A recent report by the United Nations has deemed Israel’s actions towards Palestinians a genocide, and although Corvallis is far from the region, the community strives to support those impacted by the ongoing conflict.
Since the Israeli-Palestinian war began in October of 2023, the Palestinian militant movement and political party Hamas have attacked and killed around 1,200 Israeli citizens and 250 hostages. The war has since escalated, resulting in the deaths of more than 65,000 Palestinians.
Corvallis Palestine Solidarity, for example, is a community organization actively advocating for Palestinian self-determination and liberation through weekly and monthly events.
According to Raine, a member of the organization who requested their last name be withheld, CPS holds weekly meetings at Interzone Cafe to write postcards for Palestine, have weekly rallies, a farmer’s market booth on Saturdays and a speaker series every third Sunday of the month at the Bière Library.
The latest speaker series they held in September was headlined: “Back To School During A Genocide,” which included a short talk on empowering students, parents and teachers to speak about the ongoing conflict.
Some suggestions Raine made for individuals to take action and show solidarity for Palestine are to boycott companies invested in the conflict, and “make informed choices of what you are purchasing, call representatives to demand change and put pressure on them to make better choices.”
Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley, who recently returned from visiting Gaza, has published a joint report of his findings with Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen. The report is titled, “The Netanyahu Government is implementing a Plan to Ethnically Cleanse Gaza of Palestinians. America is Complicit. The World Must Stop It.”
“Whatever Israel’s original war aims may have been, they now include the removal of Palestinians from Gaza. That is ethnic cleansing,” the report stated.
In addition, the report stated, “We also witnessed with our own eyes the Palestinian city of Rafah, previously home to over 270,000 people, reduced to rubble.”
Oregon State Palestinian student Heba, who requested her last name not be published for safety reasons, said the classification was “way overdue. It is about time, and no one should be surprised, of course it is a genocide.”
Heba said she has become desensitized to the entire situation because she has family in Gaza and is unable to maintain contact with them to see how they are doing.
After the university encampments in 2023, OSU addressed students concerns by establishing two task forces, the task force on Responsible Investing and the task force on Responsible Procurement, and two advisory committees, the Advisory Committee on Scholarly Events and the Advisory Committee on Library Resources.
The Advisory Committee on Library Resources has curated a collection of resources to aid OSU community members in contextualizing the issues and history of Palestine and Israel. These resources will be compiled into a library guide to be done by spring 2026.
In addition, the Advisory Committee on Scholarly Events is currently working to develop a series of events and activities that serve to advance awareness and a greater understanding of the conflict in the region.
According to Rob Odom, the vice president of University Relations and Marketing, the committee consists of individuals with different views, different areas of expertise and different lived experiences.
The scholarly events and activities are set to begin during spring 2026 in collaboration with the Office of Provost, the College of Liberal Arts and the Patricia Valian Reser Center for Creative Arts.
For more information on OSU’s action in response to the ongoing conflicts in Gaza, Israel and the region, visit their leadership website.
For more information and updates on the Corvallis Palestine Solidarity movement, visit their website or follow them on Instagram @PalestineCorvallis.