As the pro-Palestinian encampment continues at Case Western Reserve University for a third day, student protestors plan to host a rally on campus Wednesday night.
As of midday Wednesday, about 20 tents dotted the grassy oval in front of the Kelvin Smith library. Non-student protestors had joined the encampment, mingling with their student counterparts.
The tents and the presence of non-student demonstrators mark a shift in the university’s approach to managing the encampment. On Monday, university police quickly removed the tents when they were first erected and enforced a policy that non-Case Western Reserve protestors had to leave by 8 p.m.
But on Tuesday evening, student demonstrators were no longer following the university’s rules. Non-students and faculty remained in the encampment past that previously agreed upon 8 p.m. cutoff.
“We didn’t exactly want the university running the show here as this is a student-organized effort,” student Sabrina Wicker told Signal Cleveland. “So, we decided to kind of push back, and we pulled in our community support.”
University leaders have not publicly acknowledged these shifts or offered explanations why the school is not enforcing its previous plans. School representatives didn’t provide responses to Signal Cleveland’s questions about the encampment or about any ongoing negotiations with student demonstrators.
Student protestors maintain they have no plans to leave their encampment or relent on their demands.
Case Western Reserve student protestors call outside support “crucial”
Wicker, 20, is helping organize the encampment. She said outside involvement is “crucial” to keeping the demonstration going.
“They’ve been bringing us food, water, sunscreen, medication, providing medical care, things like that,” she said. “In order for our students to stay safe, we’re drawing in our community support.”
Wicker said they’re getting support from members of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, the Democratic Socialists of America, and Jewish Voice for Peace.
Police remain at the encampment. They haven’t made any arrests.
What do student protestors want?
Wicker said students want to keep public attention on Gaza and keep pressure on the university to divest any financial interests in Israel. Many of the approximately 80 colleges with encampments nationwide have similar requests.
“We want to make sure that the administration is not just making us get caught in a bunch of games about how to keep up the encampment itself,” Wicker said. “We do want to make sure that the university’s ultimate goal is to divest.”
Case Western Reserve student protestors also want the rights of its Students for Justice in Palestine chapter restored. University officials suspended the chapter earlier this year for posting flyers in restricted areas.
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