Boston University students, joined by faculty and staff, held an emergency rally April 18 calling on BU to declare itself a sanctuary campus and protesting federal funding of military operations in Gaza.
The demonstration, organized by the Quinobequin Student Front For Palestine, formerly known as BU Students for Justice in Palestine, drew more than 20 people.
Protesters marched from Marsh Plaza down Bay State Road, stopping at the Questrom School of Business.
Rob, a sophomore at Emerson College who asked to be identified by a nickname, said he joined the protest in solidarity with international students.
“They needed voices and noise, and I can talk, and I can yell, so I’m here,” he said. “I have a lot of friends here on visas, so the fact that they could be deported based on an opinion is very scary to me … I know people that could be a victim to what we’re protesting right now.”
BU sophomore Elle Feng said she felt a personal responsibility to be part of the protest.
“As a daughter of immigrants myself, I feel that it is my duty to stand here for immigrants and humanity during this time,” she said.
The rally began at Marsh Plaza, where Nathan Phillips, a professor in BU’s Department of Earth and Environment, addressed the crowd while on the third day of a hunger strike for Palestine.
“You’re not silent, and I’m not silent about the shit that’s going on in this country and on this campus,” Phillips said during his speech.
Phillips’ hunger strike is in solidarity with three international students detained by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement: Rumeysa Öztürk, Mohsen Mahdawi and Mahmoud Khalil.
“Her First Amendment right was violated. Her Fifth Amendment right to due process was violated,” Phillips said, referring to Öztürk. “This is inhumane, despicable, disgraceful treatment of human beings just for expressing their opinions.”
His hunger strike is also protesting the University for its response to pro-Palestine political expression and for “practicing selective enforcement,” after a sign in his office window that read “Free Rumeysa” was taken down numerous times.
While marching down Bay State Road, the group held signs reading, “Sanctuary campus now” and “Free Rumeysa.”
As they stopped briefly at Questrom’s Silber Way entrance, protesters circled around each other chanting “Sanctuary campus now.”
Several BU Police Department officers were stationed outside the Commonwealth Avenue and Silber Way entrances, and two police vehicles were parked blocking cars from driving on Silber Way.
Esperanza, a BU senior who wished to be identified by a nickname to protect her immigrant parents, said it is crucial for as many people as possible to come together and push BU to take action in protecting its students.
“We need to be leaders,” she said. “We need to stand against this tyranny and oppression of education and also free Palestine and free Rumeysa.”
The Quinobequin Student Front for Palestine has organized two other rallies in the past two weeks, each calling on the University to publicly commit to protecting international and undocumented students. As of April 18, BU has neither issued a statement nor engaged in negotiations with the group.
“I hope they see that they are failing their students right now by being complicit, by being silent and by refusing to listen to our demands and not wanting to negotiate with us,” Esperanza said.
Feng expressed hope the administration would respond to the rally’s demands given international students’ stake at BU.
“A quarter of our student body is international, so at least a quarter of our student body lives in fear every single day,” she said. “The least they can give us is a safe campus.”
Esperanza said she hopes BU administration realizes it is “standing on the wrong side of history.”
“We’re becoming united, we’re becoming larger, and we’re gaining a larger voice,” she said. “I hope that they sense this demand from us, and I hope that they finally give us a chance.”
