Early Thursday morning April 25th, students set up a tent encampment on the Arts Quad in an Anti-Israel protest. The Coalition for Mutual Liberation (CML), a pro-Palestine group, organized the encampment. The CML has listed a series of demands that must be met by Cornell University. Until these demands are met, they plan to keep the encampment on the Arts Quad. The protestors also engaged in a series of inflammatory chants, including, “There is only one solution, intifada revolution.” The protesters used amplified sound, which violates the Interim Expressive Activity Policy.
Background
Leading up to the encampment protest, Cornell has experienced a number of protests and counter protests over the war in Gaza. This semester, there have been a number of anti-Israel protests that have been increasingly disruptive, with protests occurring in libraries and other common study areas. CUPD eventually intervened in these protests as a violation of the Student Code of Conduct. Pro-Israel students engaged in a “Jewish Unity Rally” on April 14 to express concern over anti-semitism on campus and support for Israel. Additionally, undergraduates recently approved two referendum proposals which called on Cornell University to call for a permanent ceasefire, as well as divest from several weapons manufacturers.
The encampment protest is not solely an issue at Cornell. At several schools, including Columbia University, New York University, University of Texas at Austin, and University of Southern California, students have set up protest encampments to speak out against university policies and in protest of Israel. Hundreds of students have been arrested in the process for trespassing and violating school policy.
Jewish students have expressed marked concern with these encampments, with Jewish students seeing a spike in anti-semitism on campus around these encampments. Jewish students have reported being harrassed, yelled at and shoved at other Ivy league schools such as Columbia and Yale. Students at the University of California – Berkeley reported being spat on and grabbed by the neck. At Columbia, students have described hearing anti-Israel protesters shout “Go Back to Poland” and “long live Hamas!” Due to the upheaval at Columbia, the school has made all classes either online or in person for the rest of the semester due to safety concerns.
Encampment at Cornell
Cornell administrators addressed the encampment Thursday afternoon. Vice President of University Relations Joel Malina said in a statement that tents must be set up in authorized locations and be approved with prior registration. Climate Justice Cornell had registered an art installation on the Arts Quad through 8 p.m. but did not include tents in their event filing. The individuals in the tents, “were advised that they had been dishonest in their event registration and, additionally, were in violation of university policy regarding tents.” Malina concluded that warnings by the school had been unheeded by protestors, and at this point, suspensions “will be issued” to students and faculty in violation of school policy.
While Malina addressed the specific violation of tent encampment, the school has not stated whether students have violated sections 4.7 Disorderly Conduct, and 4.8 Disruption of University Activities of the Student Code of Conduct. Section 4.7 on Disorderly Conduct states that it is a violation for students, “to intentionally cause or recklessly create a risk of disruption to the University community or local community.” The encampment protest could be heard in the entire arts quad, and in some classrooms and study areas.
Students donning masks and megaphones could be seen entering buildings such as Goldwin Smith Hall to interrupt classes to make them aware of the protest. Other professors and TAs seemed supportive of the protest, with one TA for the History of Rock & Roll class reportedly saying, “I’m not allowed to not allowed to talk about politics—but if any of you need to participate in anything outside, you can leave with no repercussion.”
It is unclear how many people were inside the encampment itself, however by 1:30 pm hundreds of protesters had arrived. The protestors engaged in a series of chants, including the controversial chant, “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free” which has been condemned as anti-semitic in a resolution by the House of Representatives. They also engaged in other chants, including “No cops on campus!” and “End the US war machine!” The protestors also encouraged professors to walk out of their job and “join us [the protest]”. Protest leaders also implored students to understand the consequences of protesting, warning that they may be suspended for their actions.
The most inflammatory chant came around 2:00 pm when students began to chant “intifada revolution!” and “There is only one solution, intifada revolution!” The phrase is widely seen as anti-semitic and a direct call to violence against Jews.
Students outside the encampment could be seen participating in chants, while others stood around, or did homework under a shady tree. Within the encampment, protesterss could be seen drinking Dunkin Donuts coffee and chatting amicably.
Ryan Weiss ‘24 studying at the Hotel School, observed, “What’s beautiful about this country, unlike other countries, is that everyone has the right to protest, the right to freedom of speech. What is shocking is how these people use that right to then bash on America and actually call for an intifada revolution. That’s inciting violence and the university must draw a line.”
The CML issued a set of formal demands on behalf of the encampment protesters that include:
- Acknowledging national genocide of indigenous people due to the Morrill Land Grant Act of 1863.
- Divesting from “morally reprehensible activities”
- Dissolution of the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute on Roosevelt Island
- Calling for an unconditional ceasefire in Gaza
- Establishing of a Palestine Studies Program with pro-Palestine student groups playing a role in selecting and hiring its faculty
- Acknowledging and protecting anti-Zionist speech, viewpoints, and histories in both religious and academic contexts, and
- Ensuring total legal and academic amnesty for all individuals.
Next Steps
It is unclear what actions the University will take to clear the encampment. However, a number of Jewish students have already expressed alarm about their safety and well-being on campus. Many of the encampment’s specific demands have been previously rejected by Cornell, so there appears to be little room for negotiations.
