Today marks day 9 of the pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Pennsylvania. Protesters say they were met with counter-protesters earlier this morning. Videos posted on social media show them walking toward the encampment with bullhorns, blasting music, and talking on megaphones. NBC10’s Yukare Nakayama has the latest.
Counter-protestors in support of the Jewish community rallied at the University of Pennsylvania on Thursday in an effort to call for an end to the ongoing encampment of pro-Palestinian activists on the school's campus.
On Thursday morning, members of the Israeli-American Council marched across Penn's campus to call on school officials to end the ongoing protest over the war in Gaza, saying the protest has "veered into hate speech and threats" against the Jewish community.
Benjamin Abella, professor at the University of Pennsylvania, said he's seen flags of "known terrorist groups" flown on the school's campus over the past few days and that he knows students -- including his own daughter -- who have been harassed by members of the pro-Palestinian encampment.
"We do this because we love Penn and we love what it stands for, it's proud Quaker tradition of tolerance," Abella said Thursday.
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Members of the counter-protest marched across campus Thursday morning to deliver Penn officials with a petition that offered more than 3,000 signatures from people calling for an end to the ongoing encampment.
"The encampment has violated Penn's policies. It has veered into hate speech and threats which is unacceptable," said Abella.
He said that, with Thursday's effort, the counter-protestors hope to remind university officials that they have an obligation to provide safety for all its students and faculty.
Abella said he wanted to make it clear that the group's goal isn't against any activist's right to protest. Instead, he argued, the pro-Palestinian protest had allowed hate speech and threats against the Jewish community.
"What we have a problem with it hate speech and threats," he said, noting he had heard calls encouraging “intifada” or armed struggle or violence against the Jewish community. "This is what we have a problem with. Not the protest itself."
The encampment began a week ago on Thursday, April 25, when 200 pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched through Center City in Philadelphia before settling at Penn to set up an encampment in front of College Hall.
The protest was one of many that occurred at college campuses across the country calling for a cease-fire in Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas War.
The protesters are calling for a end to the conflict in Gaza and have called on their schools to divest from all financial support of Israel.
Divestment usually refers to selling shares in companies doing business with a given country. Divestment has long been a goal of a movement that seeks to limit what it considers hostile operations by Israel and an end to expanding what the United Nations has ruled are illegal settlements in Palestinian territory.
On Friday, April 26, University of Pennsylvania interim President J. Larry Jameson called for the encampment to be disbanded, saying it violated the university’s facilities policies.
In a letter, Jameson wrote that the “harassing and intimidating comments and actions” by some protesters violate the school’s open expression guidelines as well as state and federal law.
He also accused some of the protesters of vandalizing a statue with antisemitic graffiti, which he called “especially reprehensible" while stating it would be "investigated as a hate crime.”
At the school on Thursday, Eyal Yakoby, a senior at the university, said that Jewish students at the school are hoping for some kind of response from administration as they feel they have been left in the dark since Jameson sent that letter.
"We hope that this doesn't go even on more day without an answer, just telling the community what's going on on campus," he said. "As a student, we haven't been told any update for one week on whether the campus is staying or going and that's scary for us."
On Wednesday, a man poured an unidentified liquid on the food, tents and banners at the encampment, police said.
The unidentified man was spotted on Wednesday, May 1, as he walked around the encampment and sprayed an unknown liquid onto protesters’ belongings.
The man was detained by Penn Police minutes after the incident. Police said he could face harassment charges.
Also, President Joe Biden on Thursday defended the right to protest but insisted that “order must prevail” as college campuses across the country face unrest over the war in Gaza.
"We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent," Biden said from the White House. "In fact, peaceful protests is in the best tradition of how Americans respond to controversial issues, but neither are we a lawless country."
There is no end yet in sight for the encampment at the school.
A women who goes by the name, Nneka A and claimed to be a press liaison with the protestors in the encampment -- which they have dubbed "Freedom Camp" -- told NBC10's Francis Wang that they don't intend to break the camp up any time soon.
"They aren't the only ones who can sign papers and submit things," she said.
Instead, she said that they have as much support as the counter-protestors did and claimed there were several Jewish members of her camp that was also calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
The University posted a notice to its website Thursday evening saying in part, "Protest activity began to escalate overnight and has steadily continued, with large crowds in and around College Green today. We have reached out to the City of Philadelphia to ensure we have the necessary resources to keep our community safe. The Mayor’s Office has asked for more information, and we are providing it.”
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Philadelphia Police told NBC10 that "The PPD remains committed to facilitating safe demonstrations while ensuring the safety and upholding the First Amendment rights of all who live, work or visit our city. In line with this commitment, the Philadelphia Police Department maintains a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the University of Pennsylvania Police Department to ensure effective cooperation in situations requiring a police response. As per the MOU, the PPD will provide assistance to the UPPD as needed. However, for tactical purposes, we do not publicly discuss specific planning or engagement strategies related to ongoing situations. Our response will be based on the specific circumstances of each situation."
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