Widespread anti-Israel protests continue in months following October Hamas attack
Hundreds of students across the U.S. are still staging walkouts and other protests demanding universities support Palestine, often advocating for divestment from Israel.
Recent protests like at Ohio State University have seen students invoke anti-Semitic chants and blame schools for being complicit in Israel's alleged genocide.
In the past several weeks, hundreds of college students throughout the country have organized walkouts and other protests to demand that their schools take radical steps to support Palestine, while simultaneously pushing for divestments from companies that have ties to Israel.
On Feb. 8, students at Ohio State University walked out of class to demand that the school divest from the Jewish state. The protest, which occurred on the “National Day of Action,” was organized by the National Students for Justice in Palestine chapter and involved around 60 students.
Students reportedly chanted, “Free, free Palestine,” “Justice is our demand, no peace on stolen land,” and the anti-Semitic phrase, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” as reported by The Lantern.
Protesters at one point entered the Department of Materials Science and Engineering building on OSU’s campus, but alleged that law enforcement said they could not chant inside the building.
“We’re not allowed to chant in this building because it’s a disruption of the academic process,” Hana El Nemr, a student protester, told The Lantern. “And with that, I think we’ve lost sight of what a protest is meant to do. What do we do when we are protesting something? We are disrupting every process in sight because nothing, and I tell you, nothing matters more than recognition of what is happening to the Palestinian people.”
That same day, hundreds of students at the University of Michigan also staged a walkout during class to demand divestment from companies with ties to Israel’s military counteroffensive. The event was reportedly organized by Students Allied for Freedom and Equality (SAFE) and the TAHRIR Coalition.
“Universities have refused to divest from companies that are complicit in human rights violations, to divest from companies that are sending weaponry to Israel that are massacring civilian population after civilian population, that are causing an exponential death rate that we have never before seen in modern history,” SAFE President Salma Hamamy said, according to The Michigan Daily.
“Our universities are not too far distant from these war crimes,” he added.
[RELATED: Pro-Palestine activists occupy UMich building demanding divestments from Israel]
Similarly, on Feb. 4, hundreds of students protested at Roxbury Crossing in Boston. The Boston Coalition for Palestine (BCP) organized the protest, which The Huntington News reported was also promoted by clubs at Northeastern University.
During the march, students chanted, “Northeastern, you can’t hide, you’re supporting genocide” and “NUPD, KKK, IDF, you’re all the same.”
Also in Boston, students at Suffolk University, Emerson College, and the Berklee College of Music held a walkout on Jan. 25 to show support for Palestine and to oppose Israel. The walkout was organized by the Students for Justice in Palestine groups at the three schools.
Campus Reform has contacted Ohio State University, the University of Michigan, Northeastern University, Suffolk University, Emerson College, the Berklee College of Music, and each of the student groups listed above for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
