International Meeting
2024 World Conference against A and H Bombs
Session 3
Rex Alex
Peace Action New York/ SUNY-BDS (State University of New York ? Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions)
U.S.A.
Good afternoon, My name is Rex Alex, I am a recently graduated student organizer, representing Peace Action New York State, Students for Justice in Palestine and SUNY BDS. I am honored to attend the World Conference Against A and H Bombs alongside many inspiring leaders in the global movement for peace and nuclear disarmament. I want to thank all the conference organizers for welcoming me and for their dedication and passion for shining a light on the stories of the Hibakusha and promoting dialogue which will lead us to a more peaceful world. As I dream of that peaceful world, I am reminded of the tragic reality of our current world which is plagued by war, genocides, humanitarian disasters and increased militarization. And I am reminded of the history which led us here. 79 years ago, the United States bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki with total disregard for humanity and the sanctity of life. Today I see the same inhumane disregard for innocent life when I look to Gaza and I am terrified of history repeating itself. In the past 10 months, the Israeli Apartheid state has intensified its attacks on the Palestinian people. The videos of wounded children searching through rubble to collect the bodies of their parents, the horror stories of refugee camps bombed, and the disturbing reality that my government finances these atrocities, moved me to despair and then motivated me to action. I quickly discovered that I was not the only one who was galvanized as a grassroots movement erupted across the United States, including a march in Washington DC with thousands of Americans demanding an end to the violence against Gaza. Within this movement, Peace Action New York State joined a campaign to bring a permanent ceasefire and end weapons shipments to Israel. At the same time, Peace Action Student Chapters participated in campus protests, organized educational events and hosted fundraisers in their universities.
At Stony Brook University, where I studied, the movement blossomed through passionate student activists who united together to demand our university to end its corporate partnerships and investments with weapons and technology companies which supply the Israeli military. We were appalled to learn that the university we pay tuition to, maintains partnerships with corporations such as IBM and Boeing who provide Israel with surveillance equipment and fighter jets which were used to airstrike refugee camps and kill innocents. These demands were part of the Palestinian BDS, or Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign. BDS originates in the struggle against Apartheid in South Africa and seeks to employ similar non-violent strategies to push governments, corporations, universities and other institutions to end their relations with Israel and pressure them to end their occupation and Apartheid against Palestinians. Inspired by the history of this movement, we were determined to win. Our campaign was defined by our audacity and boldness. For example, one of our first protests was to interrupt the university senate meeting where administrators and faculty members watched as we marched into the auditorium and I climbed on stage to give a speech. As I spoke about the importance of defending human rights and standing on the right side of history, a police officer grabbed my arm and ordered me to step off the stage. I followed the order while continuing the speech and was promptly threatened with arrest before being escorted out of the auditorium. For this action, I was subject to disciplinary meetings, yet myself and other students were undeterred from continuing our fight. As the death toll in Gaza continued to rise, we escalated our actions by holding a sit-in protest inside the university administration building, over 50 students gathered in the building lobby and in one voice echoed the same demand: divestment from Israeli’s genocide. Once again we were threatened with arrests and many students dispersed while some bravely stayed. I then watched as my friends were placed in handcuffs, dragged by police officers into cars and taken to a holding facility where they were held for five hours. In spite of this repression, we carried our campaign forward because we were inspired by the resilience of the Palestinian people; if they have not given up on their dreams of liberation, then how could we give up on them?
So as student protests in the form of Gaza Solidarity Encampments spread like wildfire across universities in the United States, my fellow organizers and I joined the movement. The idea was to build tents and campgrounds on college campuses, in solidarity with Palestinians living in tents in refugee camps, and refuse to leave the premises until the demands were met. The demands were simple: universities must disclose their financial holdings and divest from any companies which are complicit in Israeli war crimes. After weeks of planning, purchasing supplies and learning from other student organizers at universities such as Columbia University, we were ready to build our encampment. We began in the early morning of April 30th, at 4 am and by 7 am we had laid down tarps, hung banners and erected tents on the large grass covered hill in the middle of campus. Almost immediately we were harassed by police officers who made us take down the tents, yet we still maintained our presence on the campus. In the following hours we shared food, studied, read books, painted, and made our voices heard. By the middle of the day, one hundred students had gathered at the encampment, the energy was lively as we chanted and sang songs. Many students contributed to our solidarity art wall which was full of signs painted by students to express their cultural backgrounds and their solidarity with Palestine. For example, some signs read, “Japanese for a Free Palestine”, or “Koreans for a Free Palestine” and many other similar signs. The art wall and our encampment became a symbol of solidarity as it represented people of various backgrounds uniting to stand up for human rights. In the late night, I ended this first day of encampment the same way I began in the early morning, by arguing with police about our rights to demonstrate. That night over 40 students slept outside in sleeping bags despite rain and cold temperatures. This demonstrated our commitment and dedication to our cause.
On the second day of the encampment, in an act of defiance, we erected another tent. This time protestors circled around the tent and we locked arms with one another. The police attacked immediately as they dragged students on the ground and attempted to destroy the encampment. After several minutes of fighting with the police, they backed off and we successfully constructed five more tents and gave rousing speeches on the power of solidarity. It was at this point that I met with university officials to discuss our demands of financial transparency and divestment from weapons companies. Much to my surprise, when I presented an offer to negotiate, the university’s Vice President of Student Affairs responded by placing me on suspension and threatening to arrest me if I did not leave the campus. Before leaving, I informed the other members of our organizing team of what happened to me, some of them began to cry, soon after I left, they too were suspended. Despite the suspensions and the threat of arrest, many students stayed at the encampment. That night they faced off with an army of
over 100 police officers who invaded our college. As the student protestors stood opposite the police, hundreds of other students came to witness history and support their peers. Chants of “Disclose, Divest, We Will Not Stop, We Will Not Rest” and “Free Palestine” echoed across the campus. Once again the police attacked, this time by chasing students and tackling them to the ground, at the end of the night 29 people were arrested and an atmosphere of chaos and fear lingered. Those who were arrested also faced suspensions and residential students were evicted from their dormitories, making them temporarily homeless. Thus the Gaza Solidarity Encampment became a life changing experience for those of us involved. These stories are from just one encampment in one university; across the country, over 70 encampments were built this past semester and each one came with its own challenges and triumphs.
Although we finished the semester without accomplishing our goals for divestment, I take pride in how our movement awakened a politically dormant student body to the realities of the genocide against Palestinians. My experiences as a student activist this past semester has taught me several lessons. I have learned that those in power have no interest in listening to civil society and they will concede no demands unless placed under immense pressure. I have also learned the value of solidarity, because when faced against frightening circumstances, I found strength from the people standing next to me and I found comfort from the community we built. Ultimately I learned to find hope. Even as conditions become more dire for Palestinians, and as I feel helpless and frustrated at my limited ability to bring change, I found hope in the millions of selfless young people around the world who stand up to fight for a cause greater than themselves. My time in Japan so far had a similar impact on me; between the somber reminders of the tragic bombings against Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I found inspiration from this global community of peace activists who will lead us to a safer future.
So now when I dream of that more peaceful world, one without nuclear weapons, one without genocide, and one without war, I know that this dream will come true. The spirit of our time is clear, bold and passionate young people are going to show that a better world is possible, with hope in our hearts and words of revolution on our lips.