Community members gathered at West Side Park on Friday to protest in support of Palestine amidst widespread starvation. In a press release, Central Illinois branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation called for an “end to Israel’s genocide of the people of Gaza” and said they’re protesting in response to the “starvation campaign Israel is waging against Gazans.”
The United Nations reported in late July that in Gaza, 100,000 women and children are suffering from severe malnutrition, and a third of the population — roughly 700,000 individuals — goes without eating for multiple days in a row.
On Tuesday, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification released an alert projecting half a million Gazans to face Level 5 starvation by September, characterized by an extreme lack of food, starvation, destitution and death.
President Donald Trump broke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in late July and told Israel to let “every ounce of food” into Gaza. The exchange followed Netanyahu’s claim that “there is no policy of starvation in Gaza, and there is no starvation in Gaza.” Trump responded, saying Gazan children “look very hungry” and “that’s real starvation; I see it and you can’t fake that.”
Champaign-Urbana residents called for action, and the protest was co-sponsored by PSL Central Illinois, the CU Muslim Action Committee and Champaign-Urbana for Palestine. For Dua Aldasouqi, an organizer with the CU Muslim Action Committee, the cause is personal.
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“One, I am Palestinian myself, and two, I am a registered dietitian,” Aldasouqi said. “I work closely with food and nutrition and I’m very aware of the effects of starvation … Dying from starvation takes a very long time and is a very, very painful death … People (in Gaza) are saying, ‘I wish the bombs would kill me, so I don’t have to die from starvation.’”
Aldasouqi said she maintains her resolve to protest by acknowledging the privileges and comfort individuals enjoy in comparison to the plight in Gaza. Friday’s protest consisted of speeches at the park, followed by a march through downtown Champaign. It ended with a call to canvas the Champaign-Urbana community in support of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement.
“The starvation that is being imposed on Gaza is repugnant to the vast majority of working people in the US; our tax dollars should not be sent to support this atrocity,” said ben wallis, an event organizer in a press release. “We must demand that all of the institutions built and sustained by US working people, to whatever extent possible, boycott, divest from, and sanction Israel until the genocidal occupation is ended and Palestine is free,”
Two Israeli human rights groups stated in late July that Israel’s military offensive constitutes genocide. B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel are the first sources from inside Israel that have made this label, following claims from international organizations including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. However, groups such as the American Jewish Committee say that Israel is justifiably defending itself from Hamas’ October 7 attack and that the events in Gaza are not genocide. The United States government has also not recognized events in Gaza as genocide.
The march
Just as dozens of protesters started their march to downtown — occupying the roads and walking through an intersection — police vehicles flashed their sirens. Aldasouqi later said this was the second instance they had a full police escort. She also said organizers do not coordinate with police but frequently notice police presence at protests.
On Friday’s protest, police escorted the protesters from the back of the crowd while other cars drove up in front of protesters to manage traffic. One officer who was on the ground was telling individuals to move to the sidewalk from the road.
The protesters walked through Randolph Street, looped around Neil Street and walked back to the park via University Avenue. They banged on steel pots and shouted out chants as onlooking cars honked in support. Downtown was bustling Friday evening — there were many eyes on the protesters, with some clapping them on.
Chanting
Protesters engaged in call-and-response chants throughout the entire march. As they were being escorted by police cars, protesters started chanting “Police, I.C.E., KKK; IOF, they’re all the same.”
The national military of Israel is called the Israel Defense Force — protesters chant IOF instead, implying Israel’s military should be called the Israel Offensive Forces or the Israel Occupying Forces, which is what Palestinian sources use.
Protesters also chanted on Friday, “City council, you can’t hide, you are funding genocide.” Aldasouqi later explained her disappointment with the city council.
“We’ve been asking them to divest from the Illinois Funds,” Aldasouqi said. “The Illinois funds is directly invested in organizations that are complicit in the ongoing genocide.”
Aldasouqi said the Champaign City Council refuses to put the issue of divestment from Illinois Funds up for conversation because it is “not city business.”
The Illinois Funds is an investment pool managed by the Illinois Public Treasurer’s Office, which “custodians of public funds,” such as local governments, can invest into. Champaign’s 2024 comprehensive financial report shows the city has investments totalling over $8.5 million in the Illinois Funds.
A 2023 Financial Audit of the Illinois Funds revealed that it holds over $1.8 billion in corporate bonds, including $13 million in Caterpillar Financial Services, a subsidiary of Caterpillar Inc., a target on the BDS list according to the American Friends Service Committee.
“(Caterpillar’s) products are weaponized for the Israeli military and are used in home demolitions; in the construction of illegal settlement infrastructure, border walls, and military checkpoints; and in military assaults against Palestinians,” AFSC said on their website.
The United Nations called on Caterpillar to cease transfers to Israel or risk “complicity in international crimes, possibly including genocide.
Illinois funds also hold millions in Microsoft, Mitsubishi and Toyota, which AFSC says have been used in Israel’s military activities.
Separately, Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs has invested $100 million in Israel Bonds.
“We continue our state’s commitment to invest in the State of Israel, one of our nation’s longest and most important allies,” Frerichs said in a press release. “Israel Bonds provide stable returns and are a strong investment for Illinois, where the program’s roots date back to the early 1950s.”
Protesters also chanted on Friday, “From the river to the sea, Palestine is almost free.” Many individuals at the protest said they felt “the tide was turning” in favor of Palestinian rights throughout Western society.
“I personally feel like the tide has turned,” Aldasouqi said. “When I was younger, it was intimidating to tell someone I’m Palestinian because that immediately invoked a response in people. But now, if someone says, ‘I support Israel,’ it’s like, you support genocide at this point.”
Gallup released their latest polling Tuesday, which found just 32% of Americans approve of the military action Israel has taken in Gaza, the lowest reading since the question was first asked in October 2023.
In the past two weeks, three countries in the G-7 — Canada, the United Kingdom and France — have signaled that they plan to recognize a Palestinian state.
BDS Canvassing
After the march, protesters re-congregated to the park to split up into groups to canvass neighborhoods in support of the BDS movement. Protesters dispersed material listing specific companies to boycott.
The BDS movement advocates for boycotts, divestment and sanctions as a form of non-violent pressure on Israel.
“(BDS) echoes the calls that were made for boycott in South Africa to end the South African apartheid,” Aldasouqi said. “Apartheid and genocide and ethnic cleansing is currently a lucrative and easy thing to do because of the money that comes into the country. The idea is to apply economic pressures so that they are no longer able to sustain that.”
