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Anti-Israel protesters launch Gaza solidarity camp at NY's City College, set up ‘intifada’ encampment
Anti-Israel protesters at the City College campus of the City University of New York (CUNY) launched a Gaza solidarity camp on Thursday, April 25
Anti-Israel protesters at the City College campus of the City University of New York (CUNY) launched a Gaza solidarity camp on Thursday, April 25. Anti-Israel protesters have set up an “intifada” encampment on the campus, and demonstrators have also raised a Palestinian flag over a quad.
According to Middle East Monitor, the students said, “Organisers at CUNY draw on the legacy of the 1969 CUNY student protest movement, when more than 200 Black and Puerto Rican students de-occupied campus buildings at CCNY… for 17 days.' In a press release, the students also noted that CUNY held at least 13 contracts worth over $8.5m 'with companies that aid in, or profit from, Zionist colonisation, and war crimes.”
‘Palestine calls this University Intifada’
Soon after the encampment was set up, the Convent Avenue campus was filled with signs and flags. “Palestine calls this University Intifada,” Within Our Lifetime organiser Nerdeen Kiswani said into a megaphone, according to a post by indie reporter Oliya Scootercaster.
“We have a right to control where our tuition goes and that it should never go to oppressing any people anywhere!” Kiswani added in a speech that is viral on social media.
Many of the signs that are visible on the campus asked the CUNY system to divest from Israel amid the ongoing Hamas-Israel conflict. NYPD officers monitored the demonstration. Unlike many other protests across other US universities, this demonstration was calm.
City College is reportedly on spring break until April 30. According to a student organiser, the NYPD and the school’s public safety personnel demanded that they disassemble the tent. However, the student said that they “aren’t going anywhere, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
It is unclear if all the protesters were affiliated with the school. Taking to X, CUNY Professor James Hoff wrote, “CUNY Gaza Solidarity Encampment in full bloom. Lots of faculty and PSC union members here.”
