Keene For Palestine, a local organization dedicated to fostering solidarity with Palestinians, is planning on hosting two events in October, not long after the second anniversary of the airstrikes and attacks in Gaza, which started on Oct. 7, 2023.
In September, a United Nations Commission of Inquiry found that Israel’s military actions in Gaza, with its high amount of civilian casualties, was a genocide. According to BBC News, “A new report says there are reasonable grounds to conclude that four of the five genocidal acts defined under international law have been carried out since the start of the war with Hamas in 2023: killing members of a group, causing them serious bodily and mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions calculated to destroy the group, and preventing births.”
Two members of the Keene For Palestine organization, Katie Carbonara and Heather Servant, alumni ‘09, spoke about their goal with the events and what students and Keene residents can expect to see at them.
“It is a very unique thing for our community to have an institution like a Holocaust and genocide studies center; not every community has that,” Carbonara said. “We have been looking to the institution for education and talking about this [the war in Gaza].”
Carbonara pointed out the U.N. Commission of Inquiry’s recent decision as one reason why the Cohen Institute should take a more active role when it comes to programming revolving around the war.
Carbonara also noted South Africa and the case it brought to the International Court of Justice, alongside the findings of the U.N. Commission and the International Association of Genocide scholars, about their findings of a genocide occurring in Gaza.
“There’s the additional fact that this genocide would not be possible without U.S taxpayer funds,” Carbonara added.
Servant provided specifics on what Keene For Palestine is doing to make a difference.
“Recently we’ve decided to do a letter to the editor campaign with the [Keene] Sentinel,” Servant said. “We want to have an event where it feels like voices are being heard.”
Carbonara discussed some of the things Keene For Palestine thinks the Cohen Institute could host to build conversations about Palestine and educate on the issue, including bringing Palestinian scholars, writers, or poets to campus.
Carbonara also provided some details about what students and Keene residents can expect to see at the events the group is planning, whose dates and specifics are still being mapped out.
“If anyone is feeling like they’d like a community space to process some of that [the war in Gaza], it could also be a place to do that,” Carbonara said, in addition to connecting with organizers. “Education is the other point of this: Meeting students, talking to students and also hearing students’ experiences.”
Servant also discussed some of the past events that Keene For Palestine has held to build awareness, such as film screenings and community discussions, as well as one event where a Palestinian woman spoke about her life and culture.
“What you’ll find with Palestine is that anyone telling their story, their family story, it intersects with the occupation, with violence in some way,” Carbonara added. “That’s exactly what this story was: Talking about a family who had been forced to leave Palestine and then she was showing some pictures of when she’d gone back to Palestine, and seeing the place where her mother’s family house had been totally demolished.”
Servant continued, sharing some of the more overtly political actions the group has taken, including marches and rallies in Keene.
“We have hosted an art build in the past. Last year, we worked with other organizations across the state to mark the one year anniversary, where we made a lot of poppy flowers, in honor of all of the people who have been murdered,” Carbonara said.
Both reflected on the student turnout for the events and student interest in the group’s cause.
“I would say the age range is really wonderful,” Servant said. “We’ve seen lots of students come out. We have one student in our organization right now.”
Carbonara also mentioned tabling at Keene Pride Fest and handing out zines and literature to students and community members alike.
Melinda Treadwell, president of KSC, provided her input about the Cohen Institute’s role in the ongoing conflict, making mention of a recent letter to the editor published in the Keene Sentinel from Director of Cohen Institute Director Kate Gibeault.
“I thought it was important to the readership of The Sentinel to communicate that institutions, particularly public institutions, cannot declare a point of view on these types of issues,” Treadwell said. “What we can do is say, ‘Please, come and we can engage around these issues of relevance.’”
Treadwell made note of some of the past programming the Cohen Institute has hosted.
“We’ve had lots of speakers here. We’ve gotten very specific about the way we were talking of the [U.N.] and their declaring on genocide. We have learned scholars come in, we’ve had open sessions, we’ve published those widely, we’ve had to pivot to virtual in some cases because there have been threats around the speakers, but we wanted the events to go on,” she said.
Chloe Erno can be contacted at
cerno@kscequinox.com
