US Senator Bernie Sanders has urged a shift in focus towards the ongoing conflict in Gaza, rather than solely concentrating on pro-Palestinian protests on US college campuses.
Addressing the Senate, Sanders emphasized the urgency of addressing the severe violence in Gaza, which has resulted in the deaths of 34,500 Palestinians and left over 77,000 wounded, with 70 percent being women and children.
His comments came amidst widespread student protests across college campuses, sparked by demonstrations at Columbia University in New York.
Sanders called for attention to be redirected from campus protests to the dire situation in Gaza, suggesting that media outlets like CNN should focus on the suffering of Palestinians, including malnourished children and those maimed by the conflict.
Regarding the campus protests, Sanders condemned all forms of violence, whether in support or opposition of Israel’s policies. He emphasized the importance of condemning and eradicating bigotry in the US, including the rise of antisemitism and Islamophobia.
Sanders reiterated that holding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government accountable for their actions is not antisemitic, emphasizing the need to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Meanwhile, hundreds of students held sit-ins at Chicago public high schools in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, as anti-Israel protests trickled down from the college campuses that they’ve upended in recent weeks.
Several dozen students participated in the demonstrations at each of half a dozen high schools, where some Jewish students said the demonstrations — and the schools’ decisions to allow them — left them feeling unsafe.
“I learned in the early months of high school that if you don’t fit with the majority ideology, people will only see you as one aspect and won’t like you. I’ve lost many lifelong friends this year for being a proud Jew,” said Jones College Prep senior Mira Rosenblum during a press conference in Chicago.
Her request to hold a vigil after Hamas’s October 7 onslaught was denied, Jones allowed hundreds of students to participate in a January walk-out along with other Chicago public schools calling for a ceasefire, the teen claimed.
Rosenblum said that she was subsequently “doxxed and called anti-black and Islamophobic for filing a complaint against the student leaders who compared themselves to Jewish rebels fighting against Nazi Germany.”
Jones College Prep did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“Anyone who is antisemitic and calls themselves pro-Palestinian is not pro-Palestinian,” a Jones protest organizer, who was identified only as Atticus, told the network.
