Cal Poly students, faculty show solidarity for Palestine with die-in on Dexter Lawn
A group of Cal Poly students, faculty and staff staged a die-in on Dexter Lawn to show solidarity with Palestine on Wednesday afternoon.
About 70 people silently laid down on the grass at 11:10 a.m. — some holding the Palestinian flag or cardboard signs that read, “We stand with Palestine.”
Since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in Gaza, the Associated Press reported on Monday. Hamas meanwhile still holds about 100 Israeli hostages abducted on Oct. 7, the AP said.
“This is a very peaceful, almost passive form of resistance to show that people are dying in Gaza,” Cal Poly plant sciences professor Ashraf Tubeileh said. “The message is that (the university) should be protecting us, they should be supporting us, they should be standing with Palestine.”
The protest also sought to support the global movement of students pitching tents on campus to protest their university’s investment in companies that profit from the war, according to Tubeileh. Many of these demonstrations have ended in violent clashes with the police and counter-protesters, he said.
The university “does not intend to alter existing investment policies related to Israel or the Israel-Hamas conflict,” Cal Poly spokesperson Matt Lazier said in a statement to The Tribune on Wednesday.
The die-in also aimed to protest Israel’s destruction of universities and schools in Gaza, according to a faculty member. The Tribune is not disclosing the faculty member’s name because the person feared retaliation from administration.
According to the United Nations, Israeli airstrikes had destroyed 60% of Gaza’s educational facilities as of April 18. This includes the Central Archives of Gaza, which contained 150 years of historical records, the UN report said.
“That has a huge impact on a society, a culture,” the faculty member said, noting that damaging schools results in the loss of historical records and a country’s ability to educate its youth. “Every university should be horrified by that — that’s not something any people should have to endure.”
The faculty member said Cal Poly should support students and faculty who wish to advocate for Palestine.
“A lot of students are devastated about what’s happening in Gaza, I think they’re looking for outlets to express their grief,” they said. “We’re not all Palestinian, but we share their grief as humans.”
Counter-demonstrators argue with police while students stage die-in
A hush fell over Dexter Lawn during the die-in, interrupted occasionally by a student heckler who paced the perimeter of the protest.
“One of them moved — they’re not actually dead,” he shouted at the crowd.
About 17 officers from the San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly and California Men’s Colony police departments patrolled the area. Six stood on two corners near the lawn, while others lined up further away. A backhoe was parked at the entrance to the nearby parking lot while a police car was stationed near bike racks.
About 20 students holding an Israeli flag gathered on the lawn across from the die-in at about 11:30 a.m.
Three police officers then lined up between the two groups, while other officers positioned around the plaza moved closer to the lawn. A faculty member flying a Palestinian flag patrolled the sidewalk too.
One of the counter-protesters then tried to pass the police and walk on the lawn where the protesters lay. The police stopped him and told him to walk around the protest.
“What about this is illegal?” he asked the police, then appeared to debate with the officers for a few minutes about why he should be allowed to walk across the lawn.
A different student with the group holding the Israeli flag told The Tribune he did not attend to stage a counter-protest but was there to watch the “hilarious display.” He then declined to provide further comment.
At one point, the counter-protesters posed for photos with the Israeli flag in front of the die-in.
At 11:40 a.m., the protesters stood up and chanted “Free, free Palestine!” before dispersing.
While lying on the grass, Cal Poly history major Brooks Martin said he thought about the people suffering in Palestine.
“Seeing nothing but my eyelids, I thought about the people trapped under the rubble,” Martin said.
Martin held a sign that said, “History is watching,” featuring a drawing of a man on fire. The sign referenced Aaron Bushnell, a U.S. Air Force member who self-immolated outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C. to protest Israel’s attacks on Gaza. Bushnell died of his injuries.
“We want to make the administration know that this is something we care deeply about,” Martin said. “The more we make our voices heard, the louder we are, the more uncomfortable people get.”
Environmental engineering freshman Jacob DeMarco heard about the die-in on social media. He wore a “Jews for Palestine” t-shirt to the protest, and said he attended the die-in to show that some Jewish people consider Israel’s attacks on Gaza to be a genocide.
“The big thing that needs to be stopped is the State of Israel is systematically trying to wipe out Palestinians,” DeMarco said.
He also called for Cal Poly to divest from companies that support Israel.
“The students of the university, the people that pay tuition, we don’t support the university’s investment in the genocide of the Palestinian people,” DeMarco said.
