The University of Chicago Police removed a pro-Palestinian protest camp early Tuesday morning. No arrests were made, according to reports from the Chicago Tribune, WLS-TV, and ABC News.
“Protesting is a highly valued form of speech at UChicago, and the demonstrators had many chances to share their views,” said Paul Alivisatos, President of the University of Chicago, in an online message.
“According to Alivisatos, the protests had a negative impact on the ability of others to freely express themselves, learn, and work,” “There have been increasing safety concerns in the past few days, and the risks were growing too quickly for things to stay the same.”
A group of students and others established a camp nine days ago. However, early on Tuesday morning, around 5 a.m., approximately 50 campus police officers arrived wearing riot gear and started removing the camp.
The campus police made copies of and handed out final notices to the protesters, telling them to leave the encampment. However, the protesters chose to ignore the notices.
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Workers in trucks came and removed many tents and barriers from the university’s outdoor quad area. They also moved the protesters away from the quad and took down the encampment.
When students and other protesters attempted to resist the campus police, the officers used yellow barriers to move the students back and clear the quad area. Students were allowed to return to the quad after the camp was cleared by campus police at around 8 a.m.
According to Alivisatos, the university officials tried to talk to the organizers of the encampment to find a solution. However, there were some demands that the organizers were not willing to change, and these demands did not align with the university’s commitment to staying neutral.
“According to Alivisatos, the university is a place where people can freely express their opinions. However, it is important to maintain a balanced environment where the expression of a few individuals does not overpower and disrupt the overall well-being of the community.”
While clearing the encampment, no arrests were made. However, Alivisatos mentioned that appropriate disciplinary action will be taken. Protests supporting Palestine have appeared on college campuses throughout the country, often organized and funded by the National Students for Justice in Palestine.
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The NSJP has branches at approximately 350 colleges and universities. These branches are not registered as nonprofit organizations, so they are not obligated to reveal where their funding comes from. This information comes from NGO Monitor.
Hatem Bazian, a faculty member at the University of California-Berkeley, is one of the co-founders of NSJP (National Students for Justice in Palestine). He is also a co-founder of American Muslims for Palestine, which is registered in Illinois.
The Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy recently released a report stating that the NSJP receives funding from organizations linked to Hamas, such as the WESPAC Foundation, Tides, AMP, Jewish Voice for Peace, and Tides. This information was reported by The Jerusalem Post.
In 1997, the U.S. government included Hamas in its list of foreign terrorist organizations.
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