Since 1948, Palestine has been under illegal occupation by the zionist state of israel. The settler colonial entity, with fiscal and political support from fellow genocidal perpetrator, the United States, has inflicted unspeakable violence on, and carried out the ongoing ethnic cleansing of, Palestinians. The past 10 months has seen the loss of life and the destruction of infrastructure and resources in Gaza on a catasrophic level. A July 5th study published in medical journal, The Lancet, estimates that 186,000 people, or 8% of Gaza's population, have been killed since October 2023. This violence is only the most recent manifestion of israel's genocidal aims which has seen millions of Palestinians killed, displaced, and imprisoned in the name of the zionist project.

  Palestinian resistance to the apartheid and genocide of the zionist project precedes and will outlast israel. The folks who started Take Back Bikes stand in full solidarity with the Palestinian people in their struggle for liberation. We believe it is imperative to struggle against institutions and corporations that support israel's apartheid state and enable genocide in Gaza. Want to learn more about Palestine? decolonizepalestine.com/ is a good place to start!

  The Gaza Solidarity Encampment was started by University of Michigan students following months of demands for the university to divest from israel and decades of campus and community based advocacy for Palestian liberation. The university currently has $6 billion in direct and indirect investments in companies that profit off of the genocide of Palestinians. These companies include drone and robotics companies that use facial recognition software to surveil Palestinians, military tech companies that specialize in technology such as F35 planes used to bomb Gazan civilians, and spyware companies that facilitate israel's techno-apartheid.

  Following 7 months of direct action, mass education, and rejected attempts to meet with university administration, students created the encampment as yet another tactic to compel the university to divest from israel. The encampment was a space of radical education, rejection of the norms of a money-driven university, and, above all, a space of community building. The encampment lasted for 30 days from April 22 until May 21 when UMPD violently tore it down at 5:45am. In the months following, the SE Michigan community has continued organizing in solidarity with Palestine through numerous initiatives and tactics. For more reading visit tahrirumich.org/encampment