Hundreds attend pro-Palestinian protest on Stanford campus
STANFORD, Calif. - A protest is in full swing at Stanford University, calling for the school to divest from Israel, according to a coalition supporting the liberation of Palestine.
The coalition, called Stanford Against Apartheid in Palestine posted on Instagram calling for the university's students, faculty, staff and community to rally during Stanford's Admit Weekend at the Main Quad and White Memorial Plaza to demand that the university address "their collaboration with apartheid and divest."
Admit Weekend is a weekend trip at the university for incoming students to tour the university, attend their college's Open House, and bond with fellow students.
To divest means the university would divert money from its investments in companies that protesters believe are tied to Israel and profit from the war in Gaza.
Hundreds are protesting on the Stanford campus demanding their voices be heard. Protesters also set up tents in White Memorial Plaza and say they’ll be at Stanford on Friday to continue their protest.
"If you really want to know what the students want, maybe, just maybe try to talk to them. Try to sit down at the table with them. Maybe try to listen to their chants once, and not think about it as some mob that’s trying to destroy your house," said Yusef, a Stanford student from Gaza who spoke on Thursday.
"After 200 days of unrelenting genocide and as admit weekend arrives, we need the Stanford community to SHOW OUT…in order to demonstrate to admits that the idyllic image that Stanford administration wants to put forth is NOT the case. We do not stand for their complicity and repression…There will be no business as usual this admit weekend," said SAAP in an Instagram post.
Stanford officials say they support the students' right to free speech but if students break any university policies, they will face disciplinary action.
This protest comes as other similar demonstrations take place throughout the U.S., including at Emory University in Atlanta, New York University and Columbia University in New York City, Temple University and University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Princeton University in New Jersey, University of Texas at Austin, University of Southern California and University of California Los Angeles in LA, and George Washington University in D.C.
Additionally, the University of California, Berkeley has seen its own share of protests and tent encampments on its campus.
U.C. Berkeley students have set up a "Gaza Solidarity Encampment" on campus outside the school's main administrative building Tuesday, demanding the university system stop investing money into companies that provide military aid to Israel.
It's a demand the university system has already said it won't fulfill.
READ ALSO: Tent protest against unrest in Gaza growing at UC Berkeley
In an announcement made Thursday, USC canceled its main stage commencement ceremony scheduled for May 10.
Days earlier, the school canceled the planned speech of the university's valedictorian, citing safety concerns related to her pro-Palestinian views.
Nearly all of these protests have seen arrests of demonstrators--most notably Columbia University, seeing over 100 arrested and charged, and some students suspended, including the daughter of U.S. Rep Ilhan Omar.
In Austin, a FOX 7 photographer was arrested with 56 other people while covering the event.
O. Gloria Okorie is a reporter for KTVU. Email O. Gloria at o.gloria.okorie@fox.com or call her at 510-874-0175. Follow her on Twitter @ogloriaokorie.
