Pro-Palestinian students at the University of Delaware have joined a nationwide campus protest movement calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
The UD chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine staged a three-day “occupation” – as the group termed it on social media – of the lawn in front of Graham Hall on Academy Street. The building houses the Biden School of Public Policy & Administration.
“We're really demanding a ceasefire,” said Becca Winward, a UD senior and one of the organizers of the protest. “But as UD students specifically, we're also demanding entire divestment from Israel, as well as more transparency with UD's investment and funding so that students can know exactly where their money is going, because right now, it is very hidden.”
The protest started Wednesday with a walkout and protest march that drew approximately 300 people. A smaller group then set up a protest in a grassy area in front of Graham Hall all day Thursday and Friday. By Friday afternoon, there were a couple dozens students at the protest, almost all of whom donned masks to conceal their identity when a Newark Post photographer arrived.
“We've been having a type of liberated zone to show that UD students are here and make the cause visible,” Winward said. “We want to show as many people as possible and expose them to the fact that there is a genocide happening and that UD students are demanding both a ceasefire and action from the university.”
She said the student body is politically apathetic, but the protests have helped raise awareness of what is going on in Gaza.
“The grand majority of students, they just don't know and don't care to know,” she said. “Part of our goal is to make this cause as visible as possible to force them to learn about it, to force them to be aware of it.”
The protests at UD come after more than a week of large protests at Columbia University and other major colleges and universities around the country. At Columbia and other places, students have been arrested for camping on university property.
“That sparked a national movement for all of the SJPs at schools to take action, which is why we decided to do it now,” Winward said. “But ultimately, this is about Palestine. We want to keep the focus on Palestine.”
The UD students are ending their protest each night and avoiding setting up tents because university rules prohibit camping. UD police officers were watching the protest from vehicles parked on Academy Street but have not moved to shut down the protest.
“The cops have let us know their goal is to protect free speech,” Winward said. “At this point, they are protecting us. They haven't caused us any trouble. Compared to other universities, we are glad we're not having that kind of response.”
The protest is being held in front of the Biden School as a way to express disagreement with President Joe Biden's policy toward Israel. Winward noted that UD often promotes its connection to the president, who is a 1965 UD alumnus.
“It's something that UD uses a lot, especially in its marketing to new students,” she said. “So we want to say if you are going to continue to associate so much with Biden, then you have to address his connection with Israel and his support of the Israeli apartheid regime.”
A UD spokesman did not answer questions about whether the administration has talked to protesters about their demands.
“As a campus that welcomes diversity of opinion and embraces everyone’s right to freedom of expression, the University of Delaware is proud to support our students in our shared commitment to civility, respect and peace,” the university said in a statement.
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