Pictures of the demonstration. Photos by @wcuyearbook
On Nov. 15, the Student Coalition for the Liberation of Palestine led a student-organized demonstration, “Stand with Palestine,” in the Academic Quad with over 130 students and faculty in attendance. According to the SCLP’s Instagram, the group organized the demonstration to “advocate for the freedom and self-determination of the Palestinian people.”
Dagmawe Berhanu, a WCU student and co-founder of SCLP along with student Grace Zwierzyna, said the purpose of the demonstration was also to raise awareness on campus and show respect for lost Palestinian lives.
SCLP is currently an unrecognized university organization that was created about a week after Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7.
“Certain groups on campus had done events to mourn the loss of lives in Israel, which I thought was important,” Berhanu said. “But I didn’t see anything commemorating the suffering and loss of life for Palestinians, so I wanted to make sure that people on campus had the opportunity to cultivate a space to mourn from that perspective.”
As part of the demonstration, SCLP planned to plant 1,000 white flags around the Academic Quad, each one representing 10 Palestinian lives lost to Israeli air strikes. Berhanu stated that by the time the demonstration occurred, each flag represented 11 and a half lives lost, as the number of deaths had risen from 10,000 to 11,500.
Members of SCLP were seen planting the flags in the Academic Quad before the event. Berhanu and several other members of SCLP stated that WCU’s public event staff were told by the administration that SCLP had to take the flags down. After being asked to do so, SCLP refused, causing public event staff to remove and confiscate the flags.
In his speech to the audience at the demonstration, Berhanu addressed the situation: “The administration told us to take the flags down… and we refused to take them down. We told the administration if that’s what you want, you do it yourself. You want us to take out the dead from the ground? You want us to forget the lives lost?”
Executive Vice President and Interim Provost Jeffery L. Osgood responded to questions about the removal of the flags. He stated that “it is a maintenance practice of the University’s Facilities Department not to have flags inserted in the ground on the Academic Quad or around the perimeter of academic buildings.”
He also said that the reason for this was to keep the utility lines running under the Academic Quad free from puncture and damage.
“Consistent with this maintenance practice, please know that other groups have also been prohibited from using flags in the ground for their activities. Any exception to this practice could potentially cause the damage detailed above and would not be fair to other groups who have also had to adhere,” said Osgood.
He also noted that the flags were not mentioned in the planning stages of the event and that arrangements had been made for SCLP leadership to pick up the confiscated flags.
Police were present around the perimeter of the quad, in addition to a K-9 officer from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
WCU Public Safety also set up a circle of barricades in the center of the quad, intending for the demonstration to occur within its bounds. Berhanu said SCLP did not believe they would need the barricade and instead performed the demonstration outside of it.
Berhanu opened the demonstration, introducing speakers and leading attendees in call-and-responses.
Five other student members spoke at the demonstration. Jordan Patalano, a coalition member, spoke about her experience growing up as a Jewish American who was taught Zionist values. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, Zionism is the “Jewish nationalist movement that has had as its goal the creation and support of a Jewish national state in Palestine, the ancient homeland of the Jews.”
Patalano stated, “In the United States, we are so focused on antisemitism that we neglect our Arab and Muslim brothers and sisters in the fight against Islamophobia. Again, Zionism is not Judaism, do not let Israel convince you otherwise.”
Elijah, another student speaker, spoke about his family’s experience of persecution and displacement as Jews and encouraged other Jewish people to stand against the displacement of Palestinians. He stated, “There is nothing more Jewish than the fight for liberation.”
In addition to personal experiences, student speakers Grace and Lidhia shared a poem and testimonials written by Palestinians about their experiences that have been published under other news sources.
The demonstration closed with an interfaith portion, with words from Pastor Jay Bergen of Germantown Mennonite Church; Simha Toledano, a spiritual leader and member of the Philadelphia Jewish Community; and Brother Iftekhar Hussain, spiritual leader and member of the Board of Trustees for the PA chapter of the Council of American Islamic relations. SCLP made an effort to represent multiple faiths in this part of the demonstration, according to Patalano.
“We really focused on getting as many voices as we could,” Patalano said.
On Nov. 16, SCLP held a post-protest interest meeting. According to their Instagram, the group intends to continue holding demonstrations in the future.
Emma Hogan is a fourth-year English major with a minor in Journalism. EH954390@wcupa.edu.
Olivia Schlinkman is a third-year Political Science major with minors in Journalism and Spanish. os969352@wcupa.edu.