More than 75 pro-Palestinian demonstrators returned to Kennesaw State University on Wednesday after a week of crackdowns on protests at college campuses across the U.S.
They called for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and an end to what they described as Israel’s “apartheid” against Palestinians.
The protesters were joined by a handful of KSU faculty members, including psychology lecturer Kayla Sargent, who said she was there to support her students following police crackdowns on protests at Emory University, the University of Georgia and beyond.
She called the mass arrests of college students “terrifying” and unwarranted.
“I’m really just interested in supporting free speech for students, protecting their rights to assemble and to make peaceful requests to the university and the system,” Sargent said. “My students certainly have expressed a lot of concern about what’s going on in Gaza and I intend to support them.”
Credit: Shaddi Abusaid
Credit: Shaddi Abusaid
Aaron Weinberg, a Jewish sophomore studying exercise science, was among a small group of counter-protesters that gathered nearby. He held an Israeli flag over his shoulder, looking on while students chanted, “End the Occupation.”
”I’m here to show my support for Israel, for my people,” Weinberg said.
He accused the pro-Palestinian group of “supporting Hamas” and said he was troubled by some of their chants, including their use of the term “genocide” to describe Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
Among the chants shouted Wednesday by protesters were, “Hey, hey. Ho, ho. Genocide Joe has got to go.”
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