RESISTANCE STRUGGLES
Reflecting on The Pro-Palestine Encampment at the University of Puerto Rico
Because ours is about collective liberation.
Porque decir ‘Palestina Libre’ es también luchar por una Borikén Libre y Soberana. (Because to say ‘Free Palestine’ is also to fight for a Free & Sovereign Borikén).
~ Author’s words, most often said during poetry & cultural events
This past May, I met with several students and professors involved in the pro-Palestine encampment on various ocassions. It was one of the most impactful parts of my journey both on a personal level — in returning to my ancestral motherland and on a professional one — as a social justice journalist.
Theirs was much more than simply un campamento. It was solidarity on another level with events like Cine Foro (featuring Palestinian films), poetry night, and Dabke dance sessions. On my last day at the encampment, we gathered for protest sign/street art-making event. Two people drew a cardboard sign with a Palestinian flag against the backdrop of Che Guevara’s image on while the rest of us spray painted slogans on the pavement: ¡Que Viva Yemen! ~ Con Cuba ~ Libertad Para Todos Los Pueblos Colonizados ~ Borikén Libre. It was our way of showing solidarity with Palestine, with our own colonized beloved tierra…
