices aren’t being heard, stand up for them. Just make sure it remains peaceful.