By William Stauber Soik
Student protesters at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee gathered for pro-Palestine demonstrations at the university’s Golda Meir Library, Chapman Hall and the Student Union on Wednesday, October 9th as Israel’s campaign in Gaza passes the one-year milestone.
In response to a surprise attack that killed hundreds of Israelis in October 2023, Israel declared war on Hamas – the Palestinian militant group that has governed the Gaza strip since 2007. Since then, however, Al Jazeera reports that Israel’s bombing campaign has killed 42,000 people in Gaza, nearly 17,000 of which were children, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.
The UWM protesters gathered at 12:15 p.m. outside the university’s Golda Meir Library, which bears the namesake of Israel’s fourth prime minister. The words “free free Palestine,” along with a thundering drum, echoed across the Spaights Plaza.
At around 1 p.m., the protesters marched to Chapman Hall. The building houses many of the university’s administrative offices. After a teach-in from UWM Professor Fahed Masalkhi and a picket march on the lawn outside Chapman, the protesters marched to the Student Union at roughly 3 p.m.
The crowd at the library was made up of UWM students, faculty and other community members joined in chants calling for the university to take steps to denounce Israel’s conduct in Gaza. Some demonstrators carried picket signs with slogans like “Down with US warmongering,” “Stop the genocide” and “Free Free Palestine.” Speakers from the UWM Popular University for Palestine Coalition spoke to a crowd of roughly 150 people outside the library.
“As one of many Palestinian students on campus, I feel devalued,” a speaker from Muslim Student Association (MSA) said. “It’s not just a lack of statements or formal acknowledgement [from the university], it’s the active dismissal.”
The speaker went on to further address the university’s statements about free speech and protesting sent to the UWM community since May 2024. One such statement, sent on October 2nd, sought to preemptively address demonstrations that may arise the following Monday, which would mark the first year since the October 7th attacks.
“As we approach the one-year mark of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel and bear witness to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, we recognize that this may be a difficult time for many members of our campus community,” the statement said.
The protesters, however, expressed concerns as to whether the university was truly affording equal concern for Palestinian students, community members and their families.
“The university’s failure to address the loss of life and its selective language sends a clear message: our grief is an inconvenience and our voices are unwelcome,” the MSA speaker said.
“Our university and its leaders, who we’re supposed to be able to look up to, have made it clear that they have no backbone,” another speaker from Un-PAC said.
As chants and speeches at the library continued, I spoke with Audari Tamayo, who is part of the leadership for Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), about what the university needs to do to meet the coalition’s demands. SDS is one of the five member organizations of the coalition, and the only one to be suspended by the university until 2025 for its participation in the coalition.
“The more they ignore our demands, the more our actions are going to escalate,” Tamayo said.
“What the university needs to do immediately is to correct their statements to reflect history,” Tamayo said. “When we declare victory is when we win full disclosure [of financial investments] and full divestment [from Israel].”
After several other speeches at the library, the protesters marched north across East Hartford Avenue and to the lawn just outside the north-facing entrance of Chapman Hall. UWM Professor Fahed Masalkhi gave a roughly 20-minute lecture on the student movement and the struggles of Palestinians.
Ameen Atta, one of the student leaders of Muslim Student Association, spoke about the value of holding teach-ins and other educational opportunities at pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
“The foundation of any movement is education,” Atta said. “ There are some people where this may be their first time attending a protest of ours before. It’s good for those who maybe see the big headlines, but they don’t actually know too much in detail about the conflict.”
After the teach-in, the protests and chants resumed with a picket march outside of Chapman Hall. At around 3 p.m., the demonstration moved again. This time, they went two blocks south to the Student Union with the hope to disrupt the UWM Employee Excellence Awards Ceremony. Some 50 protesters filled the Union Ballroom and stood on the perimeter with signs reading “Free Palestine.”
Neither event attendees nor speakers acknowledged the protesters.
