MSU students issue 'victory' statement, end Gaza protest

EAST LANSING — Students who set up an encampment on Michigan State University's campus to protest the Israeli war in Gaza on Saturday issued a "victory statement" and said they were dismantling the camp.

"(Saturday) night members of the Hurriya coalition and the camp came to the decision to close down the encampment," the Hurriya Coalition said in an Instagram post on Sunday. "This is not a decision we came to lightly, and it does not mean the end of our movement for divestment .… As long as MSU invests in genocide and occupation we will be here to oppose it. We will be back."

MSU students set up a Gaza solidarity encampment early Thursday morning, joining other college campuses in the U.S. calling for their schools to divest from Israel amid the ongoing war in Gaza.

They did so without a camping permit, required by university rules, but the Board of Trustees later Thursday granted a permit. MSU police initially told students they would be ticketed or arrested if they did not remove the encampment.

"We the member organizations of the MSU Hurriya Coalition, are deeply grateful for the outpouring of support we have received from campus and community individuals, organizations, and businesses," the group said in a statement Sunday. "We were heartened by the hundreds of messages from people who were with us in spirit but unable to join the encampment."

The Instagram post also said all food will be donated to groups in the Lansing area "helping feed our un housed and food insecure community members."

The encampment was the latest action by Hurriya, a coalition of MSU student groups trying to bring attention to the rising Palestinian death toll and asking for the school to divest from Israel and weapons manufacturers. Students from the coalition have attended every Board of Trustees meeting since October.

Thursday afternoon, the encampment grew from about 30 students to around 75 with about 20 tents around the perimeter. Student organizers said they expected more students and community members to join throughout the day and into the weekend.

The university released a statement around noon on Thursday.

"Michigan State University is dedicated to freedom of speech and encourages its students to be informed and honor the exchange of free ideas and individual expression," it said. "The university was made aware this morning that a group of individuals set up tents for a protest in People’s Park on campus. Being that camping is in violation of MSU Ordinance 13, MSU police officers were called to respond to the area. Officers peacefully spoke with group leaders and informed them of the violation. No arrests have been made.

MSU President Kevin Guskiewicz told the State Journal Wednesday that he respected students' rights to protest but he was concerned about safety and said he would follow the ordinances in deciding whether to take any action.

At Columbia University in New York City, police arrested more than 100 protestors for their solidarity encampment. University President Minouche Shafik told USA Today that the demonstrators were warned that they weren't allowed to occupy the space.

Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a coalition of student organizations, told USA Today that the police were "violent," when the mass arrest occurred.

The demonstrators are protesting the civilian death toll in Gaza, where more than 34,000 people have died since Israel's invasion that followed a Hamas-led attack that killed almost 1,200 people in Israel. Students oppose U.S. military aid to Israel and want their schools to stop investing endowment money in Israeli companies.

USA Today reporter John Bacon contributed. LSJ reporter Sarah Atwood contributed.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: MSU students issue 'victory' statement, end Gaza protest