Gaza Solidarity Encampment shifts to talks, workshops
Gaza encampment shifts to talks, workshops
Day 2: Pro-Palestinian supporters continue occupation of the Shaw Quad while more factions weigh in.
Editor’s Note: This is a developing story and will be updated.
With their encampment established, roughly 70 pro-Palestinian activists on Tuesday shifted their focus to workshops and activities aimed to further explain their demands for Syracuse University.
Despite the imminent threat of rain, protestors attended a lecture delivered by African American Studies and Political Science Professor Horace Campbell on the second day of the Gaza Solidarity Encampment. Campbell explained the motivations behind the encampment to the audience on the Shaw Quad.
During the lecture, which spanned just under 30 minutes, Campbell described the connection between the rise of fascism and genocide. “What we’re doing here is let of a necessary part of combating racism and genocide,” Campbell said.
“Demands are not made for Palestine,” Campbell said. “They are made for humanity.”
After Campbell’s lecture, he opened a discussion and was joined by Imam Mohammed ElFiki, president of the Islamic Society of Central New York. ElFiki discussed a recent trip to Egypt and efforts to get food trucks into Gaza.
“Thank you so much for being here,” ElFiki said. “Thank you so much for standing up for the oppressed people.”
Discussion continued among protestors, who explored topics such as whether I-81 is contributing to discrimination and fascism in America. One demonstrator shared his own experiences as a child in war-torn Kosovo.
Campbell ended the discussion with several chants including, “Long live the Palestinian people,” “Boycott, divest and sanctions” and “Syracuse should divest from Israel.”
On the SUNY ESF campus, 315 Students 4 Liberation hosted a discussion with Palestinian writer Yaffa. Following their presentation, Yaffa also spoke to encampment on the steps of Hendricks Chapel.
Just after 4:20 p.m., during Campbell’s open discussion, a woman in a hat and sunglasses walked through the encampment shouting, “You’re all going to be tried for treason!”
Her entrance prompted swift boos and shouting from the protestors. The woman left about a minute later, ripping down signs and shouting about the encampment being illegal.
Reactions and resistance
Behind the scenes of a peaceful demonstration, SU officials and student organizations traded critical statements. The Gaza Solidarity Encampment accused a campus-wide email sent by Senior Vice President and Chief Student Experience Officer Allen Groves to be of “racist character” that contained “anti-Arab racism.”
Groves’ email to the student body mentioned a sign that the university “deemed harassing.” According to the Gaza Solidarity Encampment, that poster included the word “Intifada,” a word they say translates to “Arab Uprising” in English.
“In an academic institution where many scholars study the language, culture and Arabic-speaking region, we should not be the ones who have to educate the university,” the students wrote. Organizers requested an apology.
On Tuesday morning, Faculty for Justice Palestine SU released a statement in support of the “brave students and academic workers” involved in the Gaza Solidarity Encampments at SU and across the country.
A public letter purportedly from “a group of Syracuse University parents” accused a student of making antisemitic comments, including praising Hitler, on social media posts from 2012.
“It is utterly unacceptable for someone with such extremist and bigoted views to be on Syracuse University’s campus, and even more so to be leading a protest on campus grounds,” the letter said. “We demand the university to take immediate action to address these incidents of hate speech.”
Late Tuesday morning Syracuse Hillel posted on social media that the encampment made some Jewish students on campus “feel distressed, unsafe and frustrated.”
“Jewish students have a right to live and learn in a safe environment,” Hillel said.
The organization noted that several Jewish students spoke out against the “Anti-Israel Encampment” and Student Association resolution passed Monday evening.
“However well meaning the resolution claimed to be, several Jewish students spoke during public focus about how the encampment has made them feel distressed, unsafe and frustrated.” The publisher further called for the university to ensure a safe campus and condemn “these acute instances of antisemitic intimidation.”
Syracuse Hillel disabled comments on the post.
Just before 5 p.m., the Student Association sent an email to students “strongly condemning” hate speech in response to the “antisemitic remarks.”
“We do not support this organizer’s participation in the encampment and only support protest efforts as long as they are free of hate,” the email stated. “These remarks are not indicative of the majority of people in this movement, especially as many joined without being aware of this information.”
The Student Association reaffirmed their support for student’s freedom of speech, peaceful protests and open dialogue.
Around 9 p.m. on Tuesday, the Palestine Solidarity Collective at SU took to social media to denounce the past comments made “by one of the graduate students at the SU encampment.”
“We stand firm in our condemnation of all forms of genocide, violence and hate speech,” PSC wrote. “We are proud to have many Jewish students among us at the encampment, standing in solidarity against the university’s complicity in genocide.”
Several area organizations have voiced their support for the SU Gaza Solidarity Encampment including Peace Action Le Moyne and the Students for Justice in Palestine at SUNY Oswego.
After the afternoon workshops, encampment participants convened for dinner followed by an end of Passover ritual and community song circle after sunset.
is a graduate student studying Magazine, News and Digital Journalism. She is the Assistant Executive Producer for The NewsHouse.
