Last Wednesday, Oct. 25, the Students for Justice in Palestine at UC San Diego held an emergency walkout to show support for Palestinians in Gaza. The walkout was sparked by recent developments in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. Israel carried out an overnight raid beginning Wednesday night, which NPR has reported as “the most extensive use of Israeli tanks in Gaza since it launched its war with the Palestinian militant group Hamas after the Oct. 7 attacks.” European Union member states have also called for a break in the war due to the need to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. 

Beginning at 5 p.m., SJP began their walkout on the Sun God Lawn, walked down Library Walk, and eventually ended in Price Center. Approximately 100 students participated in the walkout. Students leading the march held a sign that read, “End US Funds to Israel, Free Palestine,” with a Palestinian flag in the bottom left corner. Many students in the crowd held Palestinians flags, as well as signs they had made expressing support for Palestine. Students also chanted, “Free Palestine,” as well as “end the occupation.”

SJP also hosted walkouts on other UC campuses. SJP at UCLA, UCSB, and UC Berkeley held walkouts for Palestine on Oct. 25.

The walkout reached a head when the group entered Price Center, making their way to the A.S. Council meeting taking place. During the public forum, walkout participants spoke about Palestine and victims in Gaza. They also emphasized the responsibility of Associated Students and UCSD to declare Israel as an apartheid state, echoing statements from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. 

“We are not here to ask you to choose Israel or Palestine, we are asking to condemn the genocide and apartheid state which has been declared a fact by Israeli human rights group,” said a member of the public who didn’t share their identity during public forum. 

“SJP and other student groups expressed their opinion and gave their own viewpoints into why A.S. should be taking a stand in supporting students,” A.S. President George Chi Ioi Lo said, reflecting on the meeting. “Because every second we remained silent, people were dying.” 

The public forum lasted approximately an hour and 45 minutes, after A.S. Senators Safiya Siddiq and Mia Van Deloo voted to extend the time allotted. At the end of the meeting, the A.S. Council pushed to vote to endorse SJP’s statement that Israel is an apartheid state and “Israeli officials have called for the genocide of Palestinians.” The council unanimously voted to support the statement. On the A.S. UCSD Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion’s Instagram, they posted the statement with the council’s signed endorsement. 

“It happened over a relatively short amount of time,” Lo said. “Usually when we have a resolution we need to pass, it goes through the legislative committee. However, it was brought and passed to the table by a couple of senators.”