Electoral Victories Confirm the Enduring Influence of Campus Pro‑Palestine Activism

For the past year, the pro‑Palestine protest movement in the United States seemed to wane amid accusations, crackdowns, public indifference, and activist fatigue.

However, a series of electoral victories by candidates opposing Israeli policies suggests that the true measure of activism lies in the long term.

In New York, Darializa Avila Chevalier, an activist who took part in the Columbia University pro‑Palestine protests, won the Democratic congressional primary, defeating a five‑term incumbent.

“It feels incredibly satisfying to see the tide finally turn,” said Maryam Alwan, who participated in the 2024 Columbia protest.

“Public opinion has shifted to a point where it is now unavoidable and undeniable, and I believe we are finally witnessing the ripple effects of movements such as the encampment that occurred two years ago,” she added.

Chevalier’s victory was one of several wins for pro‑Palestine candidates in New York last week.

Last year, Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor of New York City, in part due to the support of young pro‑Palestine activists who energized his campaign.

On Tuesday in Colorado, Melat Kiros—who had been dismissed from her law firm in 2023 after writing a letter defending Palestinian rights supporters from anti‑Semitism accusations—defeated a House member who had served in Congress for nearly three decades.

Candidates endorsed by supporters of Palestinian rights also secured important victories in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Columbia case

Chevalier’s victory is particularly notable given the long‑term impact of the student protests.

The democratic‑socialist nominee, expected to win decisively in a safe Democratic district this November, will represent much of Columbia University’s campus, the site where the movement began.

Seeing the horrific atrocities in Gaza—partly financed by their own government—Columbia students established the first encampment in solidarity with Palestinians, igniting a nationwide movement.

Students across the country transformed their campuses into frontlines of political activism opposing Israel’s genocidal war against Palestinians.

Dozens of encampments sprang up on campuses across the country in 2024 and chants of “free Palestine” rang in schools from Seattle to Miami.

The students demanded an end to their institutions’ complicity in Israel’s abuses and called for divestment from Israeli companies and weapons manufacturers.

A security crackdown soon followed, resulting in the arrest of hundreds of students and the removal of the encampments.

Chevalier herself was arrested in 2024 while participating as an alum in the protests.

Many students faced academic disciplinary measures, and some were charged with alleged offenses related to the protests, as politicians from both major parties framed the movement as anti‑Semitic.

In 2025, former President Donald Trump returned to the White House and targeted student activists who were not U.S. citizens, advocating for their deportation.

With the encampments removed, protests grew quieter, and activists adopted defensive stances to protect their reputations, safety, and freedoms, suggesting that the pro‑Israel camp had effectively suppressed the student movement.

Nevertheless, activists assert that the story is not over, and the recent elections underscore this point.

“There are no words to describe the joy and satisfaction of seeing Darializa, a former leader and organizer of the encampment, now representing the university that arrested her,” Alwan said.

She added that while students may not have succeeded in securing divestment despite rallying the personal costs they suffered, change is proving to be a “gradual process”, and public opinion is now more aligned with the protesters.

“We are experiencing a new wave of hope,” Alwan told Al Jazeera.

Cameron Jones, a Columbia protest participant, said that Avila Chevalier consistently supported younger activists and fearlessly advocated for Palestinian rights, even when it was unpopular.

“It is truly inspiring to see that, despite facing immense repression and organising in a hostile environment, the power of the people can still overcome all the barriers erected by the federal government, Columbia, and the media,” Jones said regarding Chevalier’s victory.

The Columbia protests formed a core part of Avila Chevalier’s political identity as she launched her campaign last year.

One of her criticisms of her now-defeated opponent, Congressman Adriano Espaillat, is that he did not adequately support Columbia activist Mahmoud Khalil as he was targeted for deportation by the Trump administration.

Heba Gowayed, a sociology professor at the City University of New York (CUNY), stated that recent electoral victories for pro‑Palestine candidates would not have been possible without the 2024 student protests.

“When we consider social movements, we often view them as bursts of action with a limited time span,” Gowayed told Al Jazeera.

“And when students are dispersed, expelled, and the university fails to divest, we perceive that as the loss of a movement.”

She noted that numerous articles have declared the defeat of student protests, claimed they have faded, and questioned the lack of campus activism during the Trump era following the crackdown.

“But here we have Darializa’s win, Mamdani’s win, and the victory of the entire socialist slate,” she said. “This would not occur if those students did not encamp; it simply would not happen.”

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