Anti-Israel activists hold 'die-in' during welcome event for admitted Ithaca students
Approximately two dozen students hosted a 'die-in' protest at Ithaca College in upstate New York on March 23 to protest Israel’s counteroffensive against Hamas.
According to The Ithacan, the demonstration was organized by Ithaca College Students for Palestine and began the protest during the morning of Admitted Students Day on campus.
Approximately two dozen students hosted a “die-in” protest at Ithaca College in upstate New York on March 23 to protest Israel’s counteroffensive against Hamas.
According to The Ithacan, the demonstration was organized by Ithaca College Students for Palestine (ICSFP) who began the protest during the morning of Admitted Students Day on campus.
Demonstrators reportedly held pro-Palestine signs while chanting “Free Palestine,” “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” and “When a land is occupied, resistance is justified.”
Quincey Fireside, President of ICSFP, reportedly said during the demonstration that the protesters had three demands, including that the school’s administration release a pro-Palestine statement and apologize for not doing so quicker.
The students are also said to have demanded that the school allow a Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) audit of Ithaca’s financial investments to determine the extent of its ties to Israel. Protesters allegedly demanded that the college even put an end to Birthright trips to Israel being run by “Hillel at IC.”
During the protest, demonstrators reportedly asked for Ithaca President La Jerne Cornish to attend in order to hear their demands in person. Cornish arrived shortly before 10:30 a.m., less than two hours after the protest started, according to The Ithacan.
“I will discuss [the demands] with my team,” Cornish said. “I am willing to have a subsequent meeting with [Fireside] and anybody else [Fireside chooses] to bring to that meeting to have further conversation, I am open to conversation.”
[RELATED: UPenn faculty block building during ‘die-in’ to honor ‘Gazans murdered by Israel’]
Fireside told The Ithacan that the scheduling of the protest on the college’s Admitted Students Day was intentional.
“I feel like the only way to get attention from the administration is to disrupt,” Fireside said. “Part of my frustration [is that] the school has just been kind of ignoring us and [Admitted] Students Day] is a big deal.”
“And if [the administration] is ignorant to [that reality], we are going to put some dead bodies in the building,” Fireside reportedly said in regard to the Palestinians that have died during the Israel-Hamas war.
In March, Campus Reform reported that anti-Israel activists interrupted a Family Weekend event at Stanford University to attack the school’s alleged support for the Jewish state.
Campus Reform has contacted Ithaca College for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
