Lincoln protest calls for ceasefire in Gaza
On Sunday, Dec. 3, over 200 protesters gathered outside of the Pinnacle Bank Arena. Organizers led the group in chants starting around 1:45 p.m. The protest met mixed reactions as lines of fans entered the arena for a basketball game.
On the instagram account @justiceforpalestine.lincoln, organizers wrote, “We are asking for a permanent ceasefire (not a temporary ‘humanitarian pause’) and ask the United States, Nebraska, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and all other institutions to call for an end to the siege on Gaza.” Other official calls are for a public acknowledgement of the genocide and oppression Palestinians have faced for the past 75 years; the protection of individuals rights to freedom of speech and boycott, divestment of Nebraska and UNL from Israel; and the protection of Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims.
An organizer addressed the crowd of protesters and the public, outlining the reasons for the protest. She named the Israeli aggression against Gaza a genocide and stated that Palestinians “are human beings and have the right to peace and life as much anyone else.”
Around 3 p.m., as the lines entering the arena dwindled, the protestors moved on, marching through the streets as they continued chants and rain began to fall. The destination was UNL campus, where the group gathered outside the Nebraska Union. Using a megaphone, organizers began to speak and invited UNL students and faculty to join.
A Ukrainian-American UNL student began the speeches. “We are here to advocate for Palestinians,” she said, “because we have access to the most powerful government in the world.”
Another UNL student read a statement, also given to the UNL student government, which contains information about the history of Israeli transgressions against Palestinians including the apartheid system in the West Bank, the use of white phosphorus, land seizures and forced displacement.
A Palestinian-American spoke about her experience in Palestine as a child and the fear she experienced under Israeli occupation. She concluded her speech by stating, “It means so much seeing so many diverse faces here, because I did not think in Nebraska I would see people standing up for us.” She carried a sign which said, “My Grandparents didn’t survive the Nakba to die now.”
Organizers passed out information about Nebraska’s economic connections to Israel. Citing the Jewish Virtual Library, the pamphlet stated that Nebraska exported $53 million worth of manufactured goods to Israel in 2022, which marks a 33 percent increase from 2021. Nebraska also “has received over $1.8 million worth of grants from binational US-Israel foundations for joint research in various fields.”
Organizers spoke about a proposed bill in the Nebraska Legislature that would prevent state and local governments from conducting business with companies that boycott Israel. One stated, “The encroachment of the freedom of Palestians is taking away our freedoms. Our struggles are connected. We are not standing up for Palestinians, we are standing with Palestinians for our freedom, for their freedom, for freedom worldwide.”
Another Palestinian-American spoke about her travels to Palestine as a child and young adult. “I understood the Israeli occupation was an apartheid system used to separate us from them. I understood in the eyes of Israel, we were inferior. Animals, savages that needed to be constantly monitored and intimidated in order to prevent resistance. I understood that the conditions that Palestinains lived under were not simply because they were impoverished, but because Israel put us under those conditions.”
She concluded her speech by stating, “A lot of people are looking at just a snapshot of the bigger picture. They look at Oct. 7 and ask us why we started it.” She argues that this question ignores “75 years of occupation, 75 years of oppression, 75 years of apartheid, 75 years of ethnic cleansing, 75 years of genocide, 75 years too many.”
After the speeches, protesters continued chanting and marching, now through snow, to the capitol building.
At the capitol, a Native American speaker addressed the crowd, “We have endured the settler imperial machine that calls itself the United States. We have survived the elimination, removal and trauma of our ancestors. We live under its illegal occupation. We are not lost and we’re still here. Do you know what that means? We are in our fifth century of resistance.” She voiced her support for Palestine, stating, “We support Palestinian right of return, we support Palestinian self-determination, we support Palestinian sovereignty and we know that colonialism was not inevitable ...We join our arms with our Palestinian sisters, brothers and relatives in our interconnected struggles for liberation.”
A Jewish speaker, whose grandparents survived Auschwitz, spoke of her experience being indoctrinated into Zionism and argued that by wrongly applying anti-semitism to those standing for Palestinian dignity and freedom, Zionists endanger the entire Jewish community and all those who speak for Palestine.
Organizers led the group in one more series of chants, before the protestors dispersed.
By Aubrey Benton