Pro-Palestinian protesters begin tent encampment at Wayne State

Pro-Palestinian protesters set up an encampment at Wayne State University, adding to the growing list of U.S. college campuses that have seen similar protests in recent months.

Following a Thursday evening rally, protesters began pitching tents and planting signs between State Hall and the David Adamany Undergraduate Library about 7 p.m., under the close watch of campus police. Protesters say they plan to stay until they are removed by police or the university Board of Governors meets its demand to divest from Israel.

“We are here together to perform a demonstration to demand a meeting with the Board of Governors and President Espy to discuss divestment from (the S&P 500) that includes war-manufacturing companies … who directly aid the Israeli occupation and genocide of people in Gaza,” said Zaynah Jadallah, a Wayne State University alum who returned to her alma mater to join the protests.

“We have tried with the university before, having meetings, we even tried to have the divestment resolution that was passed by the student senate put on the agenda for the Board of Governors, but it was met with refusal and denial, so we had to pivot and show our support in a different form,” she continued. "We would like some sort of dialogue and openness from the university admins and Board of Governors to listen to our demands and talk about divestment.”

Surrounded by a border of crates, chairs, boxes, tables and signs, Jadallah estimates that 50 to 100 have participated in the encampment since its start Thursday night, and that the responses from passersby have been mostly positive and encouraging of conversations.

“As Americans … our tax dollars pay and fund the genocide through these war-manufacturing companies, and then as students, our money and our alumni gifts go to these endowments that fund those companies,” she said.

More: Arab Americans disappointed with meeting with US Secretary of State on Israel, Gaza

But since setting up the encampment, Jadallah said the only form of communication they have heard from Wayne State University officials is through a statement the university released Thursday night: "A small encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters was set up on our campus. It is an evolving situation, with public safety on site to ensure that it is peaceful, safe, and non-disruptive to our campus operations."

Jadallah said the police presence at the scene has decreased since the start of the encampment Thursday night, but officers still stand close by.

She said their intentions are peaceful; even when the protesters came to begin setting up their tents, only one or two people were using the grassy space that the encampment currently inhabits.

“We are not trying to disrupt. That’s not our goal," she said. "Our main goal is to get (the Board of Governors) to talk to us willingly.”

The encampment at Wayne State University comes just two days after one of the longest-running university encampments in the country at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor was broken up by police.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Pro-Palestinian protesters begin tent encampment at Wayne State