 "Photo: Mark Rojas")
The Palestine Solidarity Committee, an on-campus student organization, held a silent protest Thursday in the Trinity Commons.
Members of the organization stood in a line facing the Bell Memorial Union wearing shirts with the words “I reject,” written on them.
The organization was protesting the U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East in regards to the Israel-Palestine conflict, said junior Amro Jayousi, president of the Palestine Solidarity Committee and political science major.
“Our job is to uncover provocative issues that should be talked about more,” he said.
The organization wants to encourage thought in students and is disappointed with how the U.S. has handled the conflict in the Middle East, Jayousi said.
“We were expressing disappointment, we were expressing rejection, we were expressing protest and frustration,” he said.
The Palestine Solidarity Committee has lately been frustrated by House Resolution 867, which was passed through Congress, he said.
The resolution forces government officials to turn a blind eye toward reports revealing war crimes relating to the conflict, Jayousi said.
Students should be aware of what is going on in the Middle East because everyone has a hand in the conflict, he said.
“That intervention is coming through our tax dollars, that intervention is coming through our support or our silence, that support is coming through the way we discuss it,” Jayousi said.
There are very few protests on-campus that are as calm and collected as the one that took place Thursday, said junior Derek Hodges, who witnessed the demonstration.
“A silent stance is a strong stance,” Hodges said. “They’re expressing what they believe and I support that.”
The protest was eye-catching and effective, said freshman Alexandra Bernatz.
Being silent is a good way to get people to respect what you have to say, Bernatz said. It’s a passive way of getting a point across, but it works.
Mike North can be reached at
newseditor@theorion.com,
Anthony Siino can be reached at
asiino@theorion.com
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