Approximately 500 pro-Palestinian demonstrators reorganized on the Emory University Quadrangle at about 5:30 p.m. Thursday evening, seven hours after law enforcement arrested 28 protestors during an “encampment for Gaza” on the Quad that morning. The group denounced the University’s decision to call police on protestors.
The first speaker at the Thursday evening gathering identified themself as Ibrahim and called Emory’s actions “shameful.”
“We must show them that we are not willing to let them call the police on their own students,” Ibrahim said.
A second speaker, who identified themself as a Sephardic Jew, said that the group of protestors was “standing against apartheid.”
“This is completely unacceptable how they escalated violently this morning,” the speaker said. “Within three hours, they had arrested over 20 people.”
A Jewish student, who requested to remain anonymous out of fear of harassment, was sitting on the Quad during the protest. The student said that he found the protestors’ actions on Thursday morning “disgusting.”
“I was home for the first two days of Passover, and I came back, and this is what I was welcomed back with,” the student said.
Despite the student's disagreements with the pro-Palestinian students’ cause, he said it was “obviously an issue” if law enforcement was using force against complying protestors.
The demonstration continued on the Quad for an hour before students relocated to the Candler School of Theology. Protestors attempted to gain access to Candler after learning that there was a group of about 15 graduate students holding a pro-Palestine demonstration inside of the building, according to Chadwick Smith (22T).
The group of protestors pressed against officers from the Emory Police Department (EPD) as they moved toward the front doors of the Candler building, Assistant Vice President of University Communications Laura Diamond wrote in an email to The Emory Wheel. Videos taken by the Wheel show the protestors using what appears to be thin wooden boards to push against the police, chanting “No justice, no peace, f*** these racist-a** police.”
EPD officers pushed back as the protestors attempted to enter Candler, and Georgia State Patrol troopers provided backup about 20 minutes later at 8:15 p.m. Additional EPD officers also arrived. The police then forced the crowd back from the building’s doors and deployed irritant gas to disperse the crowd before pushing them back toward the Quad.
According to Diamond, the interactions between protestors and police outside the Candler building led to an “increased law enforcement presence on campus.”
After returning to the Quad around 8:32 p.m., protestors interlinked their arms to form a circle as about 50 officers began to line up on the Quad. The protestors also began to set up another encampment with a few tents and sleeping mattresses in the center of the Quad.
When Student Government Association Vice President Pranay Mamileti (26C) and Bachelor of Business Administration Council President Agha Haider (25B) attempted to bring food to protestors, they said police officers would not let them take the supplies. Haider added that they were told to exit the Quad immediately.
“They made us put it down,” Mamileti said. “They wouldn't let us take f****** water.”
The protest leaders ultimately told the crowd to leave the Quad peacefully. The demonstrators then cleaned up the encampment and left the Quad around 8:56 p.m.
Inside Candler
Approximately 15 Candler community members, including students, alumni and a priest, locked themselves inside the theology school at 4:30 p.m. Daniella Hobbs (27T) said that the students began their protest after police officers detained two Candler students yesterday morning.
“We plan to sit here until they are released and that we have a guarantee that they won’t be expelled,” Hobbs said.
Smith said he was originally part of the protest on the Quad but was able to get into Candler.
“As soon as I came in, the police started barricading the door,” Smith said. “Students, of course, were holding signs and were standing in front of the police chanting, and we did see police agitate students by pulling out pellet guns and … batons.”
The group of Candler community members had a list of demands that stated that they would occupy Candler until there is “proof of freedom” for all community members, divestment from Israel and an apology from Mary Lee Hardin Willard Dean Jan Love for her Thursday morning remarks that “mangled and disavowed” students. Additionally, they asked that all charges be dropped against Emory students.
At approximately 9:25 p.m., two APD officers attempted to enter Candler but could not, as the doors were locked.
Multiple professors gathered outside of Candler to support the protestors inside, including Associate Professor of Film and Media Jason Francisco. He called the police officers’ actions earlier in the day “ruthless.”
“I have seen the administration call in the Atlanta police,” Francisco said. “I have seen the administration intimidate students. But I have never seen the administration do what happened today.”
Francisco also called for Fenves’ resignation.
“It's completely unconscionable, it's despicable, it's obscene, what happened today,” Francisco said.
Hobbs ultimately stayed in the theology school overnight with the group. This morning, she told the Wheel the group spoke to Love.
“She made it clear to us that she does not have any plans of moving forward with divestment,” Hobbs said.
Hobbs said that the group had a “super calm, super quiet” night. She added that they would remain in Candler until at least the members of the Candler community who are in jail are released.
Some other graduate students have also joined the group, Hobbs said.
“We really do believe it's a moral imperative to be willing to put bodies on the line for causes that we feel are just,” Hobbs said.
Protest at Ali’s Cookies
A separate protest took place less than half a mile away in front of Ali’s Cookies in Emory Village on Thursday evening. Starting around 7 p.m., about 15 protestors gathered outside the establishment with Israeli and American flags. Two DeKalb County police cars were also parked in the middle of the street.
Elizabeth, a pro-Israel protestor who did not disclose her last name for safety concerns, stated that the group was there to “support” Ali’s Cookies due to recent challenges the Jewish-owned business has encountered.
“They’ve had death threats, they’ve had issues from the left and the right,” Elizabeth said. “They’ve actually received a postcard recently saying ‘Gas the Jews.’ Just because their identity’s Israeli doesn’t mean that others have the right to discriminate, hate and threaten their lives.”
Across the street, around six protestors held up a Palestinian flag and chanted toward the pro-Israel protestors. One pro-Palestine demonstrator who requested to remain anonymous due to safety concerns said that her group began protesting when they saw no one on the other side countering the pro-Israel demonstration.
“It’s great that they have their thing going on over there on the main campus,” she said. “But what’s happening over here? No one’s standing here. Every person, every instance like this counts, so we got our flag, and we started protesting.”
The pro-Palestine protestor stated that she was calling for a ceasefire “on the innocent millions of Gaza.”
“Stop bombing schools and hospitals, which is illegal,” the protestor said. “It’s not protected by the UN.”
Additionally, the protestor expressed her frustration with Palestinians being called terrorists.
“As soon as Hamas decided to defend their citizens, we become the terrorists,” the protestor said. “But were they not the terrorists 75 years ago when they stepped foot in Palestine and started bombing and doing the ethnic cleansing?”
On the other side of the street, Elizabeth described what it meant for her to be pro-Israel and detailed her reaction to the pro-Palestine protestors across the street.
“A lot of the pro-Israel is just pro and about peace and engagement,” Elizabeth said. “That is what our side is about. … They showed up, I guess in retaliation or reaction to be anti-us.”
When asked about how she felt regarding the recent Emory protests, Elizabeth said that she had some frustrations.
“It’s sad and alarming, especially what we see in the Northeast and all the quote-unquote Ivy Leagues and how their administrations are handling it,” Elizabeth said.
She added that she holds “respect and faith” for Israel.
“It’s the only place we have,” Elizabeth said. “We have no other place to go.”
A second pro-Palestine protestor who requested to remain anonymous due to safety concerns hoped these protests would continue to push leaders to withdraw support from Israel.
“We’re not asking for any tangible results from this one protest,” the protestor said. “Just keep getting coverage. Keep getting the word out. Hopefully, that’ll put more pressure on our leaders and Emory University leaders to divest from supporting Israel.”
