April 29, 10:00 p.m.
**The student has elected to remain anonymous for safety. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. When this interview was originally conducted, representatives from the encampment stated they would be playing “The Occupation of the American Mind.” Instead, “The Battle of Algiers” was played. It is unknown at the moment whether the encampment plans on playing “The Occupation of the American Mind.”**
The Daily Illini spoke with a representative from the encampment about its current programming and plans looking ahead to finals week.
DI: What do we have going on here right now?
Representative: We are preparing to set up a movie. This is our last programming event of the day. The film is called “The Occupation of the American Mind.” From my understanding, it focuses on the effect of Israeli propaganda on American citizens and educates us on the institutions that perpetuate that sort of propaganda.
DI: What kind of learning experience are you hoping to get from this movie and hoping everyone gets from this?
Representative: To really hammer home the fact that institutions like the University of Illinois, like our government, are all complicit when we look at this genocide and look at, you know, the perpetuation of Western hegemony across the globe.
Obviously, propaganda is one of the biggest tools, media is one of the biggest tools that is used to divide people and spread misinformation. It creates a complicity for this colonial state.
DI: Is this a movie you guys were planning on showing yesterday?
Representative: I think it is. Yes, we had to get some more supplies to be able to even show this because we’re dealing with very limited resources here.
DI: Is there any plan to do this again tomorrow or a different movie similar to it?
Representative: Yes. We have a programming committee, and I’m a part of that committee, so we schedule engaging activities throughout the day. We chose the movie for the nighttime as well. One, because the projection only works in the dark but as something less engaging for people, but something they can sit and relax and watch. But tomorrow we should have another full day of programming. I’m not sure if you’re aware, but earlier we had two teach-ins and that was really engaging. It was a space to express how they felt, you know, being a part of this movement and they felt this related to what they’re doing here at the University.
DI: You guys have programs set up and events set up for students to do while they’re sitting here. What about the students who have finals coming up? What are your plans for that?
Representative: Pretty much everyone here has finals coming up that they need to fulfill. We plan to have areas where grad students and faculty can grade papers and things like that. Students can have resources to do their work. They need laptop chargers, they need pens, pencils or homework help. We plan to have that. As finals approach, we are definitely committed to putting academics first because we all are students here. It is important that we emphasize the fact that even though we’re out here protesting, it’s so important to get the things that need to be done.
DI: So if this continues on into finals week coming up, do you expect to see students leaving in mass?
Representative: No, I think we have all made sacrifices and I think people will continue to make sacrifices. I think, you know, with the support of the community and the faculty here, we’ve been able to engineer a really great setup that allows people to get their work done, keeps people fed, keeps people safe and really just fosters communities. So honestly, I think during finals week more people will show up. I’m really hopeful and I’ve seen, you know, the power that we have in engaging students.
