Thursday, Nov. 21, students at the College of William and Mary attended a Board of Visitors reception at the Raymond A. Mason School of Business with the Whole of Government, Military and Veteran Affairs staff and ROTC program staff to demonstrate their disappointment with the failure of the College’s administration to divest from Israeli-owned companies.
The demonstration fell on the same date as the National Students for Justice in Palestine’s call for an international strike, with the College’s chapter hosting a teach-in on Palestine’s history and the boycott movement hours before the demonstration.
On Instagram, the College’s SJP chapter posted about their intent to host a teach-in and walkout Monday, Nov. 18. The College Socialists and Dissenters also promoted the event.
“Instead of going to class Thursday afternoon, join us for teach-ins on Palestine, the BDS movement, and W&M’s connections to colonialism and war,” the post’s caption read. “We will end with a rally to protest the administration’s refusal of the student body’s demand for divestment. This institution is reliant on us, the students and faculty, to give it value. Let’s reclaim our power from the administration!!”
At the teach-in event in Lodge One of the Sadler Center, students and faculty spoke on the purpose of the event, highlighting the tumultuous history of the Gaza strip and how students can make an impact by participating in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.
SJP Co-President Salma Amrou ’26 recited a poem highlighting the lasting effects of settler colonialism on the Palestinian people.
“Colonizer, you have cut off my tongue and I speak in yours to make you understand,” Amrou said. “I speak in yours to make you understand that life does not end with death. That our spirit transcends the rise and fall of a breathing chest. That all this violence is simply the beginning of a new era.”
Members of SJP, Dissenters and College Socialists then presented on topics related to Palestine and the BDS movement.
“We are holding this today because the National Assembly has declared November 21st a national university strike against genocide,” a College Socialists member said. “Will we boycott classes, boycott the institutions of genocide, and build our own institutions? Because once the school no longer serves us, we can build our own school and our own institutions that don’t serve war, but serve the community and serve the people.”
Amrou spoke more on the history of conflict in the region, concluding that the history is vast and goes beyond the phase of violence that started Oct. 7, 2023.
“This has been going on for longer than October 7th, and that as much as they would like to have you believe that everything started on October 7th, there is a long history and context behind what happened,” Amrou said.
SJP Co-President Iqra Ahmad ’26 similarly spoke on the longevity of the issue.
“The point is though that this isn’t new,” Ahmad said. “Everything we’re seeing is not new. It is just an escalation of things that have been very, very old. It is a clear pattern where Israel begins and retaliates with extreme violence that disproportionately harms and targets civilian targets, civilian people, civilian infrastructure, not military targets, not things that threaten their autonomy.”
Ahmad contextualized the significance of the Arabic word “intifada,” which was a prevalent term in the presentation.
“What does intifada mean? Uprising against oppression. Yes, grassroots uprising. Not something scary, guys. America loves these little revolutions, and we do it all the time, too,” she said.
Sultan Qaboos bin Said Chair of Middle East Studies and professor of Arabic studies Stephen Sheehi spoke next on the BDS movement and its impact.
“People love to try to hammer down the Palestinians for the advocacy of the armed struggle,” he said. “But in fact, the Palestinians have a long tradition of peaceful struggle, of nonviolent struggle. And boycott has always been a part of that movement.”
Sheehi highlighted how boycotting has a deep history in the United States as well.
“Boycotting has a long tradition within the United States context as nonviolent resistance against certain forms of oppression,” he said. “Of course, some people might say the Boston Tea Party, that the country was actually founded on an act of civil disobedience about a sort of oppression.”
Sheehi discussed the history of boycotting to address what he sees as a new double standard.
“This is important because in this country now there are 24 states that have enacted anti-BDS laws,” he said. “So it is illegal to endorse BDS within 24 states. And that is also being adjudicated in the courts in a number of other states. Why? Why, why? Why should it be so important that I can advocate the boycott of Israel as a state? Because I think they’ve been targeted because it’s effective.”
Sheehi believes pro-Palestine supporters should consistently remind themselves of the strength of boycotting.
“I want to say that boycott and BDS in general on an individual and a collective level is an incredibly important and effective means of resistance or contestation or whatever you want to call it,” he said. “So I think this is really, really important when we feel defeated and depleted and helpless. Believe it or not, not going to Starbucks is actually the smallest thing you can do.”
Sheehi emphasized that the BDS movement does not seek to boycott the everyday Israeli person, but rather the institutions associated with Israel for its participation in genocide.
“To be clear, BDS is not about boycotting individuals,” he said. “It’s not about boycotting the random Israeli. It’s about boycotting individuals that are connected with institutions, or it is about boycotting institutions themselves, like Israeli universities that contribute to the occupation.”
Sheehi provided a personal anecdote on the impact of boycotting.
“BDS is an important nonviolent way to express our protest, to act in solidarity with the Palestinian people and to actually have an impact,” he said. “After October 7th, I was living in Doha at the time last year, and there were stores being closed down because people just stopped going to them. So it does have an impact, right? What tastes that good or looks that good to be complicit in the genocide?”
As the teach-in came to a close, Ahmad informed attendees that some members of SJP were going to the Board of Visitors reception at the Mason School of Business to demonstrate their continued disappointment with the administration’s failure to divest.
Ahmad emphasized that the event was completely optional and not club-affiliated, urging students to seriously consider the decision to demonstrate peacefully, in view of potential disciplinary consequences.
“This is not an official RSO event,” she said. “Don’t escalate things with people you don’t know. Like don’t go out of your way to get into arguments with people or start this fighting and throwing hands. Please do not do that. Also, do not interact with institutional actors. If anyone would like to go, they will be going as individuals. I am not going as a board member of SJP. I’m just going as me. Now, the risk is there. It is not zero, but it’s not incredibly high. It is for you to determine whether you are comfortable making that risk. We will not force it upon you.”
Students then walked over to the Mason School of Business, chanting on the way to the reception.
“Not another penny, not another dollar, no more money from Israel’s slaughter,” students chanted. “We want justice, you say ‘how?’ End the occupation now.”
Students arrived at the first-floor lounge of the Mason School of Business holding signs that expressed disappointment in the administration. Students stood silently while BOV members socialized during the reception. Demonstrators attempted to get statements from BOV members, who declined to comment.
