Explained: Why Five pro-Palestinian U.S. Encampments Peacefully Disbanded This Week - U.S. News - Haaretz.com
The pro-Palestinian demonstrations that have roiled universities across the United States over the past month seem to be entering a new, less volatile phase.
Many groups are now reportedly agreeing to deals with their school's leadership that involve the peaceful vacating of the encampments. While schools like Columbia and UCLA previously disbanded their encampments through the use of police force, drawing condemnation from free speech activists, other academic institutions have been keen to pursue more diplomatic means.
The following five U.S. universities have all seen their encampments disband this week, but in differing circumstances…
Pro-Palestinian protests on U.S. campuses
Harvard University
Harvard's encampment came to a peaceful end Tuesday when protesters began voluntarily removing their tents after coming to an agreement with university officials ahead of commencement events that are set to take place this week.
According to student newspaper The Harvard Crimson, Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine, the group that organized the encampment, decided to end its 20-day occupation of the Yard based on a democratic vote among its members.
The terms of negotiations centered primarily around two main conditions: leniency for students involved in the protest activities on campus; and the opening of a dialogue between top Harvard officials and student activists regarding the latter's divestment demands.
In terms of the suspensions and other disciplinary actions, Harvard spokesperson Jonathan L. Swain confirmed to The Crimson that the school will begin the process of reinstating at least 22 students from involuntary leaves of absence and expediting the cases of more than 60 students facing charges for their involvement in the encampment with "precedents of leniency for similar actions in the past," according to a press release.
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Protesters will also have the opportunity to meet with the university's governing board to discuss divestment, as well as President Alan Garber and Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra, to share their perspectives on the Israel-Hamas war. In a press release, Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine signaled that it intended to raise the possibility of establishing a center for Palestine studies in its meeting with Hoekstra.
Pro-Palestinian protesters voluntarily packing up their encampment on the Yard at Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Tuesday.Credit: Brian Snyder/Reuters
In an Instagram post, the group stated: "We are under no illusions: we do not believe these meetings are divestment wins. These side-deals are intended to pacify us away from full disclosure and divestment. Rest assured, they will not." Nonetheless, on Tuesday morning, demonstrators could be seen moving boxes full of supplies out of the Yard and collecting sleeping bags and tents while music blasted from speakers.
The protest's surprise conclusion came after days of escalating tensions between protesters and school officials, which included an increased police presence at the site and criticism of the protesters after they raised a banner depicting Garber, who is Jewish, as a devil.
The graduation ceremony is now expected to take place without any of the major adjustments that other schools – which were not able to negotiate a peaceful end to their encampments – have needed to make.
University of California, Berkeley
A similar agreement was reached at UC Berkeley, where the Free Palestine Encampment was largely disbanded on Tuesday after University Chancellor Carol Christ agreed to "support a comprehensive and rigorous examination of our investments and our socially responsible investment strategy" in exchange for the decampment.
Berkeley's agreement did not include concessions for suspensions and arrests because, unlike Harvard and other U.S. colleges, the university has largely avoided the involvement of campus and local police forces.
According to The Daily Californian, Berkeley's student newspaper, the agreement – whose details were made public on Tuesday afternoon – was sent to encampment negotiators in early May, but they have only now accepted its terms. These reportedly included "UC Berkeley Foundation's plans to expedite hearing concerns on investment, a request to the Chair of the Regents Investment Committee to develop a broader framework for ethical investment strategies and the creation of a UC Berkeley Divestment Task Force made up of students, faculty and staff."
A couple watching as people break down the pro-Palestinian encampment on the steps of Sproul Plaza at UC Berkeley in California on Tuesday.Credit: Santiago Mejia/AP
The foundation's Environmental, Social, and Governance Committee will also hear community concerns on specific industry sectors, including weapons manufacturing, mass incarceration and surveillance industries.
The Daily Cal previously reported that while the UC Berkeley Divest coalition had continually demanded full divestment from Israel, Christ stated in the agreement sent to encampment leaders that this is "not permissible" as stated by the UC Office of the President. Still, in a separate letter addressed to Berkeley's Academic senate, Christ stated: "I remain deeply concerned about the death and destruction of critical infrastructure in Gaza, and about the ongoing impact on our university and its community.
"For those reasons," Christ continued, "I personally support the efforts of our government to promote a cease-fire, gain the release of hostages, and initiate a process for negotiations that could bring the current conflict to a permanent end."
According to protesters at a pro-Palestinian rally in Berkeley's Sproul Plaza that took place at the same time as tents were being packed away, many are decamping to UC Merced, in anticipation of two more days of UC Board of Regents meetings. Some plan to remain there for the near future.
On Saturday, before the encampment came down, Berkeley's commencement ceremony was disrupted by hundreds of demonstrators chanting and disrupting speakers before they were escorted to the back of the stadium where the event took place.
Princeton University
The situation was a little more hazy at Princeton in New Jersey, where protesters were seen voluntarily decamping despite no formal agreement having been reached with the university.
According to student newspaper The Daily Princetonian, Princeton President Christopher Eisgruber sent an email to undergraduates on Monday evening in which he announced that the encampment, which began at McCosh Courtyard on April 25 before moving to Cannon Green on April 29 following the occupation of Princeton's Clio Hall, must be cleared out "so that the University may prepare for and produce end-of-year events," but did not issue a specific deadline.
Eisgruber's email outlined his next steps toward responding to the protesters' demands, including a Council of Princeton University Community meeting to discuss possible divestment concessions. The president reportedly also agreed to a special meeting to "address intimidatory and chilling disciplinary action against student free speech and assembly."
Shortly after Eisgruber's statement was issued, encampment organizers told The Daily Princetonian, "Our demands remain the same" – a sentiment they later reiterated in an Instagram post.
After two early morning meetings that took place between protest leaders and university administration on Tuesday, the Princeton Israeli Apartheid Divest group announced via a press release that "Eisgruber failed to provide a clear timeline, emphasizing a smooth return to 'business as usual' in a time of genocide.
"He failed to let us know how and when the camp would be cleared, demanding a collective movement respond on his terms," the statement went on to say.
Despite the group's somewhat vague messaging, The Daily Princetonian reported Wednesday that the encampment was "nearing its end," with protesters packing up decorations and supplies.
For the past two weeks, a handful of Princeton students have engaged in a "rotating" hunger strike, with participants announcing they will consume nothing but water until their demands are met. The original 13 students were replaced by seven other hunger strikers after nine days when some of them began experiencing serious health issues related to the hunger strike.
City University – New York (CUNY)
Protesters took over the Mina Rees Library on CUNY's campus for several hours on Tuesday night before reaching an agreement with interim Graduate Center President Joshua Brumberg, who promised to share their demands with school officials.
Protesters chanting outside the City College Of New York earlier this month.Credit: Alex Kent/Getty Images/AFP
CUNY's original Gaza Solidarity Encampment stood for nearly two weeks on campus before the New York Police Department was called in to clear it, resulting in the arrest of nearly 200 students, staff and outside protesters. Tuesday's occupation of the library came to a more peaceful conclusion when Brumberg entered the building to address the protesters and was met with applause. According to local news outlets, the president spoke briefly with demonstrators inside as a group of supporters, and the NYPD, waited on the street.
Organizers said Brumberg agreed to pass on their five demands – including to disclose CUNY's investments, divest from all financial ties to the Israeli military, remove the NYPD from campus and drop all charges against protesters arrested during the sweep.
"After much negotiating today, we came to a small loss for them – the Grad Center president has decided that he cannot answer our demands, but he will send them to the higher-ups. He has sent our demands and asked for a meeting with the CUNY chancellor," Félix Matos Rodríguez, an organizer reportedly told a cheering crowd.
Brumberg "conceded quickly because we made him nervous today. This is not a win, this is a start," the organizer added. "We will continue to escalate until all of our demands are met. We will not let them rest, we will keep going."
Cornell University
In what has become a rare move for student encampments, leaders of Cornell's encampment began to take down their tents voluntarily even with no deal having been reached with the university. Students were seen packing up supplies just days after the school's president, Martha Pollack, announced her impending retirement.
Cornell's chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine announced the decision via an Instagram post on Monday. "Our Liberated Zone is closing, but the fight continues," the post read. SJP-Cornell thanked the community for their support, but did not elaborate on what was behind the choice to dismantle the tents.
A woman walking by a Cornell University sign (illustrative).Credit: Ted Shaffrey/AP
"It's coming down because we wanted to take this into our control," Sivan Gordon-Buxbaum, a Jewish graduate student at Cornell who is a member of the anti-Zionist group Jewish Voice for Peace, told local station news station WENY.
"We are making the choices, and we don't want to be at the whim of the administration," Gordon-Buxbaum said. "So this is us being like, this is our choice. We're taking this down. It will give us an opportunity to regroup, refocus, restructure, potentially in preparation for next fall."