Northwestern’s ongoing Gaza solidarity encampment was confronted by a gaggle of pro-Israel counterprotesters Sunday, the fourth day college students have occupied the college’s Deering Meadow to demand the varsity divest from and finish any partnerships with Israel.
The counterprotesters, as many as 150 individuals at the demonstration’s peak, held and wore Israeli flags and carried indicators with images of Israeli hostages nonetheless held by Hamas after the assaults of Oct. 7, 2023. They started their demonstration on the walkway adjoining to Deering Library, however later moved down the garden to have interaction the scholars, college and others within the encampment face-to-face.
Susan Radov, a graduate pupil at NU’s Kellogg School of Management, mentioned she and different Kellogg college students organized the motion as “a peaceful Jewish solidarity stand” that got here out of “pain and frustration” from seeing the encampment over the prior days.
“I think there’s a lot of power and coming together and being united and so we wanted to do something that was positive and uplifting … while also feeling like we have agency and could do something,” Radov mentioned. “It’s not through a sponsored group of any kind, just a group of Jews coming across from campus, pulling in different folks.”
She added the group was “frustrated by lack of enforcement” of “really good policies” the college put out, referring to an “interim addendum” to NU’s Student Code of Conduct introduced after the encampment started.
Demonstration timeline
The group started assembling shortly earlier than 11 a.m. on the concrete walkway adjoining to Deering Library, overlooking the garden utilized by the encampment. The demonstration began behind a line of steel bike racks which University Police arrange as a crowd management measure, in accordance with reporting by The Daily Northwestern.
Radov mentioned the pro-Israel organizers knowledgeable the college of their plans prematurely, noting she’s “very big on partnering with law enforcement” from her prior profession as a protection guide within the Pentagon. She mentioned they’d “about five to seven calls” with University Police the day earlier than to coordinate the motion.
Among the attendees had been NU Hillel Executive Director Michael Simon, Chabad Rabbi Mendy Weg and David Goldenberg, Midwest regional director of the Anti-Defamation League. Goldenberg advised The Daily Northwestern that the ADL didn’t assist plan the motion, and mentioned he was invited to attend by a graduate pupil.
Around 11:30 a.m., a lot of the group started shifting previous the bike racks and down the hill to confront the encampment immediately. Protest marshals – encampment leaders in fluorescent vests – moved between the counterprotesters and the tents, and the encampment started to kind a human chain stretching throughout the garden.
This scenario lasted for greater than half an hour as extra individuals arrived to help the encampment, which started chanting and enjoying music from loudspeakers to drown out the counterprotesters.
Counterprotesters chanted “free them all,” in reference to the Hamas-held hostages, whereas some recorded movies near encampment demonstrators’ faces, known as the pro-Palestinian protesters “terrorist supporters” and known as for them to take away their masks and present their faces.
The NU Divestment Coalition later posted a video on Instagram regarding the counterprotest. The caption claims that pro-Israel protesters “began harassing students both verbally and physically” and that pro-Palestinian protesters had been “shoved, spit on, [and] called slurs.”
Shortly after midday, the pro-Israel demonstrators moved again up the garden to their unique place subsequent to Deering Library at the urging of University Police, encampment marshals and Simon of NU Hillel. There, they danced and sang the Israeli and American nationwide anthems because the encampment line continued to chant. By 1 p.m., nearly all of the pro-Israel group had dispersed.
Radov mentioned she was “really pleased” with how the motion went, and mentioned organizers acquired a variety of messages thanking them. She estimated round 300 individuals attended in complete, counting these arriving and leaving all through the counterdemonstration.
“Many members of the community asked for a listserv so that we could keep in contact with them. I met alumni from Kellogg and from the rest of the university,” Radov mentioned. “It was really heartening and heartwarming to gather in community with everyone.”
Radov added that whereas they hope the college’s interim addendum insurance policies are enforced and “the encampment comes down,” if this doesn’t occur, her group plans to return at 11 a.m. each Sunday.
Northwestern spokespeople didn’t reply to an emailed request for remark, and the RoundTable couldn’t attain the encampment’s media liaison.
Area organizer pledges help
Later within the day, Nick Sous, an organizer with the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, got here to talk to the encampment. He urged neighborhood members from exterior the college to help the scholars and inspired them to comply with the lead of pupil organizers and protesters “putting their bodies, their education and their lives at risk.”
“Right now, the most important thing that students of Northwestern University need is our unity,” Sous mentioned. “We all are standing beside them in support of them throughout this encampment, no matter what.”
Sous additionally additionally addressed the sooner counterprotest, lauding the pro-Palestinian college students: “You stood together and held your ground.”
“One thing that people don’t realize, that these Zionists don’t realize, is when they come and try to shut s— down, they don’t know who they’re dealing with,” Sous mentioned. “We are the stubborn people who will continue to come out, continue to encamp and continue to fight for justice.”
After his tackle, Sous advised the RoundTable that though he has not visited different college campuses, it was vital for him to return out to point out that college students have neighborhood members supporting them and their efforts.
“We came out here today specifically because of what we heard happened earlier,” he mentioned. “When we got news of it, immediately we started telling people, ‘Guys, they need people out there to help protect them.’”
Sous mentioned that for faculty college students, counterprotests generally is a “scary situation.”
“We’ll be continuously on their side, helping them and backing them if they need it,” he mentioned.
As of Sunday night, encampment organizers had been nonetheless negotiating calls for with college directors.
Editor’s observe: Northwestern sophomore Virginia Hunt contributed to this story.