UC Santa Barbara’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter conducted two fundraising campaigns this past summer, focusing on providing Palestinians with access to higher education and clean drinking water. One campaign successfully raised $17,500 to assist a Palestinian teenager accepted to a university in France, aiming to support their evacuation and educational access. Additionally, the group partnered with the Anfiqou Foundation to deliver clean water and medical supplies to displacement camps located in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.
These fundraising efforts come amidst a three-year-long genocide and over 75 years of occupation, as described in the source material. Israel established itself as a sovereign state in May 1948, leading to the displacement of an estimated 700,000 Palestinians from their homes between 1947 and 1949. This event is known as “al-Nakba,” or “the catastrophe” in Arabic. Palestine has remained under Israeli occupation since. On Oct. 7, 2023, the Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel, resulting in an estimated 1,200 deaths and 251 hostages taken. In the three years following this attack, Israel has committed a genocide of the Palestinians, killing a confirmed 73,000 people, with some reports suggesting the death toll is underreported.
Students for Justice in Palestine has hundreds of chapters nationwide, advocating for a free Palestine and an end to the genocide. An SJP representative indicated that the organization views Palestine as a lens to connect various struggles in the Global South with U.S. foreign policy. The representative expressed belief that many U.S. institutions, including the University of California system, are complicit in the genocide and occupation, citing investments.
A core objective for national SJP chapters remains a UC-wide call for divestment from weapons manufacturers that supply the Israel Defense Forces. The representative emphasized this goal, stating the organization seeks to ensure that access to education in one place is not at the expense of another’s access elsewhere. The representative highlighted the importance of using privilege to support those who do not share similar advantages, noting the historical role of student activists in driving change regarding U.S. policy.
The campaign addressing Gaza’s water crisis is particularly critical, as clean water has become a scarce resource for Palestinians. The United Nations (UN) has reported that over 1.3 million people in Gaza have access to less than six liters of water per day for drinking and cooking, significantly below the humanitarian standard of 15 liters per day. The UN has also stated that Gaza’s water access has been “weaponised and severely undermined by the Israeli authorities since October 2023.” The SJP representative underscored the severe need for water and medical supplies in Gaza.
The SJP representative encouraged UC Santa Barbara students to recognize that global conflicts, genocides, and wars directly impact their lives, drawing connections between domestic material conditions and humanitarian crises abroad. The representative conveyed a perspective that the privileges enjoyed locally, such as readily available water and housing, are understood to come at the expense of how the United States and Israel impact the Global South.
