WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Pro-Palestinian protesters followed the example of like-minded students on other university campuses, setting up a Purdue University encampment on the Agricultural Administration Building lawn.
The protest started after student demonstrators interrupted Purdue University's presidential lecture series as university President Mung Chiang was interviewing U.S. Sen. Todd Young and the director of the National Science Foundation Sethuraman Panchanathan.
"Your money goes to genocide," a student protester shouted moments after Young spoke about the importance of AI technology and semiconductor development.
Young tried to speak over the protestors, but ultimately Chiang asked police to escort the students out.
"We were protesting the appearance of Todd Young," said Arjun Janakan, a member of the Young Democratic Socialists of America Purdue Chapter. "He is a Republican senator who has (on) multiple times voted down the ceasefire agreement specifically the ceasefire agreement pushed by (U.S. Rep.) Cori Bush.
"We are standing in solidarity with the over 34,000 dead civilians of Gaza, following in the footsteps of other universities like Columbia, NYU, Yale, who have bravely taken to their campus to occupy it with the goal of divesting from Israel and the military complex industry, of which we have deemed guilty of genocide."
For months, Purdue's Students for Justice in Palestine and Purdue's Young Democratic Socialists of America protested, calling on the university to divest from Israel. Protestors have also called on the West Lafayette City Council to adopt a resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in Gaza.
Israel declared war on Hamas and laid siege to the fighters' and leadership stronghold in the Gaza strip, which is Palestinian territory, after the Oct. 7 attacks into Israeli territory.
Hamas militants stormed from the blockaded Gaza Strip into nearby Israeli towns on Oct. 7, which coincided with a major Jewish holiday, according to various news outlets.
The attack, which killed hundreds of civilians, stunned Israel and caught its vaunted military and intelligence apparatus completely off guard.
Israel immediately launched airstrikes on Gaza, destroying entire neighborhoods and killing hundreds of Palestinian civilians in the days that followed.
The war has become the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides. At least 199 people, including children, were captured by Hamas and taken into Gaza, according to Israel.
The leader of Hamas' military wing, Mohammed Deif, said in a recorded message that the assault was in response to Israel's 16-year blockade of Gaza; Israeli raids inside West Bank cities over the past year, violence at the Al-Aqsa Mosque — built on a contested Jerusalem holy site sacred to Jews as the Temple Mount; increased attacks by settlers on Palestinians; and the expansion of Jewish settlements on occupied lands Palestinians claim for a future state, according to news accounts.
The Hamas incursion came on Simchat Torah, a normally joyous day when Jews complete the annual cycle of reading the Torah scroll. Israel declared war the next day. Previous Israel-Hamas wars were in 2008, 2012, 2014 and 2021.
More: Israel updates: 'We are at war,' Israel's Netanyahu says as Hamas launches surprise multi-front attack
As the protesters' encampment began to take shape, it's not known how long they will remain there.
"Technically, they're not supposed to camp," Purdue Police Chief Lesley Wiete said early Thursday afternoon after saying Wednesday that they would not be allowed to camp.
By Thursday afternoon as the campers began to pitch tents, Wiete said that Purdue police do not plan to get involved unless life or safety becomes an issue in the camps. Officers also will intervene if the protest and camp disrupt classes or university business.
University spokesman Tim Doty said, "Per Purdue's long-standing policy that is independent of speech content, students with reservation of public space can choose to have tents, provided there is no threat to others' safety and no overnight camping."
The university officials are considering how they will handle the students who violate policy by camping on campus, Wiete said, noting she doesn't know what administrators will decide.
On Wednesday afternoon, Wiete was hopeful that the protesters will not go too far.
"They've always been pretty peaceful," Wiete said. "We recognize people from the outside can always come here."
Interviews with Purdue's Students for Justice in Palestine and Purdue's Young Democratic Socialists of America leaders
By early Thursday afternoon, about 22 students set up seven tents. Protesters plan to camp until they can speak with Purdue University leadership about their concerns.
"We don't think war has any place in education and sadly with all the military-industrial complex on campus, with all the funding and all the research that goes into that, it's a very big part," Johnny Hazboun, the president of Students for Justice in Palestine, said. "All the stuff that we do, our tuition goes and pays and commits a genocide abroad."
Purdue University has relationships with companies like Raytheon Technologies, SAAB and Lockheed Martin, to name a few.
Students said they plan to camp as long as needed; however, student leadership explained that they had reserved the lawn for a week to hold their protest. They've indicated that they will renew their reservation of the lawn into next week if Purdue leadership still has not attempted to hear out their demands for the university.
"We've been protesting every week," Hazboun said. "We've had sit-ins, and Purdue has genuinely tried to ignore us. And that's why slowly but surely we have increased the strength of our actions. It started off as peaceful protests around campus, then turned into sit-ins. When Lockheed Martin came around or Raytheon events or career fairs we've blocked them off. All within the law and university guidelines."
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Pro-Palestinian protesters interrupt lecture series, set up camp at Purdue University
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