Palestinian Liberation Week concluded on the second day of its “final show of force” on Friday, March 29 on the Smith Campus Center (SCC) lawn. The day’s events, including organizing workshops and speakers, were held on the lawn among tents set up by students as part of their ongoing sleep-in to protect a mock apartheid wall they had set up the day prior.
The day’s programming commenced at 11 a.m with a workshop led by two representatives from the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) delving into the history of student-led land back movements.
The speakers discussed the formation of grassroots movements such as the Palestinian Youth Party and the Youth Congress Party in 1932 and the Arab Nation National Fund in 1976.
According to the representatives, the emergence of Palestinian nationalism was a reaction to policies implemented by Zionists during the British Mandate of Palestine.
“[The movements] have various ideologies but their focus is liberation and the focus is going back to their homeland and the right of return to all refugees,” a representative said. “They were calling for the creation of the Palestinian national identity … nationalism really started up after the British mandate.”
At 2 p.m., policy and research coordinator at the Arab American Civic Council Amin Nash spoke about the United States’ historical erasure of Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) people in its national census.
“Within the system itself, the denial of people when they want their own category, when they want their own representation or when they want their own agency,” Nash said. “They still get stifled by essentially the system of whiteness.”
Nash emphasized how without an option that represents their identity, many SWANA people are often forced to label themselves as white on the census.
“If you’re coming from West Asia, you’re coming into America and you know that the only way you can be defined and the only way you can be accepted into the American census was through a proximity to whiteness,” Nash said. “[SWANA people] had to fit in back then … or else they wouldn’t be relegated into marginalization and otherness.”
Nash then introduced the Office of Management and Budget’s revisions to Statistical Policy Directive 15 (SPD 15), which updated standards for federal data collection on race and ethnicity, published just the day before on March 28. Among the changes is the addition of Middle Eastern or North African as a new minimum race and/or ethnicity category.
Nash highlighted the importance of actively working to reduce the discrimination against the SWANA population.
“We need to remove this conflation, the social construct that goes around the population as being somehow antithetical to America,” Nash said. “If you really think about it, this population, by fighting for their identity, fighting for sovereignty and pushing for their rights is beyond antithetical to American … it is American to kind of prove that we exist and to prove that we’re here.”
Nash said he particularly appreciated the fierce advocacy of college students — such as those attending Palestinian Liberation Week — in helping to make SWANA voices heard, noting his belief that student action has the potential to affect meaningful change.
“You guys are standing up for people that didn’t have a voice for [the] longest time,” Nash said. “This process of erasure stripping away who we are as Americans and kind of changing our identities and having the American process reduce us into essentially nothingness. I hear you guys trying to say ‘we don’t want to see that.’”
The programming continued with a 4 p.m. event entitled, “Know Your Rights” during which Scripps alumnae Elizabeth Howell-Egan SC ’22 discussed protest safety and how to interact with police presences.
Howell-Egan is a legal observer — a volunteer who attends public demonstrations to serve as an independent third party notating the actions of law enforcement — for the national nonprofit National Lawyers Guild. Howell-Egan spoke as a representative of the organization.
More than anything, Howell-Egan emphasized the importance of asserting one’s constitutional rights.
“Even though we have these rights, it doesn’t mean that the police or courts are going to respect them,” Howell-Egan said.
Howell-Egan cited several amendments from the Bill of Rights. First, she drew attendees’ attention particularly to the First Amendment — freedom of expression, assembly and speech — the Fourth Amendment — no unreasonable searches — and the Fifth Amendment — protection against self-incrimination.
She then expanded on the Fifth Amendment and talked about how it relates to direct interactions with law enforcement.
“Never, ever ever answer questions or volunteer information,” Howell-Egan said. “It’s about minimizing and avoiding interaction with the police as much as possible.”
For Howell-Egan, understanding the differences between being stopped, detained and arrested by the police is especially important.
“If the police stop and question you … the key phrase is ‘Am I free to leave?’ and if they say yes … walk away,” Howell-Egan said. “If they say no, that means you’re being detained.”
Howell-Egan outlined citizens’ rights in the event of detainment.
“Once you’re detained, you can always assert your right to remain silent,” Howell-Egan said. “They can frisk you … a pat down of your outer body … [but] you should say very clearly ‘I don’t consent to a search.’”
When a student in the crowd asked if staying silent and not refusing a search while detained is the same as consent, Howell-Egan clarified the need to speak up.
“If you stay silent, does that equal consent?” Howell-Egan said, echoing the question. “The answer is yes. Make sure you say ‘I don’t consent to this;’ otherwise they will indicate your silence as consent.”
Howell-Egan explained that, due to the portrayal of arrests in the media, many people expect to be read their Miranda Rights — the infamous “you have a right to remain silent” spiel — before or during arrest. Howell-Egan clarified that that isn’t necessarily the case.
“Because of TV shows, people think that when you get arrested they’re gonna read you your Miranda rights, but that doesn’t happen until you get questioned,” Howell-Egan said.
Howell-Egan transitioned to discussing the significance of protest safety, reiterating appropriate conduct when dealing with police during detainment, arrests and other interactions.
“Police always need a warrant to go into your phone and computer,” Howell-Egan said, cautioning about the use of Face ID and suggesting turning off notification previews to avoid illegal searches. “Remain as calm as possible, keep your hands visible and remember — don’t resist.”
Howell-Egan concluded by stressing the importance of personal judgment in confrontations with law enforcement.
“You’re always going to have to make your best judgment call in these situations … what makes you feel the most safe,” Howell-Egan said.
Howell-Egan’s talk marked the conclusion of the annual Palestinian Liberation Week, but the student activism has persisted beyond the week’s end.
Not only did the sleep-in continue, but less than three days later, another student rally was held in front of the apartheid wall. This time, however, it was celebratory.
The rally, held on Monday, April 1, celebrated the removal of Israel’s University of Haifa from Pitzer College’s pre-approved list following a vote by the Faculty Executive Committee.
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