During the harrowing siege of Beirut in 1982, as Israeli forces tightened their grip on the city, Mahmoud Darwish penned a poignant poem to his comrades, urging them to confront their conditions head-on. He implored them to "Besiege your siege, for there is no other choice... Besiege your siege with madness." These words resonate powerfully today as Israel continues its onslaught, raining down bombs on the tent cities of Rafah and perpetuating untold horrors from the skies above. In this pivotal moment in history, the image of two tents, two camps, emerges as a potent symbol: one symbolizing the displacement and suffering endured by those trapped within Gaza, and the other symbolizing the defiant encampments sprouting up across university campuses at the heart of the empire. This juxtaposition echoes the cycle of oppression and resistance, echoing Darwish's call to "besiege your siege" in the face of overwhelming adversity. Today, as history repeats itself, we are faced with the rise of a new variation of the earlier "besiege your siege", as free people across the world engage in the imperative to "encamp your camps."
