On Thursday, November 9, 2023, the Students for Justice in Palestine rang in their revival at Stockton University with a “Shut It Down! For Palestine” silent demonstration. The demonstration, which was held in front of the Galloway Campus Center, lasted from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and was accompanied by a teach-in on Palestine’s history. Attendees were encouraged to walk out from school and work, wear Keffiyehs and Palestinian colors, and hold up provided or pre-approved signs to show their support for Palestine. Counter-demonstrators from Chabad Stockton also attended, holding signs in support of Israel.

Mahjah Chowdhury, President of Students for Justice in Palestine at Stockton University, stated that the silent demonstration was held in order to raise awareness about the “horrors of the Israeli occupation” and to “show [their] solidarity with the people of Palestine, in the context of the month-long assault on Gaza.”

“We were aiming to give our Stockton community a space to feel heard and show solidarity with the Palestinian people. We felt as if there has not been much of an acknowledgment of the severity of what has been happening and all of the lives lost, which is why we brought it upon ourselves to bring more attention to the issue on campus,” she said.

When asked what she hoped that students would take away from the demonstration, Chowdury responded that she hopes to give the Stockton Community a “heightened awareness of the Israeli occupation and the Palestinian liberation movement” and that Students for Justice in Palestine wants to “create an awareness of the realities of the Palestinian condition under occupation, not just since October 7th, but for the last 75 years.”

During her conversation with The Argo, Chowdhury also touched upon an Instagram post published by Students for Justice in Palestine, which mentioned that attendees with pre-made posters must have their materials approved beforehand. “With a matter this sensitive, it’s important to make sure that our narrative is concise and could not be misinterpreted or misconstrued in any way…it not only speeds up the process of holding an event like this, it also takes the burden away from students who are managing other responsibilities. Our club understood that in providing these signs, [they] would be indicative of the cause…while maintaining guidelines that ensured others would not be triggered or have misinformation on the signs,” she said.

She also expressed her concerns with the University’s response to the violence in Palestine, stating that Stockton “seems to observe our feelings of grief and stress, and despite being aware of this, we see a clear and noticeable reluctance to acknowledge Palestinian suffering and the rise in anti-Arab and anti-Muslim hate crimes in this country as a result.”

“At the beginning of October, students were sent an email calling it ‘Israel and Gaza’ and another event was held calling it a ‘conflict.’ We believe that this is a Palestinian issue…there are no two sides to genocide, ethnic cleansing, and settler colonialism in which one side has the fourth largest military with nuclear weapons, and the other side has had their food, water, and electricity cut off in an act of collective punishment,” said Chowdhury.

Chowdhury and Students for Justice in Palestine’s executive board urged students to support their cause by attending their future events and “learning about Palestine with empathy and an open mind.”

“Since students hear about this on the news and from social media, our events help to contextualize the headlines with knowledgeable speakers, while creating a community for members of our university who are interested. When the violence and attacks in Palestine make news, many students feel silenced or not heard. To combat this, Students for Justice in Palestine is a campus organization that allows students to feel free to express themselves and to communicate to the wider community their voices and concerns. Because our mainstream media have silenced Palestinian voices for so long, SJP can help amplify pro-Palestinian perspectives,” she said.

To stay up-to-date with Students for Justice in Palestine at Stockton’s latest news and events, check out their Instagram (@sjpstockton) and OspreyHub pages.

For more information on the violence in Palestine, see the Global Conflict Tracker’s report or the ACLED Fact Sheet.