Iowa State students rally for Palestinians, press university to divest from Collins Aerospace

Protesters at a rally Wednesday demanded that Iowa State University cut financial ties with companies that profit from the Israel-Hamas war.

The rally, comprised mostly of Iowa State students and Ames residents, was met with counter-protesters 90 minutes in, sparking a police presence.

Duncan Vernett, an activist protesting with Iowa State students Wednesday, said the protesters want the university to cut ties to Collins Aerospace, a weapons manufacturer in Iowa that produces weapons provided to Israel.

"We want full divestment by ISU from these engineers and weapons manufacturers," Vernett said. "It's really not the role of education to be funding military endeavors, or to be reimbursed by military contractors."

Iowa State student Summer Awad said the university's ties to Collins Aerospace makes it "complicit in the genocide occurring in Gaza."

More: College students across the US are holding Pro-Palestine protests. What about in Iowa?

State Board of Regents issues statement in response to protests

The Iowa Board of Regents disputed the supporters' claim that Iowa universities fund companies working with Israel.

Iowa Board of Regents senior communications director Josh Lehman said the regent universities hold no direct investments with Israel or companies working directly with Israel.

"Regent investment portfolios consist of indirect holdings (mutual funds, fund of funds, index funds, etc.) managed by external fund managers that include other investors," Lehman said in a statement on Wednesday. "Each fund contains many different individual securities or fund of funds. We cannot readily determine if the individual securities within these externally managed funds are Israeli companies or do business with Israel."

The rally turned contentious when counter-protesters arrived around 2:30 p.m., and a heated exchange ensued. A few police officers and Iowa State University officials were present, though the demonstration remained peaceful.

More: Former advisor, ISU crew club coach dismissed of wrongful death charges in rowing accident

What are students protesting?

Hamas-led militant groups stormed from the Gaza Strip into nearby Israeli towns on Oct. 7, 2023. The attack, which coincided with the Jewish holiday Simchat Torah, killed hundreds of Israeli civilians.

Israel immediately launched airstrikes on Gaza, destroying neighborhoods and killing hundreds of Palestinian civilians in the days that followed.

The Israel-Hamas war has since resulted in the deaths of over 34,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in Gaza.

Pro-Palestinian protests spread across the U.S.

Protests started earlier this month when Nemat Shafik, the Columbia University president, went to Washington, D.C., on April 17 to testify before a congressional committee about antisemitism on campus. While she was in Washington, a group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators set up a large tent encampment on the university’s main quad to demand that the university divest from Israel.

The next day, Shafik called the police to clear out the encampment on its New York City campus, declaring in a letter that those protests were “a clear and present danger to the substantial functioning of the University.” Over 100 protesters were arrested that night, but hundreds of remaining student protesters reestablished the encampment.

Since then, students across the country protested and started their own encampments in solidarity with the arrested students.

As of Wednesday morning, nearly 300 people had been arrested at Columbia and City College of New York.

The protesters at Iowa State expressed their solidarity with Palestinians as well as Columbia University protesters, who lit the fire earlier this month by establishing encampments for pro-Palestinian protests.

"Colleges and universities have historically been a site for free speech and social movements," Awad said. "We do see an attack on that right now at Columbia and other universities where militarized police are being sent in to crush student movements. Free speech is key to what will allow us to maintain our democracy and our ability to speak out for what is right."

An Iowa City group is organizing a student encampment and show at noon Friday on the University of Iowa campus , with plans to extend through the weekend.

More: House Speaker Mike Johnson joins Mariannette Miller-Meeks in Iowa City amid Gaza protests

Gov. Kim Reynolds addresses civil unrest laws

Gov. Kim Reynolds pointed to a 2021 law that increased penalties for some protest-related crimes, including blocking roadways, in a press session for a bill signing Wednesday afternoon. She said Iowa has significant laws in place to address behavior that goes too far.

“Of course, we want to protect the First Amendment right to protest, but we’re going to do it peacefully,” Reynolds told reporters in Des Moines. “We’re not going to allow hate speech. We’re not going to allow destruction. We’re not going to allow what we see happening in some of the universities across this country. It’s ridiculous. It’s putting people at risk. We’re seeing just a tremendous increase in antisemitism.”

Reynolds said schools like Columbia University in New York have let protests get out of hand and disrupt classes and potentially graduation.

“As long as they abide by the laws and do it peacefully, then great,” she said of protests in Iowa. “But if it crosses that line, we will be ready.”

Celia Brocker is a government, crime, political and education reporter for the Ames Tribune. She can be reached at CBrocker@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Iowa State students rally for Palestinians, press university to divest from Collins Aerospace