east coast tour and Momodou Taal's statement
I head to the east coast this week for the last leg of my book tour, and it also happens to be the one-year anniversary of the student encampments demanding universities to divest from Israeli occupation and boycott Israeli universities and exchange programs (among other demands).
I feel both overflowing with words and at a loss for words. I will save my own thoughts for my upcoming events, but I wanted to share an excerpt from Momodou Taal, a pro-Palestinian activist and former international Ph.D. student at Cornell University (before he got his visa revoked for “disruptive action”). Please read a bit of his story here and the entirety of his statement here. Please also go see The Encampments film if you are able, which features currently detained student activist Mahmoud Khalil and centers the students at Columbia University who helped launch the nation-wide student intifada in the U.S. last year.
Excerpt from Momodou Taal:
“For every person that has remained silent, just know that you are not safe either. Is the imprisonment of those who speak out against a genocide a reflection of your values? Is this the kind of nation you want to live in? We are already seeing the Trump administration exploiting the complicity of those who have remained silent on the Zionist genocide of Palestinians. The repression of Palestinian solidarity is now being used to wage a wholesale attack on any form of expression that challenges oppressive and exploitive relations in the U.S.
It is surreal that we live in a world where you get into trouble for saying killing babies is wrong. Where those advocating for, and celebrating, endless massacres against Palestinians are able to, time and again, present themselves as victims while presenting those fighting against genocide as the oppressors. For months on end, we’ve had to listen to - ad nauseum - concerns regarding the safety of Zionist students when they are the same students who dox, monitor and collaborate with law enforcement to target students of color. If you have been led to think that your safety is only guaranteed by state kidnap, repression, deportation, the slaughter of children, and the suppression of the global majority, then let Gaza’s shards of glass be your mirror.”
East Coast events:
April 16 – Amherst, MA | 4:30pm @ Amherst College [contact hello@biancaml.com for event details]
April 17 – Boston, MA | 6:30pm @ Tufts University [REGISTER HERE]
April 18 – Boston, MA | 2:45pm @ Association for Asian American Studies [open to conference participants only]
April 19 – Cambridge, MA | 2pm @ Harvard College [contact hello@biancaml.com for event details]
April 22 – Brooklyn, NY | 7pm @ POWERHOUSE Arena [REGISTER HERE]
April 23 – New York, NY | 6pm @ New York University [REGISTER HERE]
Glory to all the martyrs.
Strength and protection to all the students.
For those of us (especially with status, protections, and privileges) in the imperial core, now is not the time to let up, slow down, or be silenced. Now is the time to sustain and escalate our actions, to strategize collectively, to protect each other fiercely, and to guard ourselves vigilantly against surveillance and repression.
Free Palestine and the fall of the American Empire in our lifetimes.