Flag Demonstration Honors Palestinians Killed in Gaza

Students for Justice in Palestine placed an exhibit representing the Palestinian flag on the field in front of Francis Hall Feb. 8 as a demonstration to honor the Gazans killed by Israeli forces since October.

The exhibit included about 23,000 smaller flags staked into the ground, which together formed the Palestinian flag. Names of about 27,000 of those who have been killed were written on each of the flags as a way to honor their lives, according to Lena Abushaban, a fourth-year student and president of SJP.

Israel declared war on Hamas after an Oct. 7 attack upon Israeli towns outside of the Gaza strip by Hamas militants which led to increased military action, according to the Associated Press. Since then, more than 25,105 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and more than 62,681 have been wounded as of Jan. 21, according to AP.

Abushaban said it was important for SJP to have the chance to honor the lives lost. 

“There are some flags that have no name on them to represent unidentified bodies that are unfortunately still under the rubble,” Abushaban said. “This is just us trying to honor our martyrs all the way from here.”

Abushaban said the demonstration was passed down from the University of Chicago’s chapter of SJP, who displayed it on their campus before deciding to give the flags to other universities to spread the message through the Chicago area.

University of Chicago’s chapter of SJP could not be reached for comment.

This idea is part of a larger initiative with university SJP chapters including the University of Illinois Chicago and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, who previously set up their own displays, according to Abushaban. She said Loyola SJP plans to pass it on to another Chicago area university, although they are not sure who will be receiving it yet. 

The SJP chapters at University of Illinois Chicago and Illinois Urbana-Champaign didn’t respond to The Phoenix’s request for comment.

Abushaban said the demonstration worked out well with the University of Chicago because they were looking to pass on the flags at the same time SJP Loyola was looking to do a demonstration in honor of Gazans who have been killed. 

“Supplies are not that easy to access for us right now,” Abushaban said. “We were able to take those because all the SJPs’ work together through SJP Chicago.”

Abushaban said in order to have the flags up for the day, members of SJP began working to stake the flags in the ground Feb. 8 at 8 a.m. 

Fixed exhibits may only remain displayed for five or fewer consecutive days and may not be displayed during university holidays, according to Loyola’s community standards. The sponsoring party is responsible for any damage to university property resulting from the exhibit.

Fourth-year Melissa Beerbower said she didn’t understand what the demonstration was when she first saw it but thinks it’s an important example of students being allowed to fully express themselves and their beliefs on campus. 

“I think that Palestine should continue to have visibility on campus because the issue has not gone away,” Beerbower said. “I don’t think it’s OK for people to forget about it.”

For fixed exhibits, the university requires students to reach out to the Dean of Students ahead of time and notify them of the event, according to the community standards. After reaching out, the organizers are required to have a meeting with the Dean of Students to go over the specifics of the demonstration and ensure all university guidelines are being met. 

Loyola spokesperson Matt McDermott wrote in an email to The Phoenix that SJP followed all of these guidelines and successfully had the demonstration approved by the Dean of Students before implementation.

Abushaban said they only had the demonstration up on Feb. 8 and removed it in the evening. 

Abushaban said the demonstration was supposed to go on the West Quad but they received a notice from the university that told them they were being relocated to the field in front of Francis Hall due to plumbing issues on the West Quad. 

“The university informed us about the issue with the flags on the quad once I gave them notice of it,” Abushaban said. “We were confused because our fixed display followed Loyola’s community guidelines, including staking flags in the ground. They gave us other options to present the flags on the West Quad that didn’t require staking them in the ground, but those would’ve doubled if not tripled our time for setup, and we only had the day to display.” 

Abushaban said the university allowed them a strict time frame from 8 a.m. until 10 p.m. Feb. 8. SJP members asked for an extension due to inclement weather but were denied their request and told to continue removing the display as planned despite mud, drizzling rain and cold weather as they were removing the display, according to Abushaban.

“We were really frustrated because we’ve seen other orgs display flags, and we felt the location was hidden from campus,” Abushaban said. “It also pains me that a peaceful display of 27,000 murdered Gazans — one that we only wanted to display to honor their lives — was so difficult to get approved.”

McDermott wrote in an email to The Phoenix there are pipes located underground on the West Quad which don’t allow for fixed demonstrations which involve placing stakes of any kind into the ground.

“There’s a waterline under West Quad that could be compromised by the placement of sharp sticks in that area,” McDermott wrote. 

In November 2022, Loyola students placed 7,057 mini American flags on the West Quad in honor of Veterans Day without following the procedures outlined in the community standards. The university asked they be removed the same day, citing the same plumbing issue, The Phoenix previously reported. 

Diyanka Laemmle, a first-year student, said she has participated in one of the protests hosted by SJP in the past and thought it was “cool” the university allowed this demonstration to take place and that it was a “pretty meaningful” display.

“I know it’s super controversial, but I think that everybody can agree on the fact that, like, what’s happening is wrong,” Laemmle said.

Abushaban said she was grateful for the opportunity to mourn the loss of life overseas on campus.

“I’m just glad we were able to do this,” Abushaban said. “I was able to honor my own family, as well, and lives that I’ve lost. And I’m just glad that everybody else, both SJP and out of SJP, were able to pass by and see the flags.”

Featured image by Lilli Malone / The Phoenix