On Oct. 7, Bellevue College students participated in a campus-wide walkout in remembrance of the day the Israeli-Palestinian conflict accelerated to the involvement of large-scale military operations in Oct. 7, 2023.
The protest, which started around 10:30 a.m. and lasted till around 11:15 a.m., was organized by the Bellevue Revolutionary Student Union (RSU). It is a chapter of the Puget Sound Revolutionary Student Union, an anti-imperialist student and youth organization in the Puget Sound.
The walkout was a Puget Sound-wide walkout in which 32 schools took part, including high schools and middle schools.
The protest included chants, such as “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!” and “Out of Yemen, Out of Iraq, Out of Palestine and don’t come back!” Protesters sported Kuffiyas and carried Palestinian flags as well as signs that wrote, “Free Palestine.”
During the protest, Turning Point USA protesters also emerged and were spotted asking protesters to talk to them, carrying signs sporting quotes from Charlie Kirk.
A protester who wished to remain anonymous said that “she felt that the protest was a good way to get students together to fight for Palestine.”
The RSU released a press statement recounting their reasons and goals they hoped to achieve as an organization for Palestine. The statement included support of Palestine: “We as students support the cause of the Palestinian people, and we support their fight against genocide.” The Union also recognized “that our schools, state and federal governments support this genocide.”
They further emphasized the involvement of American tax dollars funding complicity in Israel’s war on Gaza. The RSU explained that they demanded four things:
- End ALL U.S. Aid to Israel (military, economic, social, etc.)
- End the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory.
- Free all Palestinian political prisoners; no exception.
- One State of Palestine, from the River Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea. We do NOT support a two-state solution.
Bellevue College has expressed support for free speech in the past and continues to do so.
President David May sent out an email on Sept. 25 explaining that “Bellevue College supports free speech and expressive activity as core to our democracy and to our educational mission” as long as free speech does not “unreasonably interfere with or disrupt campus operations, classes, or create an unsafe environment” or involve “any activity involving harassment, bullying, incitement of violence, or threats.”
Citizens across Washington and the Greater Seattle Area have been taking to the streets to protest for Palestine. Walkouts, similar to the one on the Bellevue College campus, took place on Oct. 7, with around 200 students gathering in Seattle’s Cal Anderson Park in pro-Palestine protests.
Furthermore, on the same day, over 500 protestors gathered in Cascade Playground in South Lake Union to march for Palestine. Protests around Seattle seem to have a common theme of youth and students being the majority, as well as a focus on calling out tech companies for their financial support of Israel.
Upcoming events in Seattle for Palestine include a Costume Karaoke Fundraiser organized by Seattle Democratic Socialists of America on Oct. 21 and a Northwest Film Forum showing of Israel Palestine On Swedish TV 1958–1989 running from Oct. 25 to Nov. 2.
