People supporting Israel counter-protest pro-Palestinian encampment at Northwestern University
EVANSTON, Ill. — Monday marks the fifth day of the student-led pro-Palestinian protest and encampment at Northwestern University, which has now attracted counter-protesters showing their support for Israel.
As hundreds of students, staff and community members continue to take over the school’s Deering Meadow, the student-led demonstration is demanding university leaders to stop backing Israel.
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On Sunday, demonstrators opposing the war in Gaza were met by counter-protesters rallying against Hamas and calling for the release of Israeli hostages.
On one side, protesters formed a chain to protect their encampment. On the other side, protesters chanted, “Bring them home,” referring to the hostages held by Hamas, and waved Israel’s flag.
Many people who aren’t Northwestern students joined Sunday’s protests to show their support.
For one student, named Paz, she said taking part in the movement to call for a ceasefire in Palestine is in line with her Jewish values.
“I learned growing up that Jewish people are people of resistance, and that all life is sacred, and that includes the 40,000 Palestinians who’ve been murdered since Oct. 7,” Paz said.
Demonstrators on both sides held their flags, chanted and even clashed, but remained mostly peaceful.
“We need to raise voices because our families are being killed,” said Nida Sahouri, with the Chicago chapter of American Muslims for Palestine.
While there were no violent confrontations, some students said they were on the receiving end of hateful rhetoric from counter-protestors.
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“As a Jewish student, I didn’t feel threatened by their claims that we were anti-Semitic,” Mayan said. “I’ve never felt more anti-Semitism in my life than I have this morning from the people holding Israeli flags.”
Some pro-Israel demonstrators, however, said they attempted to engage in meaningful discussion with pro-Palestinian student protesters but got nowhere.
“No dialogue at all,” Amy said. “All we got was, ‘Free Palestine, Jews for Palestine,’ but no one wants to engage in a conversation.”
Said Evan: “We tried to engage with a few of them to help them understand, to give them our perspective, to get their perspective, and none of them really wanted to engage, unfortunately.
“So we just marched around, showed our flags and showed our Israeli support.”
The campus demonstration shows little signs of slowing down. Many hope that the students’ activism will ignite change in the Middle East.
“They have the strength and the power, so I think it’s very important to have student movements,” Sahouri said. “”Hopefully, this will work and stop the genocide and we can get a ceasefire.”
Northwestern’s administration says the encampment violates school policy and offered to let students continue protesting without their tents, bullhorns and loudspeakers.
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The student groups have refused, student organizers saying negotiations with university leadership are still ongoing and that until their list of demands are met, the encampment will stay up.
Police have tried to break up similar protests at other universities and clashed with students, leading to the arrest of hundreds. Northwestern police have not yet made any arrests on Deering Meadow.
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