Inside the SJP Walkout for Palestinian Liberation: a closer look at Monday’s student action in the UC

On Monday morning, approximately 100 New School community members walked off campus toward Union Square North to join the Walkout for Palestinian Liberation organized by The New School’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). Following tensions between SJP and university leadership, the walkout was part of the SJP-planned “week of action” with the goal of pressuring Interim President Donna E. Shalala to respond to the group’s demands for complete transparency regarding the university’s financial ties to Israel. 

At 11:00 a.m., demonstrators gathered at Union Square Park around an 8-foot-tall hollowed-out door frame. Taped to the head of the frame was a long scroll of paper as wide as the frame — similar to the one used during an earlier walkout organized by SJP. The scroll listed the names of the Palestinian victims of the violence in Gaza. 

SJP organizers read aloud the names of these victims, led chants, and made brief speeches. “The fight for Palestinian liberation is a fight that goes beyond our borders. It speaks to the core of our shared humanity. Every student, activist, and community member here unequivocally stands with the Palestinian people as they resist apartheid, colonization, and 75 years of violent Israeli occupation,” one of the speakers said. 

Gil Ferguson, a third-year literary studies student at Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts present at the gathering, said, “Even though we are so distant from [Palestine] geographically, it’s important to do anything we can to speak out against [the violence].” 

Closer to noon, organizers passed sticky notes of three different colors to attendees, and instructed that they group themselves based on the color they received. The groups then dispersed: one to Alvin Johnson/J.M. Kaplan Hall on East 12th Street (Lang building), one to the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center at 2 West 13th Street (Parsons building), and the last to the University Center at 63 Fifth Avenue. 

At each location, the group sat in front of the turnstiles, blocking entry to the building. SJP organizers continued to lead chants, such as “No tuition to genocide, occupation is a crime,” “Every time Donna lies, a neighborhood in Gaza dies,” and “Viva, viva, Palestina.”

At the Parsons building, confused students entering the building attempted to step over the seated demonstrators. At the Lang building, two members of SJP stood outside and encouraged students to join the sit-in. Those who declined were instructed to enter through the alternative 11th Street entrance, while others joined the seated demonstrators and began chanting with them. 

Alice Acker, a second-year film student who opted to join, said, “It brought a smile to my face to see people physically getting in the way of the school because I feel like it’s really easy for people to ignore protests and stuff like that until it affects them.”

At around 1:15 p.m., demonstrators from the Parsons and Lang buildings joined the group at the UC. A Palestinian flag had been draped across the turnstiles, and another two were placed on the floor in the center of a circle of students.

Soon after, a conflict began to arise between incoming students and demonstrators. As students attempted to enter the UC by cutting through the blockade, they were met with a chorus of “Shame!” from the crowd. The demonstrators eventually rose and linked arms to prevent students from jumping over the turnstiles to enter the building. 

To allow continued access to the UC, two alternative entrances to the building were opened by campus security — one by the main entrance behind the turnstiles and another to the right of the security desk — with officers checking students’ IDs manually before allowing them to enter the building. Campus Security declined to provide comment to the Free Press regarding their decision-making at the time.

During the sit-in, the first recorded instance of an individual expressing views in opposition to the demonstrators was when a student observing from behind the glass of the main entrance to the UC began repeatedly yelling, “Shame on you all!” to the crowd of demonstrators, who continued to repeat chants such as “We will free Palestine, within our lifetime” and “Judaism yes, Zionism no, the State of Israel must go.”

Prospective student Amit Gureni, who was visiting TNS from Israel to finalize her decision on whether or not to attend the university, said, “I don’t think my life is safe here.”

Gureni stated that she intended to engage in a peaceful discussion with demonstrators, but upon entering was instead met with discriminatory comments that dissuaded her from engaging with the demonstrators further. “I will not study here ever,” she said, “How can you study in a space where they are looking at you and want you to die?”

Another TNS student expressed similar disdain for the demonstration, approaching the group of chanting students and exclaiming, “Hateful rhetoric! This is hateful!” Her comments were met with a barrage of “Free Palestine!” and “Never again!” from the demonstrators. 

Interactions between the demonstrators and those with opposing views continued to grow heated over the course of action. Video evidence collected by the Free Press shows physical tussles and verbal back-and-forths between SJP members and counter-demonstrators.

SJP member Shawky Darwish told the Free Press that a counter-demonstrator allegedly attempted to “swing at” them, pushed them back towards the door, and called them a homophobic slur. Viridian Sylvae, a graduate student and teaching assistant, also told the Free Press that the same individual who “swung at” Darwish attempted to do the same to her but did not make contact.

Darwish said they attempted to take a photo of the person, but the individual allegedly took the phone from Darwish’s hands and threw it to the ground. Darwish said that campus security witnessed the altercation but “did not make any effort” to intervene when requested by them. 

The Free Press contacted campus security but they declined to comment. The Free Press also could not independently confirm the incidents described by Darwish and Sylvae but both students told the Free Press that they have filed complaints with the university regarding the dispute.

Despite the hostility between different groups at the UC, a number of students participating in the walkout felt that the action was necessary.

Dagmar Michelson, a musical theater major, leaning against the window, explained her reason for joining the demonstration: “We are just demanding to know what our tuition and the budget of this school is funding. Our money is becoming blood money.”

Seated near Michelson, Rayyan Mikati, a graduate student and teaching assistant, said, “I’m here because I’ve been in support of Palestinian liberation my whole life, as an Arab.” Mikati continued, “I believe in student activism. I tell my students that, and I believe we’re seeing the power of that activism right now.” 

At 2:50 p.m., multiple uniformed New York Police Department (NYPD) officers entered the UC from behind the turnstiles walking past the security desk and a Community Affairs officer from the 6th precinct who had arrived at least half an hour earlier. 

When asked about police presence at the UC, the NYPD’s Public Information office told the Free Press that they were responding to “a school protest.” The New School also claims that “the NYPD was not called by the university” and that the officers were responding to calls they had received from “a number of individuals about the demonstration at the UC.”

As the officers walked through the lobby, demonstrators began chanting, “NYPD, KKK, IDF, they’re all the same.” The chants referenced the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

At 3:35 p.m., Shannon Schmutz, interim director of student conduct and community standards entered the UC and began handing out a Notice of Policies to the demonstrators. The notice stated that “the protests occurring at [the] University Center…entrances are not in accordance with The New School Demonstration policies,” as students were blocking an entryway to the UC. The statement continued that non-compliant students may face sanctions ranging from warnings to expulsion.

The demonstration was attended by more than just New School students. Rania Mouawad, a sophomore at the School of Visual Arts, arrived at the UC with her friend from the Fashion Institute of Technology after hearing about the event from friends. 

Organizers from SJP disbanded the student demonstrators around 3:45 p.m.. As they parted, a student said into the megaphone, “Do not let the intimidation tactics of the NYPD and of the Zionists at this institution and around the city silence you!” and invited the demonstrators to attend the other events planned for SJP’s week of action. 

After most demonstrators had left, a School of Public Engagement student who had been leading chants said, “The Palestinian movement has always been a home for everyone. Freedom for Palestine is the fulcrum. If the Palestinian people can be free it means everyone can be free.” As the UC entrance cleared and the last members of SJP prepared to leave, a student who had been leading chants said, “I need a cough drop, Free Palestine.” 

Editor’s note: Demonstrators from Students for Justice in Palestine were granted anonymity by the Free Press upon request, due to fear of being harassed, doxxed, or investigated by the university for their involvement in the action.