They're calling it a week of action. Area Palestinian students will rally at St. Louis universities this week in support of Palestine. Student leaders said they will demand that the institutions ensure safety, and that the schools speak out about the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
“Nobody feels protected, nobody feels safe, and it’s just scarier and scarier with all the news that we keep hearing, what’s happening to Palestinians, people that look ethnic, look like Arabs," said Haneen Ghanam, president of the Middle Eastern Student Association at UMSL.
Ghanam said the week of action comes after some universities issued statements that were neutral about the conflict, or they didn’t say anything at all.
“It almost feels like nobody cares about us,” she said. “You should protect everybody; everyone should feel safe, but it almost feels as if it’s a one-sided thing.”
Advocacy groups at Washington University, Saint Louis University, and the University of Missouri St. Louis will lead the protests and have already sent letters to university officials with a list of demands.