In order to write this article, to sit down and gather my thoughts, I’ve had to tap into the minimal strength I have left to address political issues. Each and every time I open my phone or walk past a newsstand, there is yet another story that is heartbreaking, terrifying and infuriating.
Like many people, I keep asking myself when this will end, how we can ever possibly begin to live in a world free of hatred, oppression, and senseless violence. But I feel like considering the latter is always interrupted– each new event punctuates my ability to be thoughtful, to not succumb to despair and hopelessness.
Halfway across the world, in the occupied Palestinian territories, the long-awaited and strained ceasefire has seen a bloody end, perpetrated by the Israeli Defense Forces. In the early hours of March 18th, Israel launched an unpreceded barrage of airstrikes across Gaza, killing hundreds of Palestinians during what was meant to be a possible conclusion of the war.
Encouraged by Trump and his far-right allies, Netanyahu permitted a violation of the ceasefire deal that was meant to soon enter into its second phrase: negotiating for an end to the war, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, and the continued exchange of hostages and Palestinian prisoners. A little over two weeks prior, on March 2nd, Israel halted the transport of supplies into Gaza, a violation of both international law and the ceasefire agreement, an action that had been repeated many times over the course of the war.
I needn’t ask why these morally reprehensible, cruel and illegal acts continue to occur at the hands of the Israeli military. We have all been bearing witness to a brutal ethnic cleansing campaign from afar, but that distance does little to soften the horrors we see on our screens.
This rhetoric has found a place in the United States as well, manifesting in police violence against protestors and the detonation of multiple college students who are facing the threat of deportation. On March 25th, Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish doctoral student studying at Tufts University with a valid student visa, was whisked away into federal custody in broad daylight.
While going out to break her Ramadan fast with friends, Ozturk was accosted by ICE agents and detained, and transported to a detention center in Louisiana without charges filed against her. Ozturk was already in Louisiana before her lawyer set foot in the courtroom.
What had she done to be threatened with the prospect of deportation? Co-author an op-ed that called for her school to recognize the Palestinian genocide and divest from companies with ties to Israel. In other words, she exercised her right to freedom of speech (those who have visas are protected by the Constitution) but was designated as a “terrorist sympathizer” and a threat to national security.
Ozturk is a student, just like all of us. Mahmud Kahlil, Badar Khan Suri, Ranjani Srinivasan and others balanced school, work and activism because they believed in justice. Their courage has become a target for the United States’ government, and that strength lives on in students across the country.
Even though I, like many others, feel overwhelmed, mentally burdened, and physically exhausted, I can still find the power to focus on inciting change. It is our duty to stand up for what is right, just and ethical—even if doing so seems to increasingly put students in the line of fire.
History is being written now, and this moment in time will be marked by the perils of authoritarianism and genocide. Ask yourself where you want to be seen in this story, and do what you are able to fight against oppression in the present.
