Around 8:30 pm, opening floor remarks from the student body began.
The first speaker Yasmeen declined to reveal their last name due to doxing. “I just wanted to say that I was in Palestine this summer. I was held at gunpoint twice, once when simply crossing the border into my rightful homeland, and once when simply recording an IDF soldier pointing a gun at a child. I have it on video.”
Yasmeen continued, “If anyone’s curious, all of our experiences are on video to try and prove to Americans that we are, in fact, human beings, worthy of a shot at life, just like you are.”
“When I was in Palestine, I was held at gunpoint…strip searched. They made me take off my hijab. I witnessed my 27-year-old cousin’s funeral. He was sniped this summer for breaking a traffic law in Jerusalem.”
“I can honestly say that after everything I’ve faced with Israelis and IDF this summer, I feel just as dehumanized on this campus, especially after our own student body president vetoed the most touch-based legislation that shows both support to Palestinians and the other side that a lot of you like to preach about. It may be an empty gesture to you when you have no ties to the genocide and learn where Palestine was on the map six months ago”
The second speaker, Mikhail Reza, is a senior in the College of Engineering. Reza shared his deep disappointment with the student body president’s decision to veto Resolution 29.
“Unfortunately, I wish I was addressing the congregation in better light, but I have to now come here in front of you today to speak on our student body president’s failure to uphold the commitment they’ve made to represent student voices and to serve the student population and acknowledge the students in their most vulnerable times.”
Reza continued, “It’s a shame that we watch students across the nation be brutalized by our domestic police forces fighting for this very cause, and we as a student representative body fail to stand in solidarity with them.
“Our student body president has shunned each and every one of their work and each and every one of your own. I sat here a few weeks ago on the 104th convention of the Student Government hearing and watched as our resolution was passed with a vast majority on our first push, because and I have no doubt in my heart, this body attempts to represent student voices, and yet that wasn’t enough,” said Reza.
Reza shared in conclusion, “After today, we will either be a government in which our constituents trust us and know they can rely on us, or we will be, yet again, another example of government whose actions and legislation fails to align itself with the hearts of the people, and that’s a shame.
Eli Edds, a senior in the College of Engineering, shared his perspective as a Jewish student. Edds began by claiming that no lives would be saved by Resolution 29.
“If this resolution would save a single life in the Middle East, despite my disagreements with some aspects of it, I beg you to pass it, but the truth of the matter is it simply doesn’t.”
Edds shared that he and other Jewish students were only notified of the intent to overturn the veto a few hours before the Senate meeting,
He continued, stating, “The fact of the matter is the war in Gaza is not a genocide, but a defense of war from the attacks of October 7.”
“No one says Israel is perfect and I, in fact, have protested against their government…but I believe Israel has a right to exist. This attempt at economic isolation and divestment is a disguised attempt at a BDS bill.”
BDS stands for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions. Edds stated “for those that don’t know, BDS is actually illegal in North Carolina and since October 7, there have been 60 divestment resolutions passed across the country. Zero of them have caused the universities to divest. This simply doesn’t accomplish anything. All it does is increase the climate on campus.”
Edds claimed that “statistically, in every campus that have passed this has passed a BDS resolution, there’s been a 30% increase in anti-semitic attacks.” Upon immediate review, the statement is not proven to be true.
Eliana Harr, a third year student in the College of Education, shared “as a Jewish student at NC State, I would like to feel safe and supported by fellow students, especially members of the Student Senate who are making decisions for students.”
Harr continued “The motion misleadingly described as an act to promote peace and human rights, was based on misinformation. It is designed to marginalize Jews and other Zionists on campus while promoting an anti-Israel agenda”
Freshman PJ Shaw shared his experience as a Jewish student. “I was in Israel on October 9, October 10, October 11, and every day between then and May 21…I felt the pain of the 1000s of families who lost innocent loved ones to unthinkable acts of mutilation, rape, torture, murder, carried out by Hamas that day.”
Shaw concluded stating Resolution 29 is an insult to Gazans and Israelis. “Calling for a ceasefire from the comfort of our homes here at NC State, is an insult. It is an insult to everyone, Gazans and Israelis alike, who are making every effort to end this war in a way that brings peace, both physical and emotional, to all those affected.”
