Student Solidarity in the Time of War: Learning, Organizing, Resisting
By: Dr. Kimberly Monroe
War doesn't bypass universities, it transforms them. Some campuses are bombed. Others become military bases. In many cases, they turn into ideological battlegrounds where dissent is criminalized, and state narratives are enforced. And yet, from Gaza to Kyiv to Sudan to Hong Kong, students continue to organize. Student solidarity becomes vital here, not just as a moral stance, but as survival. Organizing for housing, safety, food, and freedom becomes central to student life. The university stops being a mere site of education and becomes a site of struggle.
Students from across the DMV region gathered at the encampments held at George Washington University to protest the oppression of Palestinians in Gaza.
During our visit to Palestine in 2022, we had the opportunity to witness a powerful display of student solidarity at Birzeit University. Thousands of students marched across campus, representing a wide spectrum of Palestinian political parties. Due to safety concerns, we were unable to film or photograph the event, but the energy and unity were unmistakable. Students wore their respective party colors, flags, and many concealed their identities with masks. What stood out was that these demonstrations weren't merely about campus politics, students were mobilizing in support of national political movements, including parties like Hamas and others. It challenged our assumptions about the nature of student activism, revealing a deep-rooted connection between university life and the broader Palestinian political struggle.
Throughout modern history, U.S. student movements have built transnational solidarities during times of war, mobilizing against apartheid in South Africa, U.S. imperial interventions, and global systems of oppression. In the context of Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza, contemporary student activism for Palestinian liberation has reignited this legacy, transforming U.S. campuses into sites of both dissent and repression. This essay examines how U.S. student solidarity with Palestine during wartime continues a historical tradition of anti-war and anti-colonial organizing while highlighting the constant surveillance, repression and censorship they face on and off campus.
Many student movements in wartime are not confined to the conflict zone. They ripple across borders, especially where diasporic students and exiles rally support for their homelands. Palestinian student unions in the U.S. or U.K., for example, often organize teach-ins, protests, and fundraisers in solidarity with those under siege.
In South Africa, the rise of Black Power deeply influenced the formation of the South African Student Movement, particularly under the leadership of Steve Biko. In December 1971, Biko addressed members of the South African Students’ Organization (SASO), articulating his vision of Black Consciousness. He believed that this ideology could instill pride, dignity, and hope among Black students and youth, fostering a sense of unity and resistance. Biko defined “Black” as those who, by law and tradition, were politically, economically, and socially marginalized in South African society and who recognized themselves as a collective in pursuit of liberation.
The African Students’ Movement (ASM), formed in 1968 by school students engaged in Christian youth clubs in Soweto, emerged in response to both poor educational conditions and the urgent need to voice student grievances. By 1975, a politically conscious core had developed, with around a hundred active students in each of Soweto’s major high schools. The ideology of Black Consciousness permeated student debate societies, the South African Student Movement, and the Student Christian Movement, creating a unified front of politically engaged youth.
This movement not only bridged the gap between school-going and out-of-school youth but also helped cultivate a dynamic and resistant youth culture. The Soweto Uprising of June 16, 1976, marked the most explosive manifestation of this student resistance. It signaled a turning point, both nationally and globally, in how student solidarity, Black Consciousness, and youth activism intersected with broader struggles for liberation, drawing clear parallels to other global movements, including those in Palestine.
This transnationalism can complicate solidarity: students must navigate institutional repression abroad, public scrutiny, and internal divisions. Yet, it also strengthens movements, linking struggles from South Africa to Colombia to Kashmir under a shared anti-imperialist framework. The wave of campus protests and encampments in spring 2024 demonstrates a rapidly growing consciousness. Some faculty have even stood in solidarity with student protesters, while others continue accepting funding from organizations whose agendas conflict with liberation.
Student and national organizers have held numerous teach-ins and public dialogues to raise awareness about the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the systemic violence in the West Bank. These efforts aimed to educate communities and build solidarity through political education and grassroots mobilization. However, many of the students who took leading roles in these movements now face severe consequences. In some cases, their degrees have been revoked, and under the Trump administration, academic institutions are being threatened with funding cuts, particularly those that uphold diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) principles.
But this pattern of repression is not new. During the Red Scare and the era of McCarthyism, organizers aligned with communist or leftist politics were similarly targeted. Academics like Dr. Angela Davis lost their positions, and students across the country were placed under surveillance for their political beliefs. The same tactics of intimidation and censorship have resurfaced following the events of October 7, 2023, as students and faculty advocating for Palestinian rights are once again being surveilled, silenced, and punished. This ongoing suppression reflects a long-standing effort to quash radical political thought, particularly when it challenges systems of imperialism, racism, and state violence.
Student solidarity continues to transcend borders, remaining steadfast in the face of repression. This generation offers hope, not because their path has been easy, but because they have refused to waver in their support for Gaza and Palestine. From walking out of graduations and raising the Palestinian flag, to holding professors and administrators accountable, today’s student activists are demonstrating a bold and principled commitment to justice. They are carrying forward the legacy of Kwame Ture, the veterans of SNCC, and the countless students in Gaza who, due to war and displacement, no longer have classrooms to return to. In their resistance, we see a continuation of global struggles for liberation and a future being shaped by courage, clarity, and uncompromising solidarity.
Author bio: Kimberly F. Monroe, PhD is a writer, cultural curator, and associate professor of Africana Studies based in Washington, DC. A South Louisiana native, her work explores Black radical traditions, memory, and global liberation movements. Her recent writings have appeared in Picturing Black History, The Funambulist, and Spirit House: A Crossroads Project with Princeton University. She is currently working on her manuscript, The Black Underground: Assata Shakur and Global Freedom Struggles, forthcoming from Princeton University Press.