Pro-Palestinian protests resume at Colorado State University

Protesters returned Wednesday to Colorado State University, demanding the school cut academic and financial ties with entities connected to Israel’s military because of its ongoing attacks on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Organizers for Students for Justice in Palestine said they met with CSU President Amy Parsons earlier in the day detailing their concerns.

They will not erect an encampment, they said in a news release, but will instead put up tents that will be taken down each day while “hosting a peaceful demonstration to put pressure on the university to reconsider its financial partnerships.”

The demonstrations and daytime camp are designed to comply with CSU’s free speech policy and will be operational from 1:30 to 7 p.m. Wednesday and from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday.

At 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, there were about 90 students marching in a circle and chanting protest slogans on the designated "free speech plaza" outside CSU's Lory Student Center. Two canopies had been set up, one with a tarp wrapped around it to provide a tent-like enclosure.

Seven people were gathered nearby, waving Israeli flags and playing traditional Jewish music on loudspeakers in a counter-protest.

“This demonstration, using tents — which over 70% of people in the Gaza Strip find themselves living in — will serve as a perpetual reminder that students are not going anywhere,” the news release from the Students for Justice in Palestine read.

About 350 people participated in the organization’s initial protest Monday on the CSU campus.

Reporter Kelly Lyell covers education, breaking news, some sports and other topics of interest for the Coloradoan. Contact him at kellylyell@coloradoan.com, x.com/KellyLyell and  facebook.com/KellyLyell.news

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Protests resume at Colorado State University