On Sept. 12, members from University of Maine Jewish Voice for Peace (UMaine JVP) brought together a group of student activists to further challenge the actions of the Israeli government and UMaine in relation to the war in Gaza. Creeping up on the second anniversary of the ongoing conflict, the members of UMaine JVP spoke at the steps of Fogler Library with signs like the one above that read “No Schools Left in Gaza.” President of UMaine JVP, Talia Callum, hopes to make a stand against the university.
“We can’t act in taking down the entire Israeli government from here in Maine. But what we can do is that we can make our institution, this university, stop its financial investment in those crimes. Our tuition dollars should not be used to profit off of the death and destruction of a people,” said Callum.
Member of UMaine JVP, Gabe Veilleux, spoke to the Maine Campus before the rally began. As other members wrote in chalk on the ground and prepared to march through the university, Veilleux shared his gratitude for the strong turnout of support. He told the Maine Campus, “I think it is great that people are out here. I think it’s great that people decided to come out and are still making a stand. It’s been two years since this round of genocide really began in Gaza. To still have people coming out and to still have people persisting about UMaine divesting – that is what is really important.”
When asked if these rallies that UMaine JVP has led have resulted in anything from the University, Veilleux said, “It is still just kind of constant resistance. It is a complete refusal to budge on the issue. It is really frustrating.”
Veilleux suggested hypocrisy on the university’s end, stating that the land acknowledgement agreement UMaine has with the Penobscot Nation should extend sympathy to the Palestinian plight.
“This university has made a land acknowledgement statement, acknowledging that the state is the former homeland of the Penobscot nation that was stolen from them. It is their rightful homeland of the Penobscot people. To turn around and see the university not do anything to help stop the ongoing ethnic cleansing that we are seeing right now is very hypocritical,” said Veilleux.
He also spoke of the current political climate in the U.S. regarding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), connecting it to the ongoing violence in the Middle East.
“Right now, ICE is grabbing innocent people off of the street everywhere in this country, including Maine. Including in Bangor, in our area. The university stayed silent on that, just as they stayed silent on the same terrorism inflicted on the Palestinian people. In fact, ICE is using the same tactics here that the Israeli military uses against the Palestinians in the West Bank in Gaza. We cannot let this happen – not here, not in Palestine.”
Protester and history graduate student, Asher Reisman, spoke more about the economic entanglements between the United States and Israel as a whole, including UMaine’s financial involvement. He pushed for the divestment of the university.
“This bloodthirsty machine [Israel] is funded, in so many respects, by American society, but it is also funded by our university. There are other places this money could be put that would be equally profitable, if not more so. Israel is in the beginning stages of an economic collapse, which is not surprising because it is not a functional society; it depends on tremendous American aid. American tax dollars go to fund a zionist, genocidal state.”
Reisman noted UMaine’s historical divestment in the 1980s from Apartheid South Africa, which set a precedent for connecting ethical standards to financial dealings. Arguing Israel’s current state actions are a form of apartheid, UMaine JVP argues for divestment.
Photo Description/Alternate Text: The Rally for Palestine activists marching the perimeter of the Mall on campus. Multiple homemade signs are held with inscriptions such as “End the Occupation”, “Divest UMS,”, “Free Palestine” and “End the Occupation.” Photo by Tyler Bridges.
Following the concluding remarks from Reisman, the activists took their march on the path around the Mall. They chanted for Palestinian freedom and for university divestment with their signs held high.
