Students for Justice in Palestine held a picket at the Ohio Union Monday for the one-year anniversary of the start of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, 2023.
The picket, which was attended by approximately 200 students, faculty and community members, kicked off SJP’s “Week of Rage” — a week intended for remembrance of the Palestinian lives lost in the past year — and largely focused on demands that Ohio State divest from Israel, according to a Friday SJP Instagram post.
Participants gathered on the west plaza outside the Ohio Union, chanting phrases including “No justice, no peace, hands off the Middle East” and “Justice is our demand, no peace on stolen land.” Led by SJP co-president Jineen Musa — a third-year in health sciences and health information management and systems — participants protested from 5:30-9 p.m.
While marching in a circle, protesters held various signs, some of which read, “There are no universities left in Gaza,” “One year of genocide, 76 years of oppression” and “Genocide is not an acceptable investment.”
“We’re witnessing a genocide, and history will record who was silent and who just watched,” said Michael Liebert, a member of Jewish Voices for Peace Central Ohio — an organization that “fight[s] for the liberation of all people,” according to its website — who attended the picket. “I can’t be silent. I mean, this is just humanity.”
Between 5:30-6:30 p.m., a second circle of protesters formed to accommodate the growing number of participants.
Approximately 40 students and community members in opposition to the protest arrived around 6 p.m. and held Israeli flags as they shouted in response, “We will never leave.” Ohio State University Police Division officers were present to ensure both groups were following university space standards, said Monica Moll, interim OSUPD chief and associate vice president of public safety.
“We just try to make sure tempers stay at home and that the two groups stay apart, then facilitate, mainly, the First Amendment,” Moll said.
Moll said SJP did not have a space reservation for the picket.
Around 6:45 p.m., police presence increased from four OSUPD officers to approximately 11. No counter-protesters were willing to comment to Lantern reporters without anonymity.
In addition to SJP, Liebert said JVP Central Ohio members attended the picket to show their support for both Palestine and Israel and de-escalate tensions between the groups if needed.
“We believe that everyone in Israel, and Palestine, and Lebanon and Gaza should live with equal human rights,” said Connie Hammond, a founding member of JVP Central Ohio. “Every life is valuable. Every life is equally valuable. Everyone should live in peace and security. When they say Israel has a right to defend themselves, Palestinians have a right to defend themselves also.”
Musa said the Week of Rage events will serve as a continuation of SJP’s efforts to bring awareness to what the group thinks is unfair treatment.
“[The university has], more than once, spoken about the Israeli hostages that were taken, so there is a clear double standard, and the university does not try to hide that,” Musa said.
Musa said despite SJP’s multiple conversations with Ohio State administrative staff to discuss divestment from Israel, the absence of actual divestment led the organization to host the picket.
“We have had six closed-door meetings with university administration, ranging from Student Life officials to [former acting President Peter] Mohler to President [Ted] Carter [Jr.], and this has resulted in nothing,” Musa said. “Instead, the university continues to whitewash the crimes of the genocidal Zionist regime by ignoring our simplest demand: issue a statement condemning the massacre of Palestinians.”
In response, Ohio State spokesperson Ben Johnson said in a statement that “Ohio State supports the rights of students, faculty, staff and visitors to exercise their freedom of speech and expression.”
The war in Gaza began Oct. 7, 2023 after Hamas — a Palestinian militant group — entered neighboring Israeli towns on a major Jewish holiday, Simchat Torah, where about 1,200 people were killed, according to NPR.
Israel declared war the next day and launched airstrikes on Gaza, destroying entire neighborhoods and killing thousands of Palestinian civilians in the months that followed, with the current death toll surpassing 41,000, according to the Associated Press.
This war is a continuation of a 76-year conflict since Israel’s creation in 1948, with previous Israel-Hamas wars in 2008, 2012, 2014 and 2021, according to the Associated Press.
According to the Ohio Revised Code Section 9.76, pursuant to Ohio state law, state entities cannot divest interests in Israel, which prohibits the university from divesting any interests in Israel and prohibits adopting or adhering to a policy that requires divestment from Israel or with persons or entities associated with it.
