On November 9th around 3 pm, a group of around 70 students gathered outside of Klarman hall to conduct a “die-in”, where students would lay down in Klarman hall. The purpose was to raise awareness to the growing number of Palestinian deaths in the Israel-Hamas war.
Before the event began, a number of speakers addressed the crowd, urging them to not engage in conversation with others, who would, “just cause trouble.” Protestors were encouraged to wear masks to avoid doxxing. Later a speaker was asked why she instructed others to not engage in conversation, one of the speakers replied there was “nothing to talk about.” Another speaker spoke about the “war crimes” Israel has committed, and finished his speech by shouting, “Israel will fall!” In response, the protestors chanted, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!” The phrase has been widely criticized for its strong implication of the elimination of the state of Israel. Others have called it hate speech. Recently, Democratic Representative Tlaib was formally censured by the US House of Representatives for her repeated use of the phrase. Protestors carried signs stating, “NAKBA BIRTHS INTIFADA” and “Cease fire now!”
Around 3:15 pm, protestors entered Klarman hall chanting, “Free free Palestine” and walked to the lowest floor. From there, the protestors spread out, with leaders urging them to not block any exits. Protestors proceeded to lie down on the ground, pretending to be dead. One person from the crowd stated that “Today, we are all Palestinian.” From there, another speaker read out the names of Palestinians who have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war. After each name, the protestors shouted, “Cornell is complicit in genocide!” There were also intermittent chants of, “From the river to the sea,” as well as “Hey hey, ho ho, these occupations have got to go!” This went on for approximately a half hour.
As the protest continued, an argument broke out amongst onlookers, particularly one student who was taking photos of the event. He was confronted by a woman named Mary Ann Grady Flores, an “Ithaca Peace Activist” who recently was released from jail waiting for an appeal. The local Ithacan “berated” the Cornell student for taking photos, and said that he was not allowed to take photos of the participants without their permission.
After this, the protestors got up and exited the building together, while continuing chants such as “Free free Palestine.” As the crowd exited the building, one onlooker held up signs of kidnapped Israelis, and stated “238, where are they?” and “31 days, where are they?” The person was referencing the over 200 Israelis who were kidnapped by Hamas on October 7th, and are now being held hostage in Gaza. The onlooker received no response from the crowd.
Vice President Lombardi, who was present at the event, had no comment on the protest and the chant, “from the river to the sea.” Media relations deputy director Knewstub referred the Review to Pollack’s most recent statement on anti-semitism.
The protest comes roughly a week after anti-semitic threats against Jewish students were made by Patrick Dai, a Cornell student now under arrest, as well as an uptick in anti-semitic incidents on college campuses and abroad. Jewish students have reported feeling unsafe on campuses. Cornell has yet to comment on the protest.
