Anti-Israel protesters conduct mock IDF checkpoints at Sonoma State
Anti-Israel activists at Sonoma State University recently staged several mock checkpoints across campus in an effort to replicate military checkpoints set up by the Israeli Defense Forces.
'We don't want to make people uncomfortable, but we want people to be uncomfortable with the idea of what we're paying for overseas with our tax dollars,' one anti-Israel student reportedly said.
Multiple schools across the California State University system (CSU) dealt with large volumes of anti-Israel protesters during the previous academic year. Now, activists at one CSU school have reignited these protests.
Anti-Israel activists at Sonoma State University (SSU) recently staged several mock checkpoints across campus in an effort to replicate military checkpoints set up by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) during the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. The protesters, who reportedly posed as soldiers and security personnel, interrupted fellow students’ travel across campus and asked to see their ID’s and work permits.
Students at Sonoma State University set up mock Israeli checkpoints on the first day of school to “spread awareness” about Palestine.
This is definitely not a good look for @SSU_1961. pic.twitter.com/jFFQf2DqSU— Stu (@thestustustudio) August 25, 2024
Albert Levine, a member of the school’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter, said that he and other protesters intended to simultaneously make students feel comfortable and uncomfortable.
“We don’t want to make people uncomfortable, but we want people to be uncomfortable with the idea of what we’re paying for overseas with our tax dollars,” Levine said, according to The Jewish Chronicle.
Another SJP member, Madyline Jaramillo, also told The Press Democrat that one goal of the protest was to “make noise” and garner further attention from the SSU student body.
“This action also helped us to gauge where admin is right now and their response, as well as the response from students,” Jaramillo said. “We’re here to make noise and get students on board.”
SSU recently enacted a new set of rules governing campus protests, which delineate between “planned” and “spontaneous” protests, subjecting each to a different level of scrutiny.
One SJP member named Julianna, who declined to share her last name, told The Press Democrat that she felt that SSU’s new policy specifically targeted SJP, alleging that the updated rules constitute a persecution against her and other activists.
“From our perspective, it feels incredibly targeted and aggressive towards a specific community of organizers and our actions over the past spring semester,” she said. “It’s just trying to persecute us and stop us from organizing.”
[RELATED: Sonoma State University president makes boycott deal with protesters, gets put on leave]
SSU Student Affairs associate vice president Ryan Henne said that the new rules are intended to achieve several objectives, including creating a more uniform set of rules across all 23 CSU campuses.
“We’ve always had a requirement for space reservations,” Henne said, according to The Press Democrat. “We’ve always had a requirement for amplified sound, but now it’s more uniform for all 23 campuses.”
Campus Reform has reached out to CSU, SSU, and Ryan Henne for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.