Why are college students protesting? Ohio State, Miami University join Gaza protests

Grace Tucker, Columbus Dispatch
·4 min read
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New York University, Columbia University and other colleges across the nation have been in the headlines in recent days amid student demonstrations protesting the Israel-Hamas war, resulting in campus closures and student arrests.

Ohio's major campuses are following suit.

Ohio State University, Miami University join national protests

Ohio State University students joined the protests this week. Two were arrested Tuesday and charged with misdemeanor criminal trespassing during an on-campus demonstration, the Dispatch reported.

About 60 individuals had gathered at Meiling Hall, a classroom and administrative building near the Wexner Medical Center, to protest the Israel-Hamas war.

Ohio State University regularly uses the definitive article "The" in front of its name, as seen here in the university seal embedded in the pavement at the east entrance to the Oval on the main campus in Columbus.
Ohio State University regularly uses the definitive article "The" in front of its name, as seen here in the university seal embedded in the pavement at the east entrance to the Oval on the main campus in Columbus.

A video posted to Instagram by student organizers shows a group of protesters gathered on the steps outside Meiling Hall wearing pro-Palestine shirts and chanting "Free Palestine." In the video, an OSU police officer walks down the steps, points at a student, turns back to give a thumbs up to other officers before three officers walked the individual up the steps and into custody.

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A third student was arrested Thursday, The Lantern reported. The person was part of an "Ohio State Gaza Encampment" led by the university's branch of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).

On April 19, Miami University's SJP chapter organized a walkout in which more than 15 students participated in support of the protesters who were arrested at Columbia. The event attracted a police presence, students said, but no arrests were made.

The University of Cincinnati's SJP chapter has not publicized UC-specific protests but is promoting Ohio State's encampment led by its SJP chapter.

At the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, about 25 tents housed student protesters in an encampment set up on the Diag, the center of campus, this week.

Why are college students protesting?

Most student demonstrations are calling for two major initiatives: an end to U.S. military support for Israel and for their respective universities to divest from companies supporting Israel's ongoing war against Hamas, which has been devastating for Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

Malak Afaneh, co-president of the Law Students for Justice in Palestine at Berkeley, told USA Today protesters are demanding the university call for an end to the war in Gaza and divest from companies profiting from the conflict, including Boeing, BlackRock and Lockheed Martin.

At Columbia in New York, protester demands include the university divesting from a student-exchange program and Columbia's campus in Tel Aviv, as well as financial transparency for the school’s investments.

Students calling for divestment at the University of Michigan told the Associated Press that the school sends more than $6 billion to investment managers who profit from Israeli companies. They also cited the need to protest the university's investments in companies that manufacture drones or warplanes used by Israel.

Counterprotests have sprung up at various campuses, with students declaring the protests antisemitic and voicing Jewish support. Students at the University of Michigan stood near the pro-Palestine encampment passing out small flags of Israel out of solidarity with Jewish students.

The Israel-Hamas war began with Palestinian militant group Hamas' border attacks on Israeli communities on Oct. 7, 2023, resulting in several hundred Israelis taken hostage and nearly 1,200 people killed. Israel's subsequent air raids of Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip has led to a dire humanitarian crisis there. More than 30,000 Palestinians – militants and civilians; men, women and children – have been reported killed in Israel's bombardment of Gaza, USA Today reported.

Police arrest pro-Palestinian protestors at universities around the country

The student-led protests calling for an end to the United States' support of Israel fuels a national debate concerning the fate of Palestinian civilians in Gaza amid Israeli airstrikes and concerns for the safety of Jewish students in the U.S.

Police arrested dozens of protesters Monday at pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Yale University in Connecticut and NYU in Manhattan. At the University of California, Berkeley, students erected about 30 tents as part of a Free Palestine Encampment on Tuesday.

Columbia in New York announced on Monday that classes will provide a virtual learning option until the spring semester ends May 10. Students at the encampment on the South Lawn of Columbia's campus held a press conference Tuesday. They stated they would be occupying the lawn until the university cut ties with Israel. Their pledge comes after the NYPD arrested more than 108 protesters last week.

Meanwhile, the University of Southern California arrested several protesters and closed campus to the public Wednesday due to the "significant activity on campus," USC's Department of Public Safety said in an alert to students.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Ohio State, Miami University students join Israel-Hamas protests