University of Arizona students stage campus walkout to support Gaza

Hundreds of University of Arizona students on Thursday afternoon staged a walkout in support of Palestinian civilians in Tucson.

The action began shortly after 2:30 p.m. when hundreds of students and community members demonstrated in front of university President Robert Robbins’ office to denounce the violence in Gaza.

UA officials were not immediately available Thursday to comment on the walkout.

Robbins has drawn criticism from student groups after an Oct. 11 news release where he called the Oct. 7 violence in Israel "antisemitic … a complete atrocity." He also denounced a student organization, Students for Justice in Palestine for "endorsing the actions of Hamas in Israel" a day before the organization was planning to hold a demonstration.

In response to the letter, the student organization said they were "horrified and disturbed" by the letter that "baselessly and inaccurately conflated our organization chapter with 'antisemitic hatred."

Those at the protest on Thursday said the struggle at the Mexico-U.S. border is similar to that in Palestine, chanting: “From Palestine to Mexico, all the walls have got to go.”

Demonstrators walked around University of Arizona’s main plaza in the center of campus with Palestinian flags blowing in the afternoon breeze. Chants of "free Palestine" could be heard, along with the beats of drums.

After circling the central plaza several times, the demonstrators stopped in front of an engineering building and denounced the university’s president, chanting: “Robbie Robbins you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide.”

Speakers at the event decried the bombing in Gaza and the “constant threats of annihilation.” They called out Raytheon for providing weapons for Israel, noting the arms manufacturer is the largest private employer in Tucson. A Raytheon spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.

Tucson activists last week staged a "die-in" at Raytheon protesting violence in Gaza.

At the Thursday protest, Tucson resident and former University of Arizona student Zoe Alexandra said she opposes "settler colonialism" and "genocide in Gaza."

"My ancestors are Jewish and they went through a genocide, so I feel very strongly moved to oppose it wherever it shows up,” she said.

The walkout was organized by several community organizations in support of efforts across the nation to shut down “business as usual," according to a social media post by the Party for Socialism and Liberation – Tucson.

Organizers of the walkout claimed the action comes in response to university leaders' "support for genocide," according to a social media post by Party for Socialism and Liberation – Tucson. The post accuses the university of profiting from "occupation, apartheid, deadly border enforcement, death and destruction."

The organizers pointed to the university's relationship with Raytheon, one of the largest weapons manufacturers in the U.S., and other defense companies through the University of Arizona's Tech Parks and federal grants. Tech Parks is a research park and business incubator at the university. In February, Raytheon opened an office there.

Tech Parks Arizona in 2017 sent a delegation to Israel. Their goal was to represent the Global Advantage Soft-Landing Program to recruit Israeli tech companies to launch in Southern Arizona, according to a university news release.

Some faculty canceled classes to coincide with the Thursday walkout, according to correspondence shared with The Arizona Republic.

University administration in a schoolwide email called on professors to follow their "normal attendance guidelines" for students who participate in the walkout.

The Nov. 8 email said the university protects free speech and encourages students to "make their voices heard peacefully and civilly," noting University of Arizona police are "prepared."

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: University of Arizona students protest in support of Palestine