Group of University of Kansas students set up campus camp to protest ongoing war
LAWRENCE — A group of University of Kansas students attempted to establish encampment outside Fraser Hall on Wednesday to protest the Israeli-Gaza war.
The six months of fighting have been the deadliest of five wars fought between Israeli and Hamas, an armed Palestinian militant group that governs Gaza. More than 34,000 Palestinians and 1,400 Israelis have been killed thus far, after Israel launched attacks into Gaza in response to Hamas's Oct. 7 attacks.
“We, students, faculty, staff and members of the Lawrence community, are dispatching our first notice of our liberation encampment, on the grounds of the University of Kansas Lawrence campus, in solidarity with the people of Palestine,” KU Students for Justice in Palestine wrote in a May 1 announcement.
KU Students for Justice in Palestine is joining a nationwide movement called the Popular Universities for Gaza, though a liaison clarified the local action was grassroots and community driven.
Students have formed encampments at dozens of universities across the country. So far police arrested more than 1,300 people at universities in Texas, New York, North Carolina and California.
The encampment-style pro-Palestinian protest is the first of its kind in Kansas, although Washburn University is planning a two-hour protest on Friday.
“Our positionality in the Midwest is important in this movement because there is a shared fallacy that non-white bodies do not exist. Midwest is often dismissed as a region of little significance in elections; however, our voices today align and express the same disgust for the ongoing financial support that the U.S. provides toward the genocide of the Palestinian people,” KU Students for Justice in Palestine said in a social media post.
What KU Students for Justice in Palestine is demanding of KU
KUSJP said the University of Kansas is “complicit with genocide in Palestine” through monetary investments and partnerships between KU and the U.S. military. It demanded the following:
The university divest of all financial ties to the Israeli government, military interests and holdings, and companies that operate in, profit from or aid Israel.
Make public all direct and indirect financial ties to the Israeli government and Israeli corporations.
Refuse grants, funding or financial backing from companies contracted with the United States Department of Defense, and ending the relationship with those companies that tie KU to the U.S. military and police departments.
Guarantee amnesty for students, staff and faculty that participate in the protest.
The encampment outside Fraser Hall
The attempt to establish an encampment was quickly stopped by university officials, said protestors at the event.
“They distorted the camping policy to tell us that we could not erect tents even though the policy clearly says that that is permitted after sunrise,” said Jam H., a KU senior and protest media liaison who wouldn't share their last name.
Jam said discussions with KU ended after the group refused to remove flags and fliers in the area they’re protesting. At its height, about 200 protestors gathered, although that number dwindled throughout the day.
Most of the participants were students, but some members not affiliated with the university also joined. Ahmad Al-Timimi, a doctor in Lawrence who is from Palestine, called the protest "absolutely beautiful."
"The sense of injustice is very strong with these young men and women, and I admire them for what they're doing," Al-Timimi said. "This means a lot to me personally being of Palestinian origins."
Who are KU Students for Justice in Palestine?
KUSJP announced its formation on Jan. 17 with the stated purpose of educating and advocating for Palestine and the rights of Palestinians. It says it seeks to dismantle misconceptions about Palestine and raise awareness for what it calls the ongoing oppression endured by Palestinians. It advocates for the end of the Israeli state and the creation of a Palestinian state.
“We firmly believe in the restoration of historic Palestine as defined by the British protectorate of Palestine established after the fall of the Ottoman Empire in WWI and prior to the Israeli occupation that began in 1948 through the violent massacres and intentions of Zionist movement and its operatives,” KUSJP wrote in its first message.
It has hosted events that show documentaries on the history of Palestine, strategized on getting Israel-based chemical manufacturer ICL out of Lawrence and organized protests and disruptions of Israeli speakers. A speaking event featuring Oct. 7 attack survivor Gal Cohen-Solal was protested outside and inside the venue.
Jewish organizations at KU condemned the actions of the protestors to Cohen-Solal’s speaking engagement, according to The Kansas City Jewish Chronicle.
Chabad at KU, an organization for Jewish students, thanked KU for monitoring the protest and ensuring their safety and criticized language used by pro-Palestinian protestors.
“Our beloved campus has seen a large and vocal encampment consisting of KU students and faculty and who joined together to chant messages of negativity and hate,” the organization wrote. “Everyone is entitled to free speech, however calling for an Intifada at KU, is a call for violence. Chants of ‘from the river to the sea’ is a call for our land and our Jewish brothers and sisters to disappear.”
Protestors at the event reported it is likely to continue through Saturday at least.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: University of Kansas student group in Lawrence protests Israel-Gaza war
