The tension between pro-Palestinian student protesters, the five Cal Poly police cars that surrounded Dexter Lawn waiting for them, and Jewish students flying Israeli flags was palpable on Oct. 8.
Students for Justice in Palestine Cal Poly planned its protest to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the Israel-Hamas war, which began on Oct. 7, 2023. Since then, more than 1,200 have been killed in Israel with 8,700 injured, and more than 41,000 have been killed in Gaza with more than 96,700 people injured, according to an Oct. 7 ABC News article.
Protesters were supposed to follow the California State University System’s new Time, Place, and Manner directive implemented on Aug. 15 to help “facilitate academic freedom, freedom of expression, and recognize the rights, privileges, and responsibilities of the university campus communities.”
Among many things, the directive states that protests can’t disrupt class instruction or other scheduled activities, obstruct traffic, use speakers, or block free movement. It also states that wearing masks or face coverings while on CSU property with the intent to intimidate and harass or for the purpose of not being recognized is not allowed and that signs, banners, and chalking must have written permission from the university.
Cal Poly police reminded pro-Palestinian protesters about directive requirements, such as not using megaphones or blocking public walkways; many protesters wore face coverings and carried signs.
Assistant Vice President for Communications and Media Relations Matt Lazier told New Times that as long as campus community members comply with the Time, Place, and Manner policy, they are permitted to carry signs and wear masks as part of their protected free speech activity.
“As it relates to free speech activists, this proactive effort involves working with protesting individuals or groups before and during events whenever possible, to support them in speaking their minds how they wish while also ensuring both compliance with all laws and policies as well as the general safety of the entire campus community,” Lazier said in an emailed statement.
Some Jewish students don’t believe that the university is offering them the same support and feel like they have to hide the identities that they were once proud of to protect themselves on campus.
Cal Poly public health major Lexi Yaghoubi told New Times that while Cal Poly is ensuring that protesters have their freedom of speech, it’s harming her ability to feel safe on campus.
“When I see people screaming on my campus things like, ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,’ ‘Fuck the Jews,’ and all this stuff, how am I supposed to feel when someone random comes up to me and asks if I’m Jewish?” she said. “I feel judged; I feel unsafe; I feel like I can’t even be myself. I can’t say that I’m Jewish, I can’t wear my star out in public.”
While the U.S. House passed resolution HR 883 on April 14 that condemns the chant “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” as antisemitic, Lazier said there’s nothing the university can do to stop students from saying it as it falls under their First Amendment right.
“Cal Poly understands that the emotion that the phrase, ‘From the river …’ can evoke,” he wrote. “However, the First Amendment allowed for a wide range of speech and expression, even when it might be uncomfortable [or] offensive.”
Five campus police cars, including the police chief in an unmarked white vehicle, were there before and during the protest. And both Justice for Palestine protesters and club members of Hillel—a center point of Jewish life at Cal Poly—handed out flyers.
Hillel’s flyers included topics such as Hamas’ 1988 charter, which “calls for the destruction of Israel and the Jewish people”; four antisemitic slogans heard on campus including “globalize the Intifada,” which the flier says is a call to incite violence against Israelis and Jews around the world; claims that Palestinian National Movement founder Hajj Amin Al Husseini is a Nazi war criminal; and claims that students for Justice in Palestine don’t spread facts but “frameworks.”
On the other side of Dexter Lawn, protesters’ booklets informed U.S. citizens about how they can help free Palestine, claiming that “we are the ones, outside of Palestine itself, with the most power to stop this genocide out of anyone in the world,” claiming that Cal Poly’s partners make “blood money off of Palestinians’ lives,” and a review of what Gaza has dealt with since the conflict broke out last year.
Protesters will continue their Week of Action with tabling and fundraising until Oct. 11. Δ
This article appears in Oct 10-20, 2024.
As a journalist this is extremely biased and you should be ashamed of yourself. The fact that you didn’t request comments from any of the SJP members is proof of that.