Gaza Solidarity Encampment shifts to talks, workshops

Editor’s Note: This is a developing story and will be updated.

With their encampment established, roughly 70 pro-Palestinian activists on Tuesday shifted their focus to workshops and activities aimed to further explain their demands for Syracuse University.

Despite the imminent threat of rain, protestors attended a lecture delivered by African American Studies and Political Science Professor Horace Campbell on the second day of the Gaza Solidarity Encampment. Campbell explained the motivations behind the encampment to the audience on the Shaw Quad.

During the lecture, which spanned just under 30 minutes, Campbell described the connection between the rise of fascism and genocide. “What we’re doing here is let of a necessary part of combating racism and genocide,” Campbell said.

Photo by Nate Harrington

African American studies and political science Prof. Horace Campbell leads a lecture on the second day of the SU Gaza Solidarity Encampment.

“Demands are not made for Palestine,” Campbell said. “They are made for humanity.”

After Campbell’s lecture, he opened a discussion and was joined by Imam Mohammed ElFiki, president of the Islamic Society of Central New York. ElFiki discussed a recent trip to Egypt and efforts to get food trucks into Gaza.

“Thank you so much for being here,” ElFiki said. “Thank you so much for standing up for the oppressed people.”

Discussion continued among protestors, who explored topics such as whether I-81 is contributing to discrimination and fascism in America. One demonstrator shared his own experiences as a child in war-torn Kosovo.

Campbell ended the discussion with several chants including, “Long live the Palestinian people,” “Boycott, divest and sanctions” and “Syracuse should divest from Israel.”

On the SUNY ESF campus, 315 Students 4 Liberation hosted a discussion with Palestinian writer Yaffa. Following their presentation, Yaffa also spoke to encampment on the steps of Hendricks Chapel.

Just after 4:20 p.m., during Campbell’s open discussion, a woman in a hat and sunglasses walked through the encampment shouting, “You’re all going to be tried for treason!” 

Her entrance prompted swift boos and shouting from the protestors. The woman left about a minute later, ripping down signs and shouting about the encampment being illegal.

Reactions and resistance

Behind the scenes of a peaceful demonstration, SU officials and student organizations traded critical statements. The Gaza Solidarity Encampment accused a campus-wide email sent by Senior Vice President and Chief Student Experience Officer Allen Groves to be of “racist character” that contained “anti-Arab racism.”

Groves’ email to the student body mentioned a sign that the university “deemed harassing.” According to the Gaza Solidarity Encampment, that poster included the word “Intifada,” a word they say translates to  “Arab Uprising” in English. 

“In an academic institution where many scholars study the language, culture and Arabic-speaking region, we should not be the ones who have to educate the university,” the students wrote. Organizers requested an apology.