CLEVELAND — An anti-war student encampment at Case Western Reserve University protesting Israel was broken up by police on Monday morning.
Joining similar actions on college campuses across the world, around 50 students occupied the KSL Oval on the campus around 9:30 a.m.
The protesters demanded the following:
- Amnesty for all students and faculty disciplined for advocating for Palestinian liberation
- Disclose CWRU's investments
- Divest all of CWRU's finances from the companies that profit from Israel, including implementing Resolution 31-15.
- Retract remarks made against Resolution 31-15, statements in support of the Israeli government and accusations of anti-semitism towards the student body.
- Call for a permanent ceasefire and end of the occupation of Palestine.
- Cut ties with all contracted agreements and projects involving Israeli academic institutions, including but not limited to study-abroad partnerships with Israeli universities.
Protesters we spoke to said they drafted a resolution in 2022 asking the university to investigate its investments, but they haven't seen any proof that happened.
"We would like the university to take us seriously, to take our undergraduate student government seriously, and to investigate its own assets and divest from those corporations that are funding this atrocity," said Jad Oglesby, vice president of Students for Justice for Palestine.
At around 10:30 a.m. on Monday, police ripped tents down and briefly detained nearly two dozen protesters. The protesters were let go after giving their information to the police.
The university says that it welcomes free speech as long as it's at the right time, place and manner. The problem from today's protest came after students erected tents.
CWRU Interim Vice President Peter Whiting said that students are welcome to express their viewpoints, but a protest must be done in a manner that's appropriate—and an encampment is not appropriate.
We spoke to Pete Moore, an associate professor of politics at the school, and he told us today's protest was unlike anything he's ever seen at the school.
"This is education. This is free speech. This is what we do on campuses to tackle controversial issues. This is exactly where we should be having protests," he said.
Moore said that he's been a teacher at the school since 2005 and has never seen police "unleashed" on its students there.
"Incredibly chilling— and this level of activism— this has been building for a couple of years. So this is not unsurprising," he said.
The protesters we spoke to told us they will be here as long as it takes, but the school initially said that protests after 8 p.m. are prohibited.
However, after conversations between student leaders of the protest and the administration, Case students and staff were allowed to remain in the demonstration area throughout the evening.
Other members of the public will be allowed to return to the area beginning at 8 a.m. Tuesday.
Oglesby called the agreement to let students and staff stay a "great first step."
"Students for Justice in Palestine representatives such as myself have met face-to-face with the president of the university three times now," said Oglesby, "and finally they've actually started to see us."
Oglesby said he plans to continue demonstrating until the group's demands are met, even if it means missing his graduation next month.
Whiting said the university is taking things one day at a time.
"As long as the protests continue in a manner we're comfortable with as far as the time, place and manner, the students are welcomed to stay," said Whiting on Monday night.
The university released the following statement regarding the protest:
Open discourse and the free exchange of ideas are hallmarks of higher education—and they are central to all that we do at Case Western Reserve. Across classrooms and common spaces, lecture halls and laboratories, and everywhere in between, challenges to the status quo are what make universities—especially ours—such powerful learning environments.
We are seeing this in action right now, as individuals in support of Palestinian liberation are protesting on the Kelvin Smith Library oval. We support these individuals’ rights to free speech, and Case Western Reserve police will protect their right to peaceful freedom of expression in accordance with our policies.
However, we want to be clear about the rules and processes moving forward for those who choose to participate in this activity:
• The university will not tolerate hate speech in any form.
• In accordance with Case Western Reserve policies, protestors must follow specific
restrictions regarding the time, place and manner of such activism—including ensuring their actions do not unreasonably interfere with university operations (this includes setting up encampments on campus property and the use of disruptive sound).
Earlier this month, dozens of Palestinian supporters filled Cuyahoga County Council chambers, calling on council members to stop investing in Israeli bonds.
RELATED: Local Palestinians call for county to stop investing in Israel
