BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) – Holding signs and marching in support of Palestine, LSU students rallied on campus demanding a ceasefire in Gaza on Thursday, Nov. 9.

Yusuf Abu-Farsakh considers himself a Palestinian-American and wants to bring more awareness to perspectives he doesn’t feel are being talked about enough. 

“I just wish more of the community would learn about our side, not just on the conflict between Palestine and Israel, but on just what’s going on in Gaza,” said Abu-Farsakh.

After the rally, he hopes people start asking the critical questions that he and some Palestinians have.

“How can we help them achieve a future with education, with water, with food, good infrastructure, and just being able to look at those issues and bring them to light is really important to people like me and everybody else that we see behind me,” he said.

Maram Khalaf is also an LSU student and has close friends who are Palestinian. She said she refuses to be silent on the issue. 

“Silencing us, that means we’re not educating, and I’m an educator, and that’s what we have to do, we have to educate people,” she said. 

Cici Emendack was the rally organizer and said she hopes Palestinians afraid to speak on campus and in the community let their voices be heard. 

“We need to ensure that on this campus, there’s a feeling of safety for all students,” she said. “It’s just very important and paramount during periods like this where we listen to the people who are directly affected by the things that are happening.” 

She also hopes to bring awareness while educating. “We are calling for the end of the murders of thousands and thousands upon thousands of people. So that is why their voices matter because they are speaking for their brothers across the sea. And I’m speaking for my brothers and sisters here who are afraid to speak up,” Emendack said. 

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