ITHACA, N.Y. -- Dozens of students gathered on campus at Cornell University Monday. The demonstration comes after two weeks of discord between pro-Isreali and pro-Palestinian student groups.
"We had very good dialogue in the past. Unfortunately, they erected an exhibit on one of the quads on the campus without letting us know before they put it up. And we felt that wasn't quite the proper way to go about it," said rally organizer Shai Akabas.
The exhibit organized by the Islamic Alliance for Justice featured 1,300 black flags representing the lives lost on both sides, as well as posters detailing the conflict. The display was vandalized shortly after it was put in place, with signs torn down and the flags rearranged into a Star of David.
"Instead of opening up a discussion, I think it really shows a lot that instead of discussing it, it spoke to the need to just squash it and silence it and destroy it," said Brooke Reynolds, a pro-Palestine activist.
Until now, the besieged Gaza Strip has stayed free of the novel coronavirus spreading across the world. As the Gaza Strip has been under a stringent Israeli-led blockade for nearly 13 years, the spread of the coronavirus - officially known as COVID-19 - has become the topic of discussion for many Palestinians, with some joking that the blockade was preventing them from being exposed.But as authorities in the coastal Palestinian enclave gear up to contain any potential outbreak, serious questions have arisen about the risks and implications of such a scenario. But given its already difficult humanitarian situation and high population density, an outbreak in the Gaza Strip could prove to be catastrophic, health officials have warned. "If the virus enters Gaza and spreads, it will get out of hand," Gaza Ministry of Health spokesperson Majdi Thuhair told Middle East Eye, as he explained that a severe shortage of resources and personnel would make it near impossible
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