NH Students Call for Ceasefire (N.H. News Connection)

Kathryn Carley

Students at the University of New Hampshire are joining college students nationwide in demanding the Biden Administration call for an immediate Israeli ceasefire in Gaza.
A coalition of student organizations will hold a rally today to raise awareness of U.S. financial and military support of Israel and the suffering of Palestinian civilians.
Second-year student Adeena Ahsan said students are frustrated with President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party's lack of action.
"They make it sound like they care," said Ahsan, "but when it actually comes to doing something like holding the Israeli government accountable for their war crimes, they don't say anything about that."
Ahsan said a previous rally drew more than seventy students and she expects more people will turn out today.
She said it will be a peaceful space for people to gather and share information on how to best contact New Hampshire's congressional delegation.
For weeks, hundreds of thousands of college students have protested Israel's response to the Hamas October 7 military strike, and President Biden's failure to call for more than a "humanitarian pause."
Several progressive groups, including March for Our Lives and the Sunrise Movement recently penned an open letter to Biden, saying he risks losing millions of young voters unless he demands a ceasefire.
UNH graduate student Jed Siebert, who is Jewish, said for some the Democrats may be too late.
"This particular issue has I think really solidified a lot of people positions," said Siebert, "as not being interested in supporting them anymore."
Siebert said young people have helped bring about change before and he hopes they'll make a difference again.
A recent poll shows two-thirds of voters support the U.S. calling for a ceasefire. But a House resolution to do just that was backed by only a handful of House Democrats.