Students Put Up Tents At Rutgers Newark, Protest Israel-Palestine War

NEWARK, NJ — A nationwide student-led protest over the Israel-Palestine war has spread to the campus of Rutgers-Newark.

On Wednesday, a coalition of students, faculty and community members began setting up a “Gaza solidarity camp” in front of Rutgers Law School in Newark, pitching tents and raising Palestinian flags.

Organizers encouraged participants to "mask up, stay protected and bring your energy and love to the space."

According to a statement from the Newark Solidarity Coalition, the local encampment is being done in solidarity with their peers at the Rutgers New Brunswick campus, where students have been sleeping in tents to push for a list of 10 demands. Those demands include “divesting from any firm or corporation working in Israel” and giving “full amnesty” to students and staff who are protesting the war.

Rutgers is allowing the students and tents at New Brunswick to remain, as long as they do not disrupt students getting to class or cause violence, administrators said. Read More: Photos From 2nd Day Of Gaza Solidarity Camp On Rutgers Campus

Since April 18, more than 1,000 people have reportedly been arrested at dozens of college and university campuses across the United States as they demand a ceasefire and a halt to U.S. military funding for Israel’s war effort. Some students have created encampments and set up tents to occupy school-owned space – leading to clashes with police. Read More: 'We Will Not Stop,' Columbia Protesters Vow As Deadline Passes

The protests have spread to New Jersey, where 13 students were arrested Monday night after they briefly occupied a school building at Princeton University. All of the students were given summonses for trespassing and have been barred from campus. They are facing suspension or expulsion, administrators said. See Related: Princeton College Protestors Evicted, Barred From Campus

The encampment movement has now arrived at Rutgers-Newark, where protesters say they will not leave until their demands are met.

In addition to the items put forth by their peers in New Brunswick, the protesters at Rutgers-Newark say they have several other demands that are specific to the Brick City:

1. Rutgers University must leverage its significant influence and power over the city of Newark to ensure the passage of a ceasefire resolution. This resolution must demand an immediate, permanent ceasefire in Gaza, call for an end to the genocide, and advocate for the right to self-determination for the Palestinian people.

2. As a land-grant institution, Rutgers University has a responsibility to serve its community. Therefore, we demand that Rutgers divest from the apartheid state of Israel and reinvest in the Newark community by allocating 3 to 5 of its properties to establish a Community Land Trust dedicated to providing free public housing.

3. Rutgers University must offer free tuition and forgive all outstanding student loan debt for all Newark residents.

4. Similarly, NJIT, ECC, and Seton Hall are expected to adopt the measures outlined in demands 2 and 3. This includes divesting from the apartheid state of Israel, reallocating resources to establish Community Land Trusts for free public housing, offering free tuition, and forgiving all outstanding student loan debt for all Newark Residents.

5. Rutgers University must commit to monetary support for grassroots organizations as part of its reinvestment efforts in Newark. Furthermore, the Newark Solidarity Coalition should have the authority to oversee and approve the funding allocations to these groups.

6. Rutgers Law School - Newark must provide pro bono legal services to all Newark residents earning less than $50,000 as a single-family household. With additional members, further considerations must be applied.

7. Rutgers Medical and Dental Schools must offer free health care services to all Newark residents and forgive any existing medical and dental debts owed by Newark residents.

8. Rutgers must immediately cease all military recruitment activities on its campuses and use its significant influence and power within the city of Newark to ensure the cessation of military recruitment at all educational institutions in Newark. This includes but is not limited to: all public and private schools, colleges and universities within the greater Newark area.

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“By virtue of our humanity, we must take a stand against the institutions we fund where they monetarily support colonialism and genocide while contributing to the displacement and violence directed against their own communities,” said Nadia (last name withheld), a student at Rutgers University-Newark who is taking part in the protest.

Whitney Strub, an associate professor of history at Rutgers University-Newark and member of Faculty for Justice in Palestine, said that he hopes administrators see that the pro-Palestine encampments “carry on a legacy of activism” that became popular in the 1960s and continued into the 1980s when Rutgers divested from South African apartheid amid protests from student organizers.

“Today it's time to again listen to our students and divest from Israeli apartheid,” Strub said.

On Thursday, Rutgers-Newark Chancellor Nancy Cantor issued a statement about the protest in Newark.

"Rutgers-Newark is a place that points with pride to its own history of protest having shaped us into one of the nation’s most diverse universities and the anchor institution in Newark that we are today, joining with many partners to advance racial equity and equitable growth," Cantor wrote.

"Even as we move fully into final exams recognizing how important it is for us all to avoid disruptions for our students in this culminating phase of their year of hard work, we will continue to safeguard peaceful protest as a fundamental aspect of our institutional identity," Cantor said.

Casualties and suffering have been heavy for Palestinians and Israelis alike as war continues to rage in the Middle East.

More than 1,200 Israelis were killed after Hamas launched their coordinated attack on Oct. 7, including civilians and children. Dozens of the deceased are U.S. residents, including some from New Jersey.

Meanwhile, the death toll from Palestinian authorities stands at more than 30,000 people who have been killed in Gaza due to Israel's retaliatory air strikes and ground invasion –including thousands of children and civilians. Israel has cut off water and electricity in Gaza, raising an outcry from advocates and several humanitarian organizations. Widespread famine and medicine shortages are causing even more misery.

Some Jewish residents in Essex County have said they continue to experience fear and intimidation in a state that is seeing a steep rise in antisemitic incidents such as harassment, vandalism and assault. Other Jewish community members have criticized the language that many pro-Palestine activists are using, such as references to "genocide," "apartheid" and the phrase "from the river to the sea."

• See Related: Passover Inspires Mixed Emotions In Essex County For 2024
• See Related: Israel-Hamas: How To Talk To Your Kids, Practice Self-Care

Some pro-Palestine advocates have countered that the flip side is also true, pointing to increasing bias complaints from Muslims in New Jersey.

"Jewish students, faculty and community members have been central to organizing for Palestine on all Rutgers campuses, and both encampments explicitly and categorically reject antisemitism, carefully noting the importance of distinguishing that from anti-Zionism," a spokesperson with the Newark Solidarity Coalition media team said.

"And when it comes to fear and intimidation at Rutgers, it's the Center for Islamic Life that was the target of a recent hate crime, on a Muslim holy day," he added.

• See Related: NJ Man, 24, Charged With Hate Crime In Rutgers Muslim Center Vandalism

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