DISCLAIMER: This story will include interviews with protesters who requested anonymity. As journalists, we do not value anonymous sources. However, for the sake of this story, we will be using them, due to the lack of named sources within the protests.
between two trees at the Quad.
These past few weeks have seen an uprising in protests on the UIUC campus surrounding the conflict between Palestine and Israel. At the Quad, pro-Palestinian students call for the university to divest in pro-Israel companies, setting up tents where they plan to stay until their request is fulfilled. On the other side of things, protesters with Israeli flags gathered at the Alma Mater on April 30th.
Recently, the Quad was used as a gathering place for pro-Palestinian protesters. Tents and blankets covered the grassy area, along with food and medical supplies tables. Protesters sitting in the grass passed around megaphones at the encampment, expressing their concerns regarding the University’s investments and discussing the history and politics of the war. Others sat on blankets in small groups outside of tents. Various events on April 30th can be representative of the campus’ response to the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
(Simrah Khan)
That day, counter-protesters wearing Israeli flags stood behind the pro-Palestinian encampment, quietly listening to the conversation between protesters and observing from behind. Each of them slowly left over the course of about an hour.
While the pro-Palestine protesters had set up their encampment a few days prior, dozens of protesters wearing Israeli flags around their shoulders gathered at the Alma Mater on April 30th. Flags were also hung along the arms of the statue. Protesters stood in small groups as conversation echoed among the crowd.
When asked what the purpose of the gathering was, one anonymous protestor at the Alma Mater said, “We’re just having a show of Jewish pride. There’s been a lot of antisemitism on campus, so we wanted to make sure that everyone has a safe space and create a safe community,” adding “That’s all I’m going to say on that matter.”
When questioned about the Palestinian protests at the Quad, he said, “I don’t technically think they’re protests, I think they’re rallies. Which, you know, might be a small difference, but I think to them it might be significant.” He states that “People are entitled to their own opinion, and everyone has the right to their opinion, and people shouldn’t prevent people from being able to do that because it’s a constitutional right, but if someone’s opinion, at the end of the day, makes other students feel like their safety is in jeopardy, and they feel like they’re in danger, that’s when conversations need to be held, and I don’t think they’re willing to hold those conversations.” Another protestor added, “I think we need to share respect.”
In terms of the campus anti-semitism that the Alma Mater protesters mentioned previously, one protester said, “A couple of months ago, I was walking around with a kippah, a traditional Jewish garment that Jewish males wear—somebody told me to slip on ice. I did not think about walking around in a kippah.”
More examples began to pile on: “One kid got spray painted the other day,” and “My brother was attacked at KAMS.” Another protestor in the group had photos of swastikas drawn in chalk around campus.
When asked about whether they believe that the recent pro-Palestine protests contribute to this recent anti-semitism, the most talkative protester said, “It’s hard to establish causation, but there’s a high correlation between the amount of stuff that they’re doing on their end and the anti-semitism on our end.”
On the other side of things, on the Quad, students stayed at the encampment in solidarity with Palestine. One student, sitting on a blanket outside of the medical tent, studied for final exams with a whiteboard propped up in front of them.
(Simrah Khan)
Another protester at the encampment, unwilling to be interviewed because of fear of misinforming, directed us to one of their ‘media people’. Despite being a media person, they requested anonymity as they explained the encampment’s agenda.
“We’re here standing in solidarity with the people of Gaza”, the encampment media person explained. “We’re also here calling for a divestment from all Israeli institutions, as the U of I is complicit in the genocide of almost 36,000 individuals in Gaza, and Palestine as a whole”.
On the issues the encampment has faced, they said that “We have had numerous counter-protesters, but, and, also the administration is not too happy with us, to say the least, but we’re here to stand our ground. We will not be taking the camp down until, in written proof, there is the beginnings of a divestment.”
“They have a problem with the tents”, the media person added, “…and because of that, I don’t know if you guys saw, on Friday they called almost six police departments on their own students. We had almost 400 protesters, and they were ready to come in with riot gear, with tear gas, ready to tear gas their own students, and, yeah, they are not happy with our presence, but we are not happy with their investments.”
The protester further described, “We had police all surrounding us, we had, on all fronts, starting from the [Illini] bookstore all the way to the Union. It was terrifying—we were facing arrest, we were facing suspension, and it was very scary”.
“I think obviously our first priority is the divestments, but we’re also looking for amnesty for student protesters. Additionally, we’re looking for full disclosure from the University about where specifically their investments are going, because although we are a public university, this school makes it very difficult to understand where the money is going specifically. And for that reason, we are asking for disclosure.”
(Simrah Khan)
“We’re also here to educate the campus about what’s going on in Gaza”, they added, “…not even just the campus, just the world in general. Understanding that the death of these 36,000 individuals and counting is not something to be taken lightly”, they explained.
Callie Standerfer, a junior at Uni High, stopped by at the protest on Friday April 26 at what she remembers as “the height of the protest” (spanning about 200 people). When asked how she feels about the divestments the protestors are trying to get from the University of Illinois, she replied that although she is openly pro-Palestine: “I also am well aware of the university and how it functions within its investments and organizations, and how that connects to things such as pensions,” She went on to say how it might affect uni student’s parents and their salaries. Stating “I understand why the U of I can’t divest,” However, she made herself clear that she still is “one hundred percent supportive,” of the pro-palestine protests, adding the alternative of statements being taken, or a plausible course of action from the university.
Marco Lu, a senior at Uni, also gave his opinion on the protests: “As far as things that have happened because of the protest goes, like, good, right, it’s drawing much more attention to the protest–which is kinda the point, and it’s making a lot of people mad, which is, again, kind of the point, but it’s not really the protesters doing that, that was just the cops being really dumb about how they’re handling the situation and being actively counterproductive–so, I would say I haven’t really changed my views regarding the protesters. I think, you know, good for them, but there aren’t very many of them.”
Although they caused the cancellation of the 5k, the protestors took down their encampment after 13 days, saying it’s a temporary dismantling.