On Wednesday, May 15, 2024, the IUS Law Club organized a silent protest to raise awareness about the current dire situation in Palestine and show support for its people.
The organizer of the event, IUS student Fatma Nur Ekmekçi, stated that the reason for the silent protest is because everything has already been said up to this point, yet none of it has been enough to stop the flagrant violations of basic human rights. She pointed out that their colleagues in Gaza do not have even one university left where they can study, and the people in Palestine lack hospitals, schools, homes, mosques, and churches.
Ms. Ekmekçi expressed the underlying reason for this peaceful protest: “We wish not only for a ceasefire now, but lasting peace moving forward. We want equality before the law for all men, women, and children in Palestine and Israel. We want to see the right to life, prohibition of extrajudicial executions, prohibition of torture, inhumane and degrading treatment and punishment, freedom of movement and freedom of expression, freedom of association, rights to liberty and no arbitrary detentions of adults and children, rights to education, family and private life, rights to adequate standard of living and rights to property”.
The IUS students also used this opportunity to invite students from other universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region to follow their steps and show their stance on the war in Gaza. The protest at the IUS Campus was attended by both its students and staff.
