‘There is only one solution, intifada revolution’
Anti-Israel protesters at yet another admitted students event, this time Washington University in St. Louis, got something for which they likely did not bargain: a court summons.
At the April 13 Resist WashU demonstration against the school’s investments in Boeing (which allegedly are supporting Israel’s “genocide” of the Palestinians), campus police gave protesters until 10:30am to disperse or they’d be charged with “trespassing and disturbing the peace.”
Student Life reports that when the deadline rolled around, however, a dozen activists remained in the Graham Chapel. They now have a court date on June 4.
Resist WashU advertised the protest on its Instagram page, encouraging students to join in shutting down the admitted student festivities: “We need your support! Come join the crowd outside Graham Chapel supporting our disrupters inside.”
As might be expected, the activists were not pleased with the turn of events.
Protester “Sarah” said the disruption was necessary because WashU officials did not listen to the Student Union Senate’s demands to divest from Boeing.
“Often,” she said, “figures of authority will encourage people to use sanctioned channels to affect [sic] change, and that’s exactly what the student body did.”
Going through proper channels apparently means student protester demands must be agreed to. But considering that activists were shouting “IDF [Israeli Defense Forces], KKK, WUPD are all the same” and “There is only one solution, intifada revolution” among other things, WashU officials may have a point.
MORE: WashU black group: School ‘does not care’ about black, brown students
Junior Maclean Kelley, one of the protesters who was served a court summons, said that the chant pointed out the similarities between the organizations.
“What [the chant] means is that all of these organizations are armed, are white supremacists, and [are] colonizing forces, and that’s why they’re all the same.”
Inside the chapel, at around the same time, a video on the Resist WashU Instagram account story showed protesters continuing to chant.
Additionally, as University administrators and WUPD officers walked inside and around Graham Chapel, protesters yelled “shame” at them. …
“I think Dr. G[onzalez] should be really embarrassed by how they treat students who are talking back to the University,” Kelley said. “Students are gonna keep shutting sh*t down as long as the University doesn’t listen to our demands.”
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Other protesters accused WashU of being “a place of violence” and said new students need to be informed “that on this campus they have no voice.”
The Resist WashU Instagram account later demanded all charges against the 12 activists be dropped. A form letter offered for supporters reads “I disapprove of the university’s overly punitive measures, history of callously using WUPD on black & brown bodies, history of suppressing pro-Palestinian student action, and lack of consideration for the safety of these same students.”
MORE: WashU prof claims he was terminated for ‘anti-Palestinian’ social media post
IMAGE: Resist WashU/Instagram
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