Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist praises student protests at UMD event in support of Gaza

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Chris Hedges emphasized the importance of the student protest to dozens of members of the University of Maryland community on Thursday.

Hedges, a former Middle East bureau chief for The New York Times and the author of numerous books on war and politics, joined the university’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter to discuss “genocide and global complicity” in the Gaza Strip.

The student protests give hope to people who care about Palestine, Hedges told the crowd during a speech at the Stamp Student Union.

Drawing on his years of experience covering events in Palestine, Hedges noted that some Palestinians feel that the world has forgotten about them. But that’s why student protests in support of Gaza are important, he said.

“Every time you set up camp, every time you hold a protest, every time you occupy a hall, that message resonates not only domestically, but throughout the world – and especially in the Gaza Strip,” he said. Hedges.

(UMD students attend SGA committees awaiting divestment decision)

The discussions come more than a year after Hamas killed at least 1,200 people and took about 250 hostage in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, according to the Associated Press. The next day, Israel declared war on Hamas, and its forces have since killed more than 42,000 Palestinians, the Associated Press reported Thursday.

More than 1.9 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been forced to flee their homes following the Hamas attack, according to the Associated Press.

Hedges stressed that Israel has caused extensive damage to infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, including schools, libraries and cultural heritage sites, since the offensive began last October.

Hedges, who said he plans to broadcast for Al Jazeera from Doha, Qatar, later this year, said he believes responsibility for the “occupation and genocide” in Palestine lies not only with Israel, but also with to the United States government.

He added that the only way to “end the ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip” is to stop supplying arms to Israel.

Since the Hamas attack, the United States has provided at least $17.9 billion in military aid to Israel, according to a report from Brown University’s Institute of International and Public Affairs. The funding includes precision bombs, missile defense systems and munitions.

After the speech, Hedges told The Diamondback that he doesn’t believe a freeze on U.S. arms sales is realistic at this time, but noted that these decisions aren’t made “overnight.”

(Hundreds of UMD community members are gathering to remember the people who have died in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023.)

“We have to stand up for what’s right and recognize that in the short term we won’t have much of an impact,” Hedges said.

Hedges added in his speech that anyone can become complicit through “indifference and apathy.”

Educating others about conditions in the Gaza Strip is the only way to combat disinformation and cover-ups, said Abel Amen, a Students for Justice in Palestine senior economics and physics major who helped organize the event.

Students for Justice in Palestine member and event organizer Omar Sabra said he was glad Hedges spoke about the importance of student activism in his speech.

“Student activism on campus resonates and influences people who are victims of oppression, victims of imperialism and colonization,” said a senior government and policy scholar.

Philosophy, politics and economics senior Richard Birch said he had already been following Hedges’ work before the talk. While many people oppose Israel’s actions in Palestine, Birch said, some are afraid to speak out.

“Holding these events makes it easier to have these conversations,” he said. “A lot of people care about this, but as long as they are disorganized and don’t talk to each other about it, we won’t be able to come together and confront this problem.”