Palestinian liberation is an inherently feminist struggle. As feminists, we recognize that while any group of people is subject to violence, oppression, occupation, and terror, none of us are truly free. First and foremost, we call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the sovereignty of the Palestinian people. All eyes on Palestine.
On Wednesday, May 1st, 90 people—including 3 members of Spare Rib’s staff, many of our close friends, and former Spare Rib advisor Annelise Orleck, a feminist labor historian and the head of the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies department—were arrested at Dartmouth College for participating in a nonviolent protest calling for an end to the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people.
We condemn the unprecedented and violent silencing of student activism on our campus. We condemn Sian Beilock and the Dartmouth Board of Trustees for permitting armed state police in full riot gear to arrest peaceful protesters instead of engaging in productive dialogue around student demands. We condemn Dartmouth’s unwillingness to disclose their investments and commit to divestment from key corporations on the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) list, as well as companies that fuel the military-industrial complex and profit from ongoing genocide in Gaza and the West Bank.
We reject President Beilock’s assertion that “Dartmouth’s endowment is not a political tool.” There is no such thing as neutrality—moral, financial, institutional, or otherwise—in the face of genocide.
We are appalled by an escalated, militarized response that deeply threatened the safety of people of color, international and undocumented students, disabled students, elderly people, and other marginalized folks who are part of our community. We are appalled by Dartmouth’s silence around blatant human rights violations in Gaza; their failure to provide meaningful support to Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian students, staff, and faculty on campus; and their insistence on weaponizing anti-semitism in order to repress consistently non-violent protesters, some of whom were Jewish students and faculty members.
On May 1st, a team of 10 Spare Rib staff members used Instagram Live to document over two hours of law enforcement escalation and brutality against activists, from the first arrests to the dispersal of students around midnight. In the aftermath of this event, we remain committed to our mission of providing a platform to discuss the struggles and achievements of marginalized people at Dartmouth. We will continue to report and reflect on the events of May 1st on our campus, as well as on the struggle for Palestinian liberation, in the coming weeks and months. We invite Dartmouth students to reach out to us with stories they would like to share as we document and open dialogue around these events using this form..
Although the events of May 1st on our campus were traumatic and terrifying, we must remember that our peers in Gaza have faced extreme state violence, indiscriminate bombing, displacement, and occupation for months. No one is free until we are all free. We stand with Palestine.
With love, care, and solidarity,
Spare Rib