Students in Gaza express gratitude for pro-Palestinian protests at American universities
Palestinian students carry signs in Rafah, Gaza, on April 28. (Photo: Tariq Al-Helou/CNN).
Dozens of Palestinian students staged a show of solidarity at a massive march in southern Gaza on Sunday to express their gratitude for the support provided by American universities in recent weeks.
A video from the Shaboura refugee camp in Rafah shows children holding signs reading: “Columbia University students, please continue to support us” and “Violating our right to education and life is a war crime.”
Students gathered around makeshift tents near a school that now serves as a shelter for Palestinians displaced from northern Gaza. The footage shows people drawing messages of thanks on tent fabric, saying: “Thank you to the students in solidarity with Gaza.” Your message has arrived.”
A man writes a letter of thanks to American students protesting in solidarity with the people of Gaza, in a tent at a camp for displaced Palestinians in Rafah, Gaza, on April 27. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)
Takfir Abu Youssef, a displaced student from the northern city of Beit Hanoun, told CNN that he felt it was necessary to thank the students in the United States who “supported us with their humanity.”
“We cannot write these letters of thanks on the walls of our homes because we do not have a home. They have been destroyed along with our children, elders and women.”
Rana Al-Taher, 18, pointed to the camp's school and told CNN that what should have been a place of learning and teaching became a place of refuge.
“This means that we have lost our education. We have lost our only hope in Gaza and we want it back. We are here to demand its return. We have the right to restore it… and that is why we are here,” he said.
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