NMU students protest US involvement in Israel-Gaza conflict with encampment on campus
MARQUETTE, Mich. (WJMN) – Joining other students across the country, Northern Michigan University students from the organization NMU Students for Peace and Equality were out on campus Monday, protesting the war in Gaza.
The students are outside of Jamrich Hall, and are intending on staying on the lawn overnight. The protestors are hoping to send a message about where U.S. money is going in Israel and want the university to disclose any information on where its money is going in Israel. They hope that by protesting during finals week, their message makes a stronger statement.
“I think that right now this is being framed as a very political issue,” said Alex Guindon, NMU Students for Peace and Equality. “I think that students are being mischaracterized pretty terribly. I hope that this Marquette community specifically is receptive and understands that we are fighting for justice. We want a lot of people to join. The biggest thing is like right now, the reason that Israel is able to commit a genocide, commit war crimes is because people in the United States, companies, our government, are giving them a lot of money and a lot of support and a lot of protections. So while we’re here on this campus, we have a little bit of control over where our tuition dollars are going. We want to make sure that they’re not going to the State that’s doing things that we don’t support.”
The protestors plan to spend the night and stay on campus through Friday. After the semester ends, they say they plan on moving their advocacy into the community.
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