Three years after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, around 50 students from the Rhode Island School of Design and Brown, as well as several other community members, gathered on RISD’s campus to protest the Israel-Hamas war and to stand in solidarity with Palestinians.
Organized by RISD Students for Justice in Palestine, protestors called for the RISD administration to sever its partnerships with corporations that have financial ties to Israel, such as Textron and Airbnb. Students also denounced Brown’s study abroad programs in Israel.
Brown and RISD did not immediately respond to The Herald’s requests for comment.
After gathering on RISD’s campus, students and community members marched along South Main Street to the Providence River Pedestrian Bridge. As they marched, protestors were met with both applause and vocalized opposition from community members, including a man who stood at the rally’s gathering point holding an Israeli flag.
On the bridge, RISD sophomore and member of RSJP Michael Connors said that “all of us organizers have much to say about Oct. 7 and the brutal violence in the occupation of Gaza.”
“However, as much as we have to say about this, nothing is as important or as real as the voices, stories and experiences of Palestinians themselves,” Connors added.
Sadie Liebo, a RISD senior and member of RSJP, denounced the current conditions in Gaza, where she said there is limited access to “homes, medical care, food and water.”
“We must stand here with the knowledge that we, the people of the United States of America, have allowed our tax dollars to be funneled to Israel’s continued genocide of the Palestinian people,” Liebo said to the crowd. She also read a passage from her favorite book, “Culture and Imperialism” by the Palestinian-American author Edward Said.
Connors shared two poems: “This is Why We Dance” by Mohammed El-Kurd and “Oh Rascal Children of Gaza” by Khaled Juma. In an interview after the rally, Connors explained that RSJP organizes reading groups for students.
The organization is also fundraising to support three Palestinian families, said RSJP member and RISD junior Sasha Lee.
“I hope to see more students mobilized,” Lee added. “More engagement, not just at rallies, but helping us with the fundraising and with meetings.”
In an interview after the rally, Liebo said that RISD was hypocritical for emphasizing “decolonizing the art canon” in classes but still maintaining relationships with corporations like Textron and Airbnb.
“We just want to make it very clear that it’s unacceptable in so many ways,” Liebo said.
Liebo added that RISD “actively silence(s) Palestinian voices” and only creates spaces for Palestinian students when they are pushed to do so.
“We feel like artists and designers are going to be the ones that have the capability to send a message to the world that this is an incredibly serious issue,” Liebo said. “We want to amplify Palestinian voices as much as possible, so that we can make that happen.”
Zarina Hamilton is a university news editor covering activism and affinity & identity. She is junior from near Baltimore, Maryland and is studying mechanical engineering. In her free time, you can find her reading, journaling, or doing the NYT mini crossword.
