Demonstrators accuse Israel of’ murder in Gaza,’ song’ Down, down with profession ‘
As a result of a pro-Palestinian opposition on the one-year celebration of the Israeli invasion on October 7, Drexel University fenced off certain areas of its school and put in additional security measures on Monday.
Increased police presence was a part of the increased protection at the Philadelphia University. Additionally, school employees were stationed at creating doors to test students ‘ IDs, as was reported by Drexel Public Safety in an email to individuals on Sunday.
There will be more Drexel Police and Public Safety on school on October 7th, according to the email.” To ensure the safety of the Drexel area and stop unauthorized access to Drexel buildings, there will be increased presence of Drexel Police and Public Safety,” the email stated.
” Only with a valid Drexel ID can students buildings along Market Street in close proximity to Drexel Square enter through a single point of entry.” At the entrances of these buildings, security personnel or University personnel will be stationed, it said.
Police cars dotted the Drexel Palestine Coalition’s protest site on Monday along Drexel Square. At 2 p.m., the protesters began gathering.
The coalition includes” students, faculty, staff &, alumni in support of an immediate end to the genocide in Gaza and an end to the occupation”, according to its Instagram page.
It organized the demonstration in collaboration with the Philadelphia Students for Justice in Palestine Coalition, which “protests one year of the Zionist entity’s genocide in Gaza,” the organization claimed.
It encouraged participants to” ]w ] alk out of class, call out from work, and join us on the streets. Cover up, wear a mask, and bring your friends”.
Students were advised to avoid the area at 3:02 p.m. after Drexel’s safety alert system alerted them to “increased police activity and traffic delays in the area due to protests.”
Students for Justice in Palestine from Drexel, University of Pennsylvania, and Haverford College shared a video of the protesters chanting in Drexel Square on Instagram.
The video depicts a crowd with signs that read” University of Palestine”,” No funding for war crimes”, and” Fund schools not weapons”.
The crowd can be heard chanting” Up, up with liberation. Down, down with occupation”, and” The students united will never be defeated”.
The protesters marched off campus around 3: 40 p. m., according to an email from Drexel’s safety alert system. The group is seen moving toward Penn’s campus in a video produced by Penn FJP.
In another video from the Philadelphia SJP, protesters yell and hold hands in front of police officers at the intersection of 35th Street and Grays Ferry Avenue, just outside the Pennovation Center on the University of Pennsylvania campus.
Four arrests were made once the protests moved onto UPenn’s campus, but the people arrested have not yet been identified, according to The Daily Pennsylvanian.
MORE: Northwestern U. students rally for’ free Palestine’ on Oct. 7
Meanwhile, on the same day, Hillel at Drexel hosted several events for Jewish students, including a memorial tent during the day and a memorial gathering in the evening.
Rabbi Isabel de Koninck, executive director of the university’s Hillel, told The Fix over email the events were attended by” well over 100 students”.
The rabbi said that for the majority of the campus Jewish community, the day was marked by mourning and grief for the victims of the terrorist attack on September 11.
She told The Fix,” [F]or many, it also included a deep sorrow and grief for all those who have been killed since, as well as a fervent hope that the still hostages will be brought home quickly and that this war will end soon.”
While the Jewish community’s opinions on the war’s aftermath, the best way to bring the hostages home, and other broader ideas about how to ensure peace and well-being for all in the region may vary widely, Koninck said.” Our community is deeply grieved by the loss of life on and as a result of 10/7,”
The rabbi also responded to the protests by sending an email to the university Hillel community on October 7. Over the past year, antisemitism has become a regular issue on campus, according to her.
” Jewish students have been accused of supporting genocide for defending Israel’s choice to respond to Hamas’s violence”, Koninck wrote in the email, provided to The Fix.
” It has been 365 days, and though we have prayed for peace, prayed to bring them home, and prayed for the carnage to end – the deaths still come, and our mourning has still not been transformed back into dancing”, Koninck wrote.
In May, pro-Palestinian protests forced Drexel to hold classes online, The College Fix reported at the time.
The Fix also contacted the Drexel Palestine Coalition Instagram account, Drexel Chief of Police Mel Singleton, and Vice President of Strategic Communications Niki Gianakaris numerous times for comment, but none of them responded.
MORE: ‘ Our martyrs ‘: Chicago college students rally for’ Gaza ‘
IMAGE: James Samuel, Drexel Palestine Coalition/Instagram
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