San Diego State University students walk out of class in pro-Palestine protest

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Over a hundred San Diego State students walked out of class Tuesday afternoon in a rally calling on the university’s administration to cut financial ties with Israel and better support Palestinian members of the campus community.

The protest builds off of other movements on college campuses across the country mounted by students over the last few weeks, pressing their schools to divest from the Middle Eastern country due to its ongoing military operation in Gaza and occupation of the West Bank.

Many of these demonstrations, which have resulted in hundreds of arrests on top of academic repercussions at some campuses, have been in the form of encampments set up in public spaces on campus. As of Tuesday, no encampment has formed on SDSU’s campus.

The walkout began around 1:30 p.m. outside Hepner Hall, which is located at the northern edge of SDSU’s main courtyard. Around 2:30 p.m., the group began to walk past Cal Coast Credit Union Amphitheater.

Ahead of the walkout, the student groups organizing the demonstration released a series of demands to SDSU administration in a post on Instagram.

Among these demands are asks for SDSU to disclose all “individual and active financial holdings” under the school’s associated investments fund, cease any financial support for the war in Gaza, of academic programs with Israeli institutions, and to defend Palestinian students and their allies.

The students also called on President Adela de La Torre to “acknowledge the genocide” of Palestinians and “discrimination on campus” in the post. They are also requesting “amnesty” for those involved in pro-Palestinian protests.

In a statement sent to FOX 5/KUSI Tuesday night, SDSU Administration responded to the protest, saying:

“As a public university, and as aligned with our institutional values, San Diego State University must allow for constitutionally protected free speech and an individual’s right to acts of peaceful protest. 

As a diverse campus community, this also means that those within our campus community will have varying values, ideas and points of view. We both expect and encourage all those within our campus community to engage in respectful conversations and interactions, as detailed in SDSU’s Principles of Community. SDSU does not accept any instance of harassment or discrimination. Additionally, university safety professionals and administrators from the division of Student Affairs and Campus Diversity continue to be in contact with members of our Jewish, Islamic, Arab, and Palestinian communities, in addition to other campus community members. We strongly encourage all who choose to gather to adhere to laws and university policies.“

Across campus, a counter protest was quickly assembled by Jewish students who say they are still trying to heal from the unprecedented raid by Hamas militants on Oct. 7 that sparked the Israeli government’s declaration of war on Gaza.

Pro-Palestinian protests at college campuses have become a flashpoint in the U.S. surrounding its involvement in the conflict, prompting crackdowns on the rallies by local law enforcement and university administration that have resulted in over 1,000 arrests nationwide.

However, opponents of these protests at universities, including many Jewish students and alumni, say it has veered into displays of antisemitism, instilling what they describe as a sense of fear in members of the campus community supportive of Israel.

The movement comes as the death toll in Gaza has surpassed 34,000 people, many of whom the United Nations says are civilians, in the midst of a dire humanitarian crisis that is inching parts of the enclave near famine.

Since the fighting began, about 1,200 Israelis have died — the vast majority being civilians killed on Oct. 7 — and at least 100 hostages remain in Gaza.

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