Chants of “Free Palestine” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” rose from a crowd in front of the Eau Claire City Hall Wednesday night.

The group of students and community members gathered with signs and flags to show their support for Palestine and to protest the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip.

“We’re here to show the support that I feel Palestinians aren’t receiving,” Bryanna Garcia, a third-year political science and Spanish student and one of the demonstrators, said. “We’re also trying to be visible and show those who are silent that their complacency and their silence is helping the genocide.”

Hamas attacked Israeli towns on Oct. 7 killing an estimated 1,400 people. Since then, Israel has launched continuous airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, killing at least 6,546 Palestinian people, as of Oct. 25, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

One demonstrator, Sabre Sletten, a fifth-year psychology student, said the attacks on the Palestinian people are devastating and affect everyone.

“It affects all of us as human beings,” Sletten said. “Seeing what we are seeing unfold is not normal. This is not something we should ignore regardless of where we live in the world.”

The United States has supported Israel and provided military assistance and funding. President Biden reaffirmed that support on Wednesday and is asking Congress for over $14 billion in aid to Israel to fund air and missile defense, military financing and embassy support.

Sletten and Garcia said the U.S. is funding war crimes against the Palestinian people.

“We are outraged by the fact that humanitarian crimes are being committed and supported by America,” Sletten said. “Our tax dollars are going towards a genocide and it is absolutely despicable to think about that.”

Garcia said the U.S. government needs to do better.

“We need to urge our government, urge our representatives to put their words in action and to show us, as the people who voted for them, that we as a country should practice what we’re preaching,” Garcia said. “Our morals and values should reside with the people of Palestine.”

Sletten said Wednesday’s demonstration acts as a statement against U.S. support of Israel.

“We do not accept these proxy wars America is engaging in, it is unethical,” Sletten said. “I think that just us being out here and people seeing us, is a symbol of our distaste.”

Garcia and Sletten said this is an issue that students should pay attention to and inform themselves on what is happening.  

“We hold all the power in our voice and when we are able to apply it to something as big as this it gives us the opportunity to show that young people and young voices will contribute more if we educate ourselves,” Garcia said.

“I think it is absolutely irresponsible and atrocious for the U.S. to act like this is normal and not a big deal and try to brush these war crimes under the rug,” Sletten said. “I absolutely think the American people should be showing their outrage.”

Garcia said while the violence continues, her heart is with the people in Palestine.

“I want the people of Palestine to know that I see them and that the children in Gaza are seen,” Garcia said. “We do hear them and we do care.”

Mohr can be reached at [email protected].