American university Students for Justice in Palestine and supporters were repeatedly urged to calm down and postpone their Oct. 7 vigil amid the presence of the AU Police Department, as the Quad was booked all day by the university and AU Hillel for a unity dinner at 6 p.m

Before noon, SJP members and supporters sat in the plaza next to Hurst Hall as speakers from a megaphone recited the names of those who died in Israel's attacks on Gaza and Lebanon. Many demonstrators wore keffiyehsand one flew both the Lebanese and Palestinian flags.

“During the reading, the administration responded with threats of arrest and deportation, deployed AUPD officers equipped with zip ties, and positioned a bus to take students out right next to the group of students leading this memorial,” SJP said in a statement to The Eagle. “These actions were clearly aimed at intimidating and silencing students in order to distract us from the ongoing, years-long genocide in which the AU continues to be complicit.”

The vigil marked the start of SJP's “Week of Rage” to mourn and protest “one year since the start of Israel's brutal genocide against the Palestinian people, a genocide that has claimed hundreds of thousands of martyrs,” they wrote in an Instagram Subtitles.

At around 2 p.m., two AU administrators attempted to enter the crowd of demonstrators while names continued to be read out. They were blocked by SJP students and left as protesters shouted “shame” at them.

At 2:50 p.m., about a dozen AUPD officers stood across the square with bundles of zip ties. The SJP and its supporters gradually disbanded, and the officers and the bus left half an hour after their first appearance.

“The whole point is de-escalation,” Matt Bennett, vice president and chief communications officer, said of AUPD’s presence in an interview with The Eagle. “That’s step number one and the priority. We believe in and support free expression here.”

On October 11th, AU Student Government posted on her Instagram about the vigil and the government's response. The post describes an email her board sent to administration on the night of Oct. 7 after the vigil, asking them not to commit any conduct violations against participating students and to know who made the decision. AUPD to be consulted.

SG met with Chief Financial Officer, Vice President and Treasurer Bronte Burleigh-Jones and Vice President for Student Affairs Raymond Ou and Vice President for Inclusive Excellence Nkenge on Friday, October 8th. Administrators declined to confirm or deny whether disciplinary action will be taken against participants in the vigil, according to their post. During the meeting, they clarified that Burleigh-Jones and Raymond Ou were the ones who requested the AUPD's presence.

“Students should be able to grieve, gather, and protest without fear of being arrested by AUPD,” SG’s post said. SG plans to maintain “open lines of communication” with administration and demand “greater transparency” about the university’s policies.

On October 7, a group of half a dozen administration officials and AU staff observed the demonstration and had frequent conversations with SJP representatives. Administrators warned SJP that they were violating the new guidelines' enhanced noise protection enacted earlier this month.

Bennett said the university did not ask SJP to “close up shop” but to walk away from the Quad and go over new university protocols to use a megaphone. Bennett said the new student protest guidelines not only protect free speech but also encourage students to participate in protests.

Under the new one Use of facilities According to the guidelines, students must discuss the use of megaphones or loudspeakers in public spaces with the university.

Bennett told The Eagle that the entire quad was booked all day for events organized by the university Unity dinner at 6 p.m. that day. He explained that SJP was not authorized to demonstrate on the Quad, but had instead been provided other locations on campus.

Before leaving, the SJP announced that it would be back on the Quad the next day for a previously scheduled protest. On hers InstagramThey condemned the reaction of the university management.

“We are on OUR campus and are being charged for honoring and reading the names of our martyrs,” SJP wrote in an Instagram post published shortly after the AUPD arrived. The post also encouraged more people to show their support on the Quad and attend other SJP Week of Rage events.

In its statement to The Eagle, SJP expressed similar sentiments: “We will not capitulate to this administration's threats of sanctions and the threat of student code of conduct charges.” No amount of intimidation and oppression will defeat the mission of our organization, and we will continue to honor all our martyrs. Repression will only breed resistance.”

Many students and community members walked past the demonstration for the duration of the demonstration and some stopped to watch longer. Among them were Tomer Ben-Ezer and Gabriella Weissbart, both graduates of the College of Arts and Sciences and members of AU's Department of Students support Israel.

Both Ben-Ezer and Weissbart did not support the SJP's decision to specifically hold a vigil on October 7th. Ben-Ezer expressed concern about “increasing inflammation” on what he described as “my day of mourning” for his six lost family members and friends.

To Oct 7, 2023Hamas terrorists killed over 1,200 people and took over 250 hostages in southern Israel. The Israeli government responded within days with ground invasions and airstrikes on Gaza. The ongoing siege of Gaza has since claimed the life of one person appreciated 40,000 people. More recently, Israel has carried out ground attacks and ground invasions Lebanon to target the militant Hezbollah group.

Both Ben-Ezer and Weissbart expressed the desire for dialogue between the different sides on this issue.

“We’re college students in DC. We will not solve the problems that are occurring all over the world in the Middle East,” Weissbart said. “What we can do is work on campus climate and campus unity. How do we make campus feel safer and better for everyone? And that’s done by talking to people and humanizing the other side.”

This article was edited by Payton Anderson, Maya Cederlund, Tyler Davis and Abigail Turner. Copy editing by Luna Jinks.

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