BY LEV D. ZILBERMINTS
NEWARK – Students from Rutgers – Newark (R-N), New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) and their allies have organized an encampment and a protest on the grounds of the R-N Law School Building.
“Local Talk” tried at least three times to get protest organizers to answer questions sent via email. The R-N encampment was visited by “Local Talk” three times in one week. It was not until May 13 that a response that received from the protesters’ media team.
Newark Solidarity Coalition Statement
According to a press release put out by the Newark Solidarity Coalition on May 6, “Last week, as part of the national and international movement for universities to divest in Israel, community members of Newark, New Jersey established a Pro-Palestinian encampment at Rutgers University Law School. Organizers of the Newark Solidarity Coalition have organized teach-ins, food-shares, multi-faith religious services, and events explaining the importance of supporting Palestinian liberation and its local connection to Newark.
Israel’s collective punishment of Gaza nears seven months and continued last night with evacuation orders and intense bombardment of Rafah, where over 1.5 million displaced Palestinians fled.
Rutgers administrators fell short in meeting the most urgent and critical demand to divest from any firm or corporation materially participating in, benefiting from, or otherwise supporting Israel’s ongoing genocide and occupation of Palestine and the Palestinian people.”
8 Demands Accepted by Rutgers-New Brunswick
The Daily Targum reported that at the Rutgers-New Brunswick campus, the administration accepted eight demands. According to the Daily Targum, the accepted demands are as follows.
- Accept at least 10 displaced Gazans to finish their studies at Rutgers
- Plan to create an Arab Cultural Center by the beginning of the Fall 2024 semester
- Establish a greater scholarly partnership with Birzeit University in the West Bank
- Name “Palestine” and “Palestinians” in all University communications, rather than calling the area the “Middle East” or “Gaza region” in reference to “Israeli aggressions in Palestine”
- Develop training and hire senior administrators to combat anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab and anti-Muslim racism for administrators and staff
- Create a Department of Middle East Studies and hire faculty
- Display flags of Palestinian, Kurdish, Kashmiri and other disputed territories on Rutgers campuses
- Grant full amnesty to all faculty, staff, student organizations and students for participating in the demonstrations and encampment over the past week.
Faculty will not be fired or face reduced compensation, and students will not be reprimanded unless they have violated University policy.
According to the Daily Targum, “One of two requests that are still in contention pertains to divestment from businesses that support the State of Israel and its continued killing and bombardment of Gaza and Palestinians. The request was received by the administration, and further review is currently underway.”
The other request, which appears to be denied, is the termination of Rutgers’ partnership with Tel Aviv University and the HELIX Innovation Hub. In response, the University stated, “Agreements with global partners are a matter of scholarly inquiry.”
Tents were erected by the School of Public Administration and Arts (SPAA) building, right opposite the 1999 law school building on Washington Street. The tents came in various colors: blue, light green and gray, as well as many others.
Unlike tent encampments at universities across the country, the one at Rutgers-Newark showed a certain amount of discipline. Certain tents were set aside for specific purposes. One tent served as “The People’s Electric Law School.” Another tent served as a library. It held books on various subjects in bins and various boxes.
Many tents had writing on them. These included slogans such as “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free”, “Sudan for Palestine,” “Clean Water is a Right”, “NO COPS, no Islamophobia, no anti-blackness, no antisemitism, no queerphobia.”
Diverse participation
At the protest held May 7, “Local Talk” saw white, black, Asian, Hispanic participants. Many students were dressed in the white and black checkered keffiyehs, or headgear. Other participants wore red-and-white keffiyehs. When asked, sources told “Local Talk” that Jewish Voice for Peace, a Jewish organization, also participated in the protest.
Encampment guidelines. Library
“Local Talk” saw a sign with “Encampment Guidelines” which were posted outside of a tent. These guidelines regulated behavior in the encampment.
The library had numerous flyers and pamphlets that were published by Communist and Socialist organizations, and others. These included the Revolutionary Communists of America, SonSocialists, Newark Solidarity Coalition, and other groups.
According to their own statement, “The Newark Solidarity Coalition is a coalition of students, faculty, and community members based in Newark who stand in solidarity with oppressed peoples throughout the world. Its mission is to draw connections between the shared struggles under capitalism and colonialism that we experience internationally, domestically, and locally. We create spaces for community discussions and educational programming, and facilitate direct actions in response to colonial, capitalist, and white supremacist violence at home and abroad.”
Flyers published call for escalating, not decreasing, protests
The flyers themselves called for escalating, not decreasing, the protests. One flyer was titled “Organize the Intifada: A Communist Program for Escalating the Gaza Solidarity Movement.” Simply put, the flyer said that more demonstrations, sit-ins, takeovers were necessary until the goal of divesting from Israel was achieved.
A second flyer, published by the Newark Solidarity Coalition, was titled, “Rutgers, New Jersey and Israel: complicity in Genocide.” The flyer was described on cover as “a starter guide for the curious individual.” It gave examples to illustrate the argument that Rutgers University and the State of New Jersey were connected to Israel. These examples included Rutgers’ partnership with Israel; the New Jersey anti-BDS law passed by huge majorities in 2016; the amount of money donated by AIPAC to New Jersey representatives in the state legislature and the U.S. Congress.
May 7 Protest
On May 7, “Local Talk” saw students and their allies gather by the law school to hear speakers.
The speakers urged their audience to fight for a free Palestine; demand a permanent ceasefire in Gaza; the removal of the Israel Defense Force from Gaza; increased international aid to Gaza; fight for justice; and other issues.
Protesters held signs that read, “No taxes for genocide”, “Free Palestine”, “F–k Biden”, “Disclose, Divest,” “Eyes on Rafah”, and others.
A female protester, clad in mask, glasses, and a keffiyeh, held up the black-red-yellow-green Palestinian flag on a staff. The flag had the design of the Dome of Rock on it, along with Arabic writing.
Three Orthodox Jews, dressed in traditional black pants, hats and jackets, stood at the protest. They held up a Palestinian flag. It was not clear if the trio was from the Israel-denying Neturei Karta or some other group. “American Muslims for Palestine” also had flyers at the protest.
Demands made by Newark Solidarity Coalition
Newark Solidarity Coalition emailed “Local Talk” on May 13 a list of eight demands that it wants Rutgers University Newark to accept. These demands will be the subject of a separate article.
“Local Talk” attempted to speak to protesters. One, Shakir McDougald, gave “Local Talk” a small interview at the end of the Newark Municipal Council Meeting on May 8.
Interview
When asked how he related to the Palestinian protest, Mr. McDougald said, “I am an American and we stand up for people being victimized. There is settlements in the West Bank. The settlements in the West Bank are part and parcel of the issue.”
When asked about divestment, Mr. McDougald said, “Divestment can occur because the same U.S. government is requiring TikTok to divest. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.”
When asked about the October 7, 2023 massacre of Israelis by Hamas terrorists, Mr. McDougald said that the problem lay deeper.
“It (the Israeli – Palestinian conflict) started before October 7,” Mr. McDougald said.
According to Mr. McDougald, he is a Bloomfield College, class of 2023 graduate, a Criminal Justice / Sociology major.
“Local Talk” emailed Mr. McDougald additional questions to answer, but he did not respond as of press time.
