Moataz Salim: The purpose is to show our solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the Gaza Strip

teleSUR English

teleSUR talks to Moataz Salim, Palestinian-American Graduate Student in George Washington University, about pro-Palestinian demonstrations spread to 60 U.S. universities.

Transcript

00:00 Let's now go deeper on this matter.

00:02 We'll welcome Moataz Salim, Palestinian-American graduate student from the George Washington

00:06 University.

00:07 Hi, Moataz.

00:08 Thank you for your time here and from the South.

00:10 Yeah, thank you for having me.

00:13 Moataz, first, what is the demand and purpose of the Palestine Solidarity Camps?

00:19 So the purpose, first and foremost, is to show our solidarity with our brothers and

00:25 sisters in Gaza, to remind the world that there's still a genocide going on in Gaza,

00:32 and to remind the world especially of what has happened to the educational institutions

00:36 in Gaza, all of which have been decimated.

00:39 Our demands as it pertains to George Washington University, we want them to disclose all their

00:45 accounts in terms of investments that they have and the donor money that they receive.

00:52 We want them to divest any money they have into Israeli tech companies or Israeli weapons

00:59 manufacturing companies.

01:01 We want them to protect black, brown students, people of color, especially the ones who have

01:09 been speaking up for Palestine because they faced a lot of repression.

01:14 Actually, we already have seven of the students here in the encampment have been suspended.

01:22 And at last, we would want them also to end their partnerships with any Israeli universities.

01:31 As you were saying, Moataz, the students have been abused and repressed by police officers.

01:36 Even so, far from the demonstration slowing down, the initiative has multiplied in dozens

01:40 of universities.

01:41 How are encampments developing after the reports of these police brutality?

01:48 I think honestly, the more they try to repress us, the more powerful the message is.

01:55 People are seeing the idea that if they weren't repressing us this hard, then we wouldn't

02:01 actually be changing something or threatening them.

02:05 And I think the repression is happening as a result of how effective these protests have

02:09 been.

02:10 So even though they've been cracking down on us hard, they've been intimidating us,

02:15 threatening us with police force for over 48 hours now, we've had more communities

02:20 show up than ever before and more are showing up every hour.

02:26 For many analysts, the U.S. stance will be decisive for the future of Gaza as Israel

02:31 threats to carry out a land invasion of Rafa despite warnings of its catastrophic humanitarian

02:36 consequences.

02:37 What repercussions might this wave of protests have on the White House stance on the conflict,

02:41 do you believe?

02:44 I think, well, I think that, you know, we expected a lot more from Joe Biden, especially

02:53 in terms of trying to stop the genocide and to call for a permanent, lasting ceasefire.

03:01 But it seems that the White House here has given them a green light to do whatever they

03:05 want even with all the war crimes that they've committed, with the mass graves being seen.

03:11 And now we're, and they just sent them earlier this week, $14 billion, $14 billion in aid

03:20 for weaponry to Israel.

03:23 So I think that's been the White House's stance.

03:26 And it has been decisive in the sense that it has allowed this genocide to go on for

03:32 far too long and it has helped them sustain the genocide.

03:35 And so we've decided that, you know, if that's what our government believes that's supposed

03:41 to represent us, it's not representing us well and it's up to us to disrupt and make

03:47 our voices heard.

03:49 How important are these international solidarities shown by the people, students and workers of

03:53 the world, the people of Gaza?

03:57 I think it means the world.

04:00 I personally, I'm from Gaza.

04:03 I'm a Palestinian American and I've lost family members to the genocide.

04:09 And I know from a lot of my own friends in Gaza, as well as just from seeing the reactions

04:15 online that no one in the world, like I can tell you as a Palestinian, I never imagined

04:22 I would see this in my life.

04:25 I never imagined I would see this many people come out and support and help us.

04:31 We have people coming in, giving us food and water and supplies to sustain us as long as

04:36 possible.

04:38 And I know for the children of Gaza, for the families, for all the people of Gaza, this

04:43 means the world.

04:45 They see our solidarity and it's giving them a lot of strength.

04:51 Thank you, Muathas, for your time in from the South.

04:53 Yeah, thank you.

04:54 Thanks for having me.

04:55 It's our pleasure.

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