Demonstrations denouncing Israel erupted across Seoul on May 8, concentrated in university districts. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, May 9 (Korea Bizwire) – Demonstrations denouncing Israel erupted across Seoul on May 8, concentrated in university districts, as Israel initiated attacks on Rafah, the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip densely populated by Palestinian refugees.
At Seoul National University, members of the pro-Palestinian student group Subak (Watermelon) set up a tent emblazoned with the Palestinian flag in front of the Jahayeon building on the Gwanak campus, staging a sit-in protest in the afternoon.
Around 20 students gathered at the protest site chanted slogans like “Solidarity with Palestine” and “Stop the genocide,” calling for an end to the airstrikes.
The students criticized the Israeli military action, saying, “Rafah has an extremely high population density as it is where refugees have congregated. Through over seven months of war, Israel has driven Gaza residents into Rafah and is now attacking these refugees who have nowhere else to go, attempting to complete an ethnic cleansing.”
They added, “May 15 marks 76 years since the Nakba, when Palestinians were displaced due to the establishment of Israel. Like Koreans who endured 36 years of Japanese colonial rule, the Palestinians are having their sovereignty denied and their very existence negated by Israel.”
The Korean Civil Society Emergency Action in Solidarity with Palestine (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
Jumana Allababidi, a 21-year-old Palestinian architecture major participating in the sit-in, vowed, “The resistance will not stop until Palestine is liberated from Israel’s brutal occupation.”
The students also draped a traditional Palestinian keffiyeh scarf over the statute of martyr Park Jong-chul located between the College of Humanities and the Central Library.
At Yonsei University, a protest against the war in Gaza is scheduled for later today. Yonsei students plan to gather in front of the student union building on the Sinchon campus this afternoon and march near Sinchon Station alongside 40 pro-Palestinian groups united as “Those in Solidarity with Palestinians.”
Earlier this morning, a press conference condemning Israel’s ground offensive in Rafah was held in front of the Israeli Embassy in Jongno-gu, central Seoul.
The Korean Civil Society Emergency Action in Solidarity with Palestine stated, “Israel’s attacks under the pretext of eliminating Hamas amount to ethnic cleansing against civilians and are clear war crimes. Israel must immediately halt its ground troop deployment to Rafah and stop the mass killings.”
Saleh Rantisi, a Gazan refugee, pleaded, “If Israeli ground forces enter Rafah, the last refuge for over 1 million Gazans, it will expose massive numbers of displaced people to danger and potentially double the suffering of Gaza’s residents – an impending catastrophe.”
On May 7, Israeli tanks spearheaded an incursion into Rafah, where 1.5 million refugees have congregated amid seven months of warfare, suspected to be a hideout for Hamas’ leadership.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
