More than a dozen University of Maryland students honored the deaths of Palestinians with an art demonstration on McKeldin Mall throughout Tuesday.
The university’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter hosted the event, which was also on the university’s first day of classes. The chapter invited students to draw on white t-shirts to honor the Palestinians killed in Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, according to chapter member Zyad Khan. Each white shirt represented someone who was killed.
“The people of Gaza, they deserve all of the recognition of the world right now,” the senior computer science major said. “The world is silent.”
Many of the shirts displayed stories and messages tied to people killed in Israel’s attacks. One shirt honored the death of a five-year-old girl named Hind Rajab, who was shot along with her family by Israeli forces while attempting to evacuate her home in Gaza in 2024.
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Students for Justice in Palestine members clipped the completed shirts to clothes lines strung between trees spanning McKeldin Mall’s outer walkway outside Jiménez Hall. Palestinian flags flowed alongside the hung-up shirts in a wind that swept in throughout the day.
Many students who participated in the demonstration said they hoped the art would spread awareness about Israel’s attacks in Gaza and inspire people to take action.
“It’s heartwarming to see that we have students here who do care and who are trying to make people more aware of this,” senior chemical engineering major Mason Loeffler said. “I do wish more people on campus cared about these issues.”
Loeffler said he’s heartbroken everyday as he follows the news coming out of Gaza. He added that innocent civilians in the region, including journalists and healthcare workers, are being killed in the war.
“Our country, our government, isn’t really stepping up and doing anything to stop it,” he said. “It’s a humanitarian and moral issue.”
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About 20 people, including five journalists, were killed in an Israeli strike on a hospital last week, the Associated Press reported. At least 128 journalists and media workers have been killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza since October, 2023, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
The demonstration also featured several signs calling for this university to sever financial ties with certain military companies and for Israel to end “occupation from not just Gaza, but also the entire Palestine,” Khan told The Diamondback.
Students voted in favor of a divestment referendum in the Student Government Association election in the spring. The referendum called for the University System of Maryland Foundation and the University of Maryland College Park Foundation to cut financial ties from companies that may be implicated in human rights violations.
This university told The Diamondback in April that the referendum results have no bearing on university policy.
[UMD students vote in support of divestment referendum]
The event was the first demonstration hosted by the university’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter this semester. The student organization held a series of events in the last academic year, including protests, vigils and guest lectures.
Mama Ugo, a senior public policy major who participated in the event, said the demonstration was meant to spread awareness and show support for Palestinians on campus and abroad.
She added that the demonstration was powerful and represented students’ commitment to speaking out about a “polarizing” subject.“All students should have a safe space,” they said. “All students’ voices should be heard.”
