The national vice president of the College Democrats of America at a Wednesday pro-Palestinian rally accused Israel of “murder,” “state violence” and “genocide.”
Tasneem Al-Michael was speaking to a crowd of about 60 University of Oklahoma (OU) students who showed up at the protest, some holding anti-Israel signs such as “Freedom for Palestine.”
“I call upon all of the leaders on this campus — faculty, administration — to formally recognize the act of murder, the act of state violence, the act of genocide on our families,” he said, according to the OUDailycampus newspaper.
Al-Michael asked the protestors to promote his message through social media, and to donate to pro-Palestinian groups. He also called on the University of Oklahoma to officially “acknowledge the violence in Jerusalem,” the OUDaily reported.
“This is not a campaign against Israel … this is not a religious conflict,” Al-Michael said. “This is about humanity and making sure our families, our brothers and sisters, are safe and protected.”
At 1:30 p.m. the protestors stopped their “loud chanting” and observed silence as the Islamic call to prayer began. They then commenced Muslim prayers for 15 minutes.
At the rally, speakers also made on-sided statements, such as "We despise Zionism.”
OU Students for Israel had released a statement on Twitter two days before the rally expressing concern that the protest would “gaslight Jews and Israelis who have resided in Jerusalem for millennia.”
“We also hope the protest will refrain from erasing Jewish history and connections to the land,” they stated. “We ask that our peers on campus will work to inform themselves on the history of the region before demonizing an entire country.”