From 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Students for Gaza (S4G) at San Francisco State University, alongside other student organizers across the Bay Area, will be walking out of classes and picketing on Oct. 8.

According to programs passed to students walking by, protesters will be stationed at four different locations on campus:

• M-stop (19th and Holloway Avenues): Drum circle and music picket
• Humanities Building: Poster making and chalking
• Burk Hall: Zine Making and chalking
• 57 stop (near Mashouf Wellness Center): Drum circle and music picket

7:43 p.m.

The rally has concluded and cars passing by honk in support for Students For Gaza as they leave Crescent Lawn. 

7:26 p.m.

The rally has moved towards a somber note, as candles have been passed out for visual poetry readings. Poets recite words pertaining to the struggle in Gaza and other pressing matters around the world.

6:40 p.m.

Sohrab Ford spoke to the crowd once again but kicked off their speech by acknowledging the presence of SFSU students at the rally. 

“Today, the students at SF State responded to the call of the Bay Area Convention for Palestine by picketing for 10 hours on our campus,” Ford said. 

Ford went on to emphasize how much they have learned through the Palestine liberation movement, and the importance of learning from history and putting it into practice on a daily basis. 

5:45 p.m.

Approximately 250 people from different campuses across the Bay Area have gathered on Crescent Lawn at UC Berkeley to continue the Student Day of Action. Participants will listen to speakers give speeches and partake in other activities while they rally support for Palestine.

5:00 p.m.

All picketing sites at SFSU have officially closed as participants head to the University of California, Berkeley to meet with others on the Crescent Lawn at 6 p.m.

4:08 p.m.

The man with the Israel flag who identifies as Joe has left university property.

3:58 p.m.

Protesters at the Quad have begun to pack up in order to prepare to go to the University of California, Berkeley. Organizers and participants will leave at 4:30 p.m. and take Bay Area Rapid Transit to the campus where they will continue the day-long strike.

3:47 p.m.

Earlier, Joe walked around campus as the University Police Department, university officials and S4G students followed him. Joe eventually walked back to the Quad where students gathered around to voice their opinions about his presence.

Jhon Amos, a fourth-year business student, said he felt offended by his presence.

“The country that he supports — the entity — government entity that he supports is committing genocide. They’re killing women and children,” Amos said.

Students for Gaza SFSU are now trying to divert attention from Joe and bring people back to 19th and Holloway Avenues.

3:01 p.m.

The man, who identified himself as Joe, continued to walk past the protesters and come onto campus. He says he saw the demonstration that was going to happen at SFSU and chose to show up. 

“I decided to stop by so that Jewish students do not feel afraid of the pro-Palestinian demonstrators on campus,” Joe said. 

2:54 p.m.

As protesters were continuing to rally at the front of 19th and Holloway Avenues, an unidentified male wearing an Israeli flag around his back came onto campus. He is carrying a backpack with a speaker inside playing music from Eyal Golan, an Israeli singer.

12:57 p.m.

After the rally was over, students moved back to 19th and Holloway Avenues, as well as the front of the Humanities Building.

12:41 p.m.

Sohrab Ford, an S4G organizer, closed the rally with demands and announcements. Among their demands were: the end of the occupation in Gaza, tuition increase and course cuts be reversed, and an end to repression of students and workers that stand in solidarity with Palestine. 

“If you are in favor of sending these demands to Gavin Newsom and Mildred Garcia, please raise your hands,” Ford called out to the crowd. “We will be sending these demands as SF State and end our complicity in this genocide.”

12:06 p.m.

Approximately 200 people gathered at the rally at Malcolm X Plaza. Students, faculty and S4G organizers took turns speaking to the crowd about the reason for the strike today as participants listened attentively.

The General Union of Palestine Students kicked off the set of speeches, which got the crowd riled up. One of the speakers that followed, student organizer Ali Noorzad, spoke about faculty cuts and the multimillion-dollar deficit SFSU is facing.

11:52 a.m.

A crowd of two dozen people marched through campus, starting at the Administration Building and arriving at Malcolm X Plaza for the rally that will be hosted at 12 p.m.

11:08 a.m.

Martel says the TPM policy hasn’t had an effect on our campus yet since protesters have remained well-organized.

“We [faculty] have been violating the TPM very deliberately ever since it came out,” Martel said in an interview conducted with Golden Gate Xpress. “Now to be fair, the faculty are not yet held to this TPM because there hasn’t been a meet and confer about it yet and until that happens it only applies to students.”

10:29 a.m.

No crowds have formed at 19th and Holloway Avenues or at any other campus locations but teach-outs hosted by Faculty for Justice in Palestine’s SFSU chapter have started. 

At 10 a.m., political science professor James Martel led a conversation on the new Time, Place and Manner policy next to the Edward Said mural with approximately 30 people in attendance.

Other teach-outs are scheduled throughout the day until 4 p.m., with a rally happening at Malcolm X Plaza at noon.

9:30 a.m.

Due to slow foot traffic, students stationed at Mashouf Wellness Center moved to join picketers at 19th and Holloway Avenues. 

9:17 a.m. 

Students like Amil Al-Bakari have begun to gather outside Mashouf Wellness Center. One of the reasons Al-Bakari is participating in the day-long strike is that they believe this is something that’s necessary.

“Even though we have divested as a school, it’s still very frustrating to see that other schools are kind of going through shit like this,” Al-Bakari said. “It took us a really long time to get the school to even understand why we feel the way we feel about needing to divest.”

8:03 a.m.

Drumming begins as people slowly gather at 19th and Holloway Avenues. Participants can be heard chanting a number of phrases such as “CSU, you can’t hide, you are funding genocide!” and “The students united will never be defeated!”

7:21 a.m.

On Tuesday morning, students began setting up around the Humanities Building and other campus locations to prepare for the all-day strike.

According to Brian Yan, a media liaison for S4G, tarps are being set up for open classrooms that faculty will be teaching in throughout the day, as well as canopies and check-in stations for those who want to participate.

“I think today’s going to go really well,” Yan said. “We’ve done a lot of work canvassing classrooms and talking to our classmates about the ongoing genocide and how our tuition and tax money goes to this genocide in Gaza.”

Individuals will be separated into four different categories through colored vests: blue for media liaisons, red for medics, yellow for security and green for organizers.

Jesus Arriaga, Gabriel Carver, Andrew Fogel, Kiren Kaur, Jake Knoeller, Eddie Monares, Kathia Noriega, Trevor Schock, Neal Wong and Sean Young contributed reporting for this article.