Ole Miss students evacuated off campus after pro-Palestine protest escalated

OXFORD — Several dozen students were peacefully evacuated off of the University of Mississippi campus after a pro-Palestine protest turned into a shouting match between the protestors and counter-protestors.

Approximately 50-60 protestors gathered to protest Israeli military responses in Gaza following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel on the Quad of the Ole Miss campus Thursday afternoon. The event quickly escalated with more than 200 counter-protestors flooding in from different parts of campus within an hour and started to throw objects and shout at the protestors.

With the counter-protestors outnumbering the pro-Palestine protestors, shouts of "Terrorists" drowned out the equally passionate shouts of "Free, free Palestine."

Police intervened quickly, moving the growing crowd to behind the campus' clock tower, in front of the School of Applied Sciences. The police led the pro-Palestine protestors into the building.

The university has yet to release a statement on the event, but Jacob Batte, director of media relations for the University of Mississippi, confirmed that the pro-Palestine protestors had been safely evacuated on buses. He could not confirm whether the protestors were students.

Batte did confirm that the protest was not organized under any of the university's registered student organizations.

After several pro-Palestine protestors had gone into the School of Applied Sciences, a few smaller groups of pro-Palestine protestors arrived holding signs and shouting “Free, free Palestine,” and “Save Christians in Gaza.”

Two of these protestors standing on the sidewalk steps away from the now somewhat contained mass of counter-protestors identified themselves as Ole Miss students but declined to provide their names out of fear of retribution.

Both students said they came to the protest against genocide.

“We’re here to spread the message of peace,” one of the students said, preferring not to be named. “Save Christians in Gaza. Save churches, mosques in Gaza. Save people in Gaza. I mean, what’s the point of (the counter-protestors) being here? They’re pro-Trump. They’re not even pro-Israel. I’m not sure they know where Israel is. They cannot point out Israel on a map.”

Directly across the street from these students, a mass of counter-protestors stood screaming and raising fists in anger.

One counter-protestor held up a shirt that read, “I Heart Israel” in colorful paint. The counter-protestor identified himself as Ben Holberg and said he is a student at Mississippi State University and drove in for the protest. After saying he is a student at MSU, Holberg changed his story and said he is a student at the University of Georgia.

Holberg said he made the shirt and came to the protest because he thinks the issue is “a very big thing” that “needs to be talked about.

“I believe that I like Israel,” Holberg said. “You know, it’s got pretty mountains, blue skies and lots of people. I think it’s a really nice place.”

One counter-protestor standing next to Holberg identified himself as Drew Steins and said he is also a Mississippi State student. Steins said he came to the protest because of the “messed up” events he’s been seeing around the country.

“It was peaceful, and then it wasn’t,” Steins said. “That’s all I have to say.”

The group which organized the pro-Palestine protest is unknown. Starting Wednesday, a graphic circulated online advertising a "Free Palestine" protest on the campus circle. The protestors called for the university to disclose any ties to Israel or U.S. arms companies which supply Israel and to divest themselves from any of these connections.

On Thursday morning, Gov. Tate Reeves posted on Facebook that he and local law enforcement were aware of the event.

"Campus police, City, County, and State assets are being deployed and coordinated. We will offer a unified response with one mission: Peaceful protests are allowed and protected — no matter how outrageous those protesters (sic) views may seem to some of us. But unlawful behavior will not be tolerated. It will be dealt with accordingly."

The Ole Miss protest joined dozens nationwide and in the South region, including recent protests at the University of Alabama, the University of Tennessee and the University of Texas.

No other major university-driven protest has popped up at Mississippi colleges. Non-campus protests of the war in Gaza have occurred in Jackson.

HG Biggs contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Ole Miss students evacuated off campus after pro-Palestine protest