This story was updated on November 15th at 9:00 a.m.
More than 100 UTSA students participated in a walkout and rally on Thursday to demand a ceasefire in Gaza, where Israel has killed more than 10,000 people since Hamas killed 1,400 people in Israel on October 7. United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday that the Palestinian enclave was becoming “a graveyard for children.”
Batool Rizvi, one of the students involved in the walkout, said students want a ceasefire.
“There’s way too much death happening, it’s not acceptable,” Rizvi said. “Something needs to happen about it now.”
Protests demanding a ceasefire in Gaza have erupted at university campuses around the country, and have drawn severe criticism from some politicians and university leaders.
“If there’s a negative response, well, we’re just emphasizing safety and love and kindness, humanity,” Rizvi said. “That’s our number one priority.”
UTSA’s Chief Communications Officer Joe Izbrand released a statement on behalf of the university after Thursday’s walkout.
“The group of students that gathered today expressed their opinions consistent with their freedom of speech rights and with university policies regarding expressive activities and public gatherings,” the statement said.
Rizvi said she felt uplifted by the amount of people who participated in the walkout.
“This is a way bigger turnout than I expected,” she said. “It’s heartening to know that there are people who care about what’s going on. It’s a really urgent humanitarian cause, and we’ve just been feeling so helpless not doing anything, and this was our way of doing something.”
The U.S. announced on Thursday that Israel agreed to begin daily four-hour military pauses in certain areas in the north of Gaza to allow civilians to flee from where the assault is the heaviest. Israel continues to bomb Gaza’s southern half, where civilians are fleeing to.
Israel has said a long-term ceasefire cannot be reached until Hamas releases the rest of the hostages it took from Israel.
