UConn Divest partnered with Veterans for Peace to protest the University of Connecticut’s investment in the military industrial complex and the growing war in the Middle East on Friday from 12 p.m. to 1:40 p.m.
UConn Divest announced their protest via Instagram, stating “this week, the U.S. announced the deployment of 100 troops and a missile battery to Zionist entity to escalate its war on the people of Palestine, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria and Iran.”
The protest started outside the Student Union, proceeded to the Sundial Plaza and ended at Gulley Hall, in its third protest ending there.
Palestinian American Mahmoud Salha gave a speech in Sundial Plaza.
“We are here to stand up for those whose voices are being silenced by the entire world,” Salha said. “We are here for the people of Gaza. We are here for the children, the men, the women who have been killed.”
Salha spoke about the impact the Gaza genocide has had on members of his family.
“I have had people from both sides of my family killed in this genocide,” Salha said. “It seems like every couple weeks I get a phone call about something. Someone dying, someone going missing. It doesn’t really give anyone time to grieve, time to mourn.”
Veterans for Peace, which has existed since 1985, handed out flyers estimating that Israel has killed 300,000 Gazans since Oct. 7. This estimate was taken from an opinion article in The Guardian by the chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh and an interview with Democracy Now by Ralph Nader. The Lancet Medical Journal estimated a death toll of 186,000, or 7.9% of Gaza’s population in July. Gaza’s health ministry counts the death toll as 42,000.
“You do not need to be Palestinian to see these acts of hate and think that something’s wrong,” Salha said. “You need to be human.”
Vietnam veteran Jim, who did not give his last name, gave an anti-war message.
“Enemies are people whose stories you don’t know. Once you know their stories, you realize war is not the answer,” Jim said.
Jim signed up for the Vietnam War at age 17 and is now 74. He estimated that that there were about six veterans for peace there, four others who were also from the Vietnam era.
“When the kids protested while I was in Vietnam, it took me another ten or 20 years to realize they were correct,” Jim said. “Just like these kids are correct.”
Vietnam veteran Bill Potvin, age 78, said that he and Jim were fasting for the starving children in Gaza. Potvin said that he graduated UConn in 1969 and then was deployed to Vietnam.
“I’m so proud of the kids. We wanted to show that there’s some old veterans who see that you guys are showing some real courage,” Potvin said. “You know right from wrong and you’re not going to accept the wrong.”
UConn Divest protester Izzy, who did not give her last name, criticized UConn for its ties to the military industrial complex.
“UConn is nothing but a weapons endowment with a sports team for advertising. UConn prides itself as being a research 1 institution, but what is this research?” Izzy asked. “As per FOI request, at the beginning of the year, over 94 of UConn’s active contracts are with Raytheon alone. It also has several active contracts with Zionist universities and even the IDF itself.”
Izzy clarified that the Freedom of Information request was requested in December 2021.
“The most recent [FOI request relating to Raytheon] for which a response was completed was in 2021, covering 2015 through that time and showing contracts that have all since concluded,” University Spokesperson Stephanie Reitz said.
“We made a promise not to stop until UConn divests from genocide,” Izzy said. “We will keep that promise. We take liberation instead as our rallying cry.”
At Gulley Hall, students wrote chalk messages again. A Veterans for Peace member told students to “keep up the good fight” and that “they’re going to try to intimidate you.” A student responded, “they already have.”
That THAAD battery was deployed to protect Israel from Iranian ballistic missiles. Amazing self-own here, protesting defensive weapons, which btw were developed by Lockheed. These “anti war” protestors are really just rooting for Iran and its terrorist proxies.
Thanks for this report. Congratulations to the Vets for Peace and the students. While most Israeli Jews cheer for more killing of Palestinians, mostly women and children, Palestinians are more than ever dedicated to staying on their ancestral land. Just remaining alive is resistance. While the Biden administration talks ceasefire it keeps sending killing machines. When the US pulls the plug, genocide and Apartheid colonialism will begin to decay, cease to be and everyone can be treated as equal human beings. Let’s tell Chris Murphy, Joe Coutney, John Larson, Rosa DeLauro, Jim HImes, Jahanna Hayes to cosponsor Bernie Sanders’ Joint Resolution to stop sending these offensive weapons.
That was a rewarding day especially since I was worried that the C.D.C. was A.w.o.l. on the coverage of campus protests against U.S. support for the Israle barbarism in Palestine THe reporter did an especially good job of summing up the event and capturing the role and commitment of VFP.