Oppressor Shit

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  I saw another dead child today. The man carrying the now limp body is trying to convey to maybe grief, maybe rage, maybe multitudes of emotions I can and can’t understand all at the same time. May flowers grow on that young boy’s grave. How can 9 months of seeing dead children through our phones not change us? 

 I think about the children and adults. The pets. The ecosystems destroyed by apartheid and colonialism. My body wants to break apart from itself. I try to hold it together. I will not give into despair. I will not dissociate. 

 So I am looking for rage today. She is one of the few emotions that I can name. I know her because she reverberates in my body. I try to beckon her to come to me, so the emptiness doesn’t take me. Will she not come? 

 I will write about the things that enrage me then. Power structures and lies. 

  My university sent out another all-students email yesterday. Right as the students who were protesting the genocide called for public negotiations, the university pushed the email out. Unsurprising, but still disgusting behavior from the administration. 

Let’s go through this email together just to feel something. 

From: Office of the President OSU Community Members, Violence in Gaza and Israel has resulted in the loss of lives, destruction and suffering that many members of the OSU community have felt personally and profoundly. As our community continues to navigate this crisis and the impacts it is having near and far, the university has engaged students, employees, student organizations and shared governance partners to respond to urgent community concerns by outlining a series of actions to make a positive impact through engagement and accountability, consistent with the university’s public mission and core values. I am aware that participants in an overnight encampment on the Valley Library Quad have made additional demands of the university, several of which are at odds with our public mission and commitment to academic freedom and free expression. In developing these actions, the university took seriously the concerns expressed by representatives of the encampment and consistently invited encampment participants to join with others in the OSU community in contributing to implementation and to disband the overnight encampment. At this time, these invitations have not been accepted by encampment representatives. Nonetheless, the time has come to move forward as a university community. The actions outlined below, designed to foster ongoing dialogue, learning and critical inquiry, are an essential part of how we as a public university respond to events that affect all of us. I invite all members of the OSU community to work with us in the implementation of these actions: OSU has provided information about its investments on its website and will update these disclosures annually. The OSU Foundation provides information about its investments on its website and updates these disclosures annually. OSU is establishing a Task Force on Responsible Investing charged with evaluating the alignment of institutional investment policies with institutional values and priorities, while maintaining compliance with relevant laws and regulations. The task force will recommend appropriate revisions, if any, to investment policies to the OSU Board of Trustees for their consideration and potential adoption. The task force, which will launch by fall term 2024 and engage the OSU community widely, will allow for dialogue, consensus-based decision making and open communication while adhering to established shared governance principles. It will complete its work by the end of the 2024-25 academic year. All OSU community members with strong interest in this topic will be considered for membership on this task force. OSU is establishing a Task Force on Responsible Procurement charged with evaluating the alignment of institutional procurement with institutional values and priorities, while maintaining compliance with relevant laws and regulations. The task force will recommend appropriate revisions, if any, to procurement policies to the OSU President for consideration and potential adoption. The task force, which will launch by fall term 2024 and engage the OSU community widely, will facilitate dialogue, consensus-based decision making and open communication while adhering to established shared governance principles. It will complete its work by the end of the 2024-25 academic year. All OSU community members with strong interest in this topic will be considered for membership on this task force. OSU is developing a new program of scholarly events and activities supported by the Office of the Provost, College of Liberal Arts and PRAx to engage humanists, artists, scientists and other scholars from a variety of backgrounds to advance greater understanding and awareness of history, conflict and diaspora in Palestine, Israel and the Middle East. All OSU community members with strong interest in these topics will be considered for membership on the steering committee for this program.
OSU is developing a new program of scholarly events and activities supported by the Office of the Provost, College of Liberal Arts and PRAx to engage humanists, artists, scientists and other scholars from a variety of backgrounds to advance greater understanding and awareness of history, conflict and diaspora in Palestine, Israel and the Middle East. All OSU community members with strong interest in these topics will be considered for membership on the steering committee for this program. With assistance from OSU Libraries, the university is developing a “library guide” that will contextualize the complex and interwoven incidents of displacement and violence that characterize the history and present of Palestine, Israel and the region. This guide will help OSU community members and the public to engage these topics with a critical lens to understand implications for the OSU community. The intent is to complete this work by the end of fall term 2024, at which time the guide will be made publicly and widely available. OSU invites all interested OSU community members to participate in this process. To contribute to the alleviation of civilian suffering in the region, OSU will support a university effort to raise funds for the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, which provides medical and humanitarian relief collectively and individually to children throughout the Levant, regardless of their nationality or religion, as well as the International Committee of the Red Cross, which has worked in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel since 1967 in partnership with the Palestine Red Crescent Society and Magen David Adom to provide direct humanitarian aid and advocate for humanitarian protections. OSU is dedicating grant aid to eligible students whose academic course of study has been disrupted by violence and conflict. Over the next three years, applications for this grant aid from students whose course of study has been impacted by violence in Gaza and Israel will be given substantial consideration for support. As a standing member of the Scholars at Risk Network, OSU can host scholars who have been displaced by violence and conflict. Over the next three years, applications for scholar hosting opportunities from scholars impacted by violence in Gaza and Israel will be given substantial consideration for support. I invite all OSU community members to indicate their interest in participating in the implementation of these actions through this new website, which will also be used to track progress and provide updates to the OSU community. In addition to these actions, OSU will continue enforcing university policies prohibiting discriminatory and harassing conduct, including prohibited anti-Palestinian and anti-Semitic behavior. OSU will also continue to vigorously protect the free expression and academic freedom rights of all OSU community members, including resisting any attempt to interfere with the academic freedom of any faculty member. Finally, OSU staff will continue to engage OSU community members who wish to learn more about these policies and how to convey their opinions and viewpoints consistent with their rights, responsibilities and university policies. I am immensely grateful for the time, advocacy and expertise many in our community have already contributed to determining this path forward. I know this is a challenging and stressful time for the OSU community. I encourage all to continue engaging the many support resources available to you at the university.

https://registrar.oregonstate.edu/student-emails/taking-action-response-crisis-gaza-israel-and-region

The first sentence starts with false framing/or bothsideism calling it “Violence in Gaza in Israel”, whereas the perpetrator of said violence that is committing genocide (Israel)  is given equal weight to the oppressed party (Palestinians). It is also important to note that this is not limited to Gaza. In the West Bank, Israel has also stepped up their acts of brutality against Palestinians. 

 Next stinger “I am aware that participants in an overnight encampment on the Valley Library Quad have made additional demands of the university, several of which are at odds with our public mission and commitment to academic freedom and free expression.” 

The demands of the encampment, which I will post a link to, are in no way at odds with the mission statement. The only one that is at odds with the mission statement is the administration. Especially since over the past weekend, they had threatened students with felony charges and fines. This is at odds with the “social progress” aspect and “collaborative communities” aspect of the leadership mission statement that they created for themselves. 

 “Nonetheless, the time has come to move forward as a university community.” This one really gets to me. On two levels. On the surface it is saying we gave you what we thought you wanted, why wont you pack up? On the second level it feels like it is saying stop talking about the genocide so openly. Both levels are heinous.  I saw flesh torn from bone, limbs missing, bodies mutilated and cold, all through my phone, and y’all want events to go on as normal? Assignments still turned in on time? While children are murdered with our tax dollars. Really? Fuck you. 

 Then they break down all the things they OfEred tO thE StUDenTs but they refused. 

If you look at the list on investments in point 1) some of those holdings are indeed on the BDS list to divest from. The students’ continued calls for divestment are warranted. 

 For point 2. Tasks forces are bullshit. Full stop. They can’t be held accountable and the students are asking for accountability, not more administrative red tape. 

   Points 6,7,8 are bullshit because they are not divesting. They are also still with point 7 individualizing solutions when liberation and struggle is interconnected. They should be implementing more gracious academic standing policies at the moment for everyone so those who are most impacted can have extra space to grieve without going through extra hoops and added stress. They are also continuing with the bothsideism/equal weighting of an unequal situation until the end in points 7 and 8. 

   I am also very suspicious of the fact that before student ecampments in solidarity with the Palestinian people, we had 4 total emails since October. The day that Columbia’s encampment escalated for Gaza, was when email number five came. I read it, and the subtext felt like don’t you do what Columbia is doing. We’ll have no choice but to call the cops. An hour or two later is when NYPD descended upon Hind’s Hall. Once Oregon State’s Student’s had an encampment, they had time to do an email and a webpage. On Nakba day. 

  I am tired of this administration’s lies. It is negatively activating to me, and more importantly, does very little to stop its ties with genocide. Instead, it perpetuates oppressor shit, does oppressor shit, and is oppressor shit. Some Gil Scott-Heron to close it all out.

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