Roughly one hundred protestors – took to the lawn in front of the Cathedral of Learning to protest Israel’s attacks against Lebanon and Palestine, on Wed., Sept. 25. They called for an arms embargo on Israel. The protest was by Burghprotests, a community organization that has organized and promoted protests since June 2020.
A number of community members and students led the protest, speaking to the crowd and leading a number of chants such as “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” “no peace on stolen land,” “from the belly of the beast, hands off the Middle East” and “How many kids did you kill today?”
Holding signs and chanting, the protestors marched down from the cathedral to the corner of Schenley Drive and Forbes Avenue. There, a number of people spoke and a memorial was held for those whose lives have been lost.
One of these speakers, Lara, a student from Lebanon, gave a speech about her and her family’s thoughts. She said that her family is currently living in Lebanon, where they live in fear of constant attacks and view Israel as a new foreign power trying to force them from their homes. She also spoke on how the United States is heavily involved in these conflicts, funding and participating in wars such as those in Syria, Vietnam and now Lebanon and Palestine.
Finally, she spoke about how, growing up, she always felt a lack of care in the west for those living in the Middle East. She mentioned the repercussions people faced for speaking out against U.S. involvement, such as fear of being prosecuted or deported. During the protesters’ speeches, they referred to the civilians killed in the conflict as martyrs.
Members of the crowd, such as AI Heart, were reached out to for comment, a former union representative for the Electricians Union. He said that he was there because “the government is complicit in a genocide” and was there to push for a cease in US funding. He was carrying a sign reading “labor against genocide” and “unions demand arms embargo on Israel.” He was there as a representative of the seven labor unions which have declared support for a ceasefire: the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA), American Postal Workers Union (APWU), International Union of Painters (IUPAT), National Education Association (NEA), Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and United Auto Workers (UAW) and United Electrical Workers (UE).
A small confrontation started towards the edge of the crowd, as a small group carrying an Israeli flag and chanting “where are the hostages” appeared, including members of College Republicans of Pitt. A bout of insults were exchanged between the counter-protestors and a few of the protestors.
A number of police officers moved from the Cathedral of Learning to stand near the counter-protestors, presumably to stop an escalation, but refused to give any comment. We were able to speak to a few of the counter-protestors for comment. Josh Ominsky, a senior at Pitt, said that he was there to support “Israel’s just war against Hamas and Hezbollah.”
When asked about their interactions with the pro-Palestine protesters, he claimed that the protestors refuse to speak to them unless given “explicit permission from their leaders,” despite multiple protestors having attempted to speak to him and other counter-protesters. He also said that they believed that the correct course of action was to expel Hamas and Hezbollah from Palestine and Lebanon, and that, as Jewish people, they feel these chants against Israel are “promoting genocidal rhetoric.” He also claimed that “if the radical Left really cared for Palestine, they would support Israel going in and killing the terrorists controlling the nation.”
According to OCHA, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, as of Sept. 23, 2024, 41,431 Palestinian casualties have been reported.
We also spoke with Dylan Mitchell, the vice president of College Republicans of Pitt. He felt that the rally was “disgusting” and that calls such as “from the river to the sea” were calls for a genocide of the Jewish people. He also said that the chant of “honoring all the martyrs” (signs and speakers at the rally used martyrs to refer to the civilians killed in the conflict) was about the leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah who had been killed. He referred to the protestors as “useful idiots for the state of Iran” and “proxies for Iran”
Finally, we spoke with Karim Safieddine, a speaker at the rally from Lebanon. When asked what the ultimate goal of these protests was, she said that it was aimed to reach “an end for the war in which our government is complicit, and we cannot remain silent.”
When asked for comment on the counter-protestors, he said, “I can’t speak for them. They want the war to continue, we want the war to end, but we will continue in a democratic process.” He also said that they have no plans to end the protests and will continue until the U.S. stops support. Burghprotests are planning more protests over the next weeks.
