It takes guts to stand up for what you believe in, and guts are what we’ve seen from countless Austinites who’ve taken to City Hall, stepped off of SXSW stages, and sat down on campuses to call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war. At UT-Austin in particular, hordes of mostly young people were tackled, pepper sprayed, and even arrested for their convictions. While the administration has not bent to students who demanded the school divest in weapons manufacturers whose products are killing civilians in Gaza, the impact of nationwide protests has been felt in Gaza. As one Gazan told the Chronicle, “I feel like someone is with us for the first time. I’m certain that the whole world sees what is happening to us.”
