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Around 200 protesters marched from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University to the National Veterans Resource Center in support of Palestine, calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war and saying the university is “complicit in genocide.”

The march was part of a national walk-out at 3 p.m. organized by the group Shut It Down for Palestine. Groups at other universities across the country also held similar protests — including at Tulane University, University of Texas at Austin and the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Protesters’ chants and signs also called for the university to divest from Israel. Speeches specifically called out Chancellor Kent Syverud for the university’s response to the war.

A speaker at the protest also criticized the university for allowing Hillel and Athletes for Israel to host an event to buy, pack and ship medical and household supplies to Israel. The speaker also separately named Sigma Delta Tau, Zeta Beta Tau and Chabad SU, who all also co-hosted the event with Hillel and Athletes for Israel. While Alpha Epsilon Phi did not host the event, according to Hillel’s Instagram, the speaker did name the sorority. In a flyer, the sorority is listed as a partner of the event.

“You have not only been complicit, but through your actions have directly promoted the ethnic cleansing of Gaza,” they said about the organizations.

“This is not a statement or endorsement of antisemitism,” the speaker continued. “Denouncing the Israeli state and their acts of genocide is not antisemitism.”

Provost Gretchen Ritter and Senior Vice President Allen Groves sent a campus-wide email Thursday night regarding comments made at the protest. They wrote the university learned that one of the speakers specifically named Jewish organizations, calling them “complicit” in genocide.

“This kind of reprehensible behavior put a group of our students, based on their identity, at risk of harassment, retaliation and potential violence,” they wrote.

They added that the university is investigating the statements and are working to identify the speaker. Ritter and Groves also said the university will be taking “additional action to ensure the safety and well-being of our community.” The two said that included an increased presence and patrol of SU Department of Public Safety Officers.

The protest began as students, faculty and staff gathered outside on the steps of the Maxwell School. Protesters then marched down S. Crouse Avenue to the NVRC, stopping outside Crouse Hinds Hall to call out Syverud and Ritter. Speeches pointed to the university’s cancellation of a teach-in for Palestine last week and drew parallels to the #NotAgainSU movement.

“The inaction of Syracuse University against these hate crimes outraged the student body as it outrages us now to see them say nothing to address the atrocities being committed against the Palestinians in Gaza,” the speaker in front of NVRC said. “They give the cold shoulder to so many of their students in a time of tremendous grief. Their silent support of ethnic cleansing, genocide, Islamophobia, and racism, and to that I say, not again SU. Never again SU.”

The speaker also specifically named Syverud and Ritter for remaining compliant on the continuing conflict.

“Kent Syverud and Gretchen Ritter have silenced in complicity, you have downplayed the reality of the situation. You have aligned yourself with Zionist donors at the expense of the student body, shame on you,” the speaker continued.

Protesters said that in its complacency, the university was silencing Palestinian voices.

“This university does not acknowledge the genocide, they blatantly silence the voices of Palestinians and subvert free speech and academic freedom surrounding this issue. They are pushing the dangerous narrative that standing against the genocide of Palestinians somehow equates to antisemitism and that is aligned with terrorism,” another speaker said.

Officers from SU’s Department of Public Safety and volunteer protest marshals remained on the edges of the crowd. A DPS car blocked the crosswalk between Waverly Avenue and S. Crouse Avenue, allowing protesters to cross.

At the protest, a group of people held a banner of sheets of paper taped together listing names of people killed.

“Stop the Genocide in Gaza,” one sign read.

“There’s blood on your hands,” read another.

Although several chants called out SU administrators by name, The Daily Orange could not confirm that any signs did so. Protestors engaged in a series of chants, including one saying that “Zionism has to go” and that “Resistance is justified, these people are occupied.”

“Chancellor, chancellor, you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide,” the crowd chanted at one point. “Chancellor, chancellor don’t you know, the occupation’s got to go.”

As protesters spoke on the sidewalk outside the NVRC, Allen Groves, SU’s senior vice president and chief student experience officer, and Rob Hradsky, vice president for student experience, watched from a distance.

As people marched, at least three other people passed by the crowd of protesters to express their opposition, with some yelling expletives.

One of the speakers, who identified themself as Indigenous, said there were similarities between the genocide of Indigenous people in the U.S. and the ongoing conflict in Gaza. The speaker encouraged people who are able to take risks to advocate for Palestine.

“These issues are very much connected, and so I come here today to speak about them because at some point, a lot of us have been so, so angry and we have been told to be quiet, to be civil to come in peace,” the speaker said. “Native people never got the very few things that we have by being in peace.”

Protesters also specifically called out the Lockheed Martin Corporation, an aerospace and defense company that contracts with the federal government. Lockheed Martin has donated to SU multiple times for veterans programs, including directly to its Institute for Veterans and Military Affairs.

The Lockheed Martin Corporation is also an employer partner of the IVMF and has a branch in Syracuse. Lockheed Martin’s Howard Bromberg, the company’s vice president for strategy and business development, integrated air and missile defense, serves on the IVMF’s advisory board.

Sarah, a fourth-year Ph.D. student studying religion at SU, said she attended because she wanted to use her time to work for “freedom, justice and equality” for people involved in the conflict and to denounce increasing U.S. military aid.

“War is not the answer and war will not create more safety. By joining a student protest, I get to be with other people who are thinking differently and creatively about what security can look like,” said Sarah, who wished to retain her last name for safety reasons. “We came together today to say ceasefire now, so we can have a discussion about what else besides war we can do.”

Olivia, a graduate student at SUNY ESF, said she came to the march to show support.

“I am a Jew and the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors and I’m refusing to let Jewish grief be weaponized to fuel a genocide in Gaza,” said Olivia, who also wished to be referred to by her first name.

An SU undergraduate, who wished to remain unnamed for safety reasons, said they attended the protest to show support for Palestine, especially with SU being a primarily white institution.

“It’s really important to have a community that actively tries to work for something and not just ignore it like how Syracuse did,” the student said. “So I’m glad that there’s a community that cares enough to at least organize stuff like this and show their feelings and emotions towards a case like this and petition, hopefully, Syracuse to do something about it.”

A SUNY ESF student who attended the protest said it felt good to see people turn out amid silence happening around the war at many levels.

“This doesn’t have to be the only thing that you do. Make phone calls to your representatives. Talk about it with your friends and your family,” the SUNY ESF student said. “It doesn’t all have to be happening here out on the streets, a lot of this happens at home, in classrooms.”

Published on November 9, 2023 at 8:57 pm