Inonu University students organize protest in solidarity with Gaza victims

These activities were aimed at condemning the genocide perpetrated by the Israeli regime in Gaza and expressing support for protests taking place in universities worldwide.

Under the slogan "Silence is complicity in genocide," academics and students united to commemorate the lives lost in the ongoing Israeli genocide. The event saw participants setting aside their academic robes and pens to partake in a sit-in protest. During this protest, the life stories of martyred academics, doctors, teachers, and students were read aloud.

Abdullah Dinçadam, a medical student, initiated the protest by reading a poem written by Refaat Alareer, a Professor at Gaza Islamic University. Alareer, who was also a poet, dedicated his words to the children of Gaza before his own death in an israeli airstrike.

In a multilingual press statement delivered in Turkish, Arabic, and English, Dinçadam underscored the ongoing genocide in Gaza. He lamented the destruction of schools, faculties, sanctuaries, and hospitals, and the loss of tens of thousands of lives, including students, teachers, lecturers, clergy, doctors, and medical personnel. He stressed the urgent need for international action to halt the atrocities and ensure the right to education for hundreds of thousands of students affected by the conflict.

The statement condemned the intimidation tactics, including detentions and dismissals, faced by university lecturers and students advocating for Gaza globally. It asserted that such actions undermine fundamental human rights and academic freedom.

As a community, Inonu University expressed solidarity with the people of Gaza, rejecting indifference to their suffering as a betrayal of moral duty. They called upon the global academic community and world leaders to take immediate action to end the genocide and violence against pro-peace advocates.

The protest concluded with a commitment from Inonu University students to continue advocating for peace, justice, and human dignity, pledging to stand united in defense of our shared humanity.

The full text of the text is as follows:

If I must die,

you must live

to tell my story

to sell my things

to buy a piece of cloth

and some strings,

(make it white with a long tail)

so that a child, somewhere in Gaza

while looking heaven in the eye

awaiting his dad who left in a blaze—

and bid no one farewell

not even to his flesh

not even to himself—

sees the kite, my kite you made, flying up

above

and thinks for a moment an angel is there

bringing back love

If I must die

let it bring hope

let it be a tale

This poem was dedicated to the children of Gaza by the writer and poet Refaat Al Areer, Professor at the Islamic University of Gaza, before his death.

For more than six months, in front of the eyes of all humanity, a blatant genocide has been taking place in Gaza, with no distinction between women, children and civilians. During this time, all schools, faculties, shrines and hospitals in Gaza have been destroyed. Tens of thousands of students, teachers, lecturers, clergy, doctors and medical personnel have been killed. Hundreds of thousands of students, from primary school to university, have been deprived of their right to education.

We consider the bullying, threats, detentions, intimidation attempts such as dismissals and dismissals against conscientious university lecturers and students who stand with Gaza all over the world as a blow to basic human rights and academic freedom.

As Inönü University, we are aware that coming together for peace and justice is a necessity for the honor and future of humanity. While glorifying the common values of humanity is one of our main missions, the genocide in Gaza has overshadowed these values. For us, remaining insensitive to the suffering in Gaza is a rejection of moral responsibility. Remaining silent in the face of Israel's attacks in Gaza is not an option, it is complicity in the crime.

As a university community, we are ready to do everything we can to establish peace and justice. The reason why we have come together here today is to declare that we stand with the people of Gaza, that we share their suffering, and that we support and stand by the peaceful actions of all students and academics in universities around the world who feel responsible for defending human rights.

We once again call on the entire world academic community, all university students, to mobilize the international community to stop Israel's genocide in Gaza.

For the sake of human dignity, we demand that all world leaders take immediate action to end this genocide in Gaza and to end the violence against pro-peace students and faculty.

This is only the beginning. As Inönü University students, we will continue our struggle for peace and justice and we will continue to defend the common values of humanity. Because we believe that only by acting together, we can ensure peace and make the world a better place.

Inönü University Academics and Students                                                                                              (ILKHA)