Read all of our coverage of the Gaza Solidarity Encampment and protesters’ demands here.
Gaza Solidarity Encampment participants alleged a third instance of early morning harassment by counterprotesters and stagnant negotiations with administration as the demonstration entered its 11th day on Penn's College Green.
Encampment members report harassment by counterprotesters
A group of counterprotesters arrived by the barricades on Locust Walk at around 4 a.m. — yelling at encampment members, banging pots and pans, blasting a parodied version of a Muslim call to prayer through a megaphone, and shouting phrases such as "F**k Palestine," "Wake up terrorists," and "Go home," according to a source familiar with the matter and a video circulating on social media. Organizers also discussed the harassment during a rally on Sunday at the encampment.
"Penn Public Safety remains on site 24/7 to ensure safety and security," a University spokesperson wrote to The Daily Pennsylvanian.
The speaker at the Sunday rally said the counterprotesters intended to “propagate Islamophobia." This is the third such incident of early morning harassment that Gaza Solidarity Encampment participants have reported during the course of their demonstration.
“They want to agitate us, to wear us down, but we are here for something greater, we are here for Gaza,” the speaker said as rally participants shouted “shame” and “f**k the police.”
The source familiar, who believed the counterprotesters were students, said that they were particularly disturbed by a call for a “repeat of UCLA” — where counterprotesters provoked violence against a pro-Palestinian encampment by attacking encampment members at the University of California at Los Angeles.
The source criticized what they described as a lack of response to the harassment at Penn from law enforcement officials who were watching the interactions with counterprotesters. The source cited a photo posted to Penn Students Against the Occupation of Palestine's Instagram that appears to show a police officer with his arm around a counterprotester wearing an Israeli flag. The DP could not confirm the context in which the photo was taken.
In a statement on Instagram and X — formerly known as Twitter — accompanied by a video of the incident, the Freedom School for Palestine described the incident as "sickening."
“These actions are not only explicitly Islamophobic but also advocate for outright violence,” Freedom School for Palestine wrote in its statement. “For these counter protestors to call for the violence seen at UCLA a few days ago to take place at Penn is sickening.”
In the video, which a caption says summarizes over an hour and a half of confrontation with “masked Zionist counter protestors,” three individuals wearing Israeli flags and American flag ski masks can be seen banging objects together and yelling at encampment participants.
“You guys are lucky the cops are here, that’s all we got to say. There’s tons of people ready to beat the shit out of you,” one counterprotester said. Other comments captured in the video included, “Come to Israel and we’ll slaughter you,” “Get the f**k out of our country,” and “We could f**k you up any day, stay on the floor.”
The counterprotesters in the video also referenced the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, saying: “This is what [Muslims] do, they’re a violent people. They ruined the religion. Islam used to be a leading world religion, and now they’re leading in terror.”
Jameson, media shutdown in Gaza protested at Sunday rally
The revelation of the harassment incident came as approximately 75 protesters gathered around College Green for a pro-Palestinian rally, where speakers also discussed the status of negotiations with University administration and the current realities for citizens of Gaza.
The rally — which started at around 12:15 p.m. and lasted approximately 45 minutes — was organized in conjunction with PAO, Freedom School for Palestine, Philly Palestine Coalition, Students for Justice in Palestine at Temple and Drexel Universities, and the greater Philadelphia community.
A speaker at the rally — a student at Temple University — said that Gaza Solidarity Encampment organizers communicated with Interim Penn President Larry Jameson yesterday. According to the speaker, Jameson told encampment members that he would consider entering negotiations if they took down half their tents.
In response, rally participants booed and shouted, “No.”
“They think we’re dying down; are we dying down? Do I see a dead camp? Do I see a dead community in front of me?” the student asked the rally's participants. “We’re not leaving until our demands are met, Larry.”
The crowd then launched into chants criticizing Jameson, including “Larry, Larry, you can’t hide. We charge you with genocide,” “Larry, Larry, your hands are red. Forty thousand people dead,” and “Larry, Larry, you’re a liar. We demand a ceasefire.”
Another speaker criticized Jameson and Penn's administration for failing to meet the encampment’s demands 10 days into their demonstration. The speaker called on Jameson to publicly disclose the University’s investments and divest from Israel.
Penn has previously said it does not make any donations to the Israel Defense Forces and has said it will not divest from Israel. A University spokesperson declined further comment.
"If you care so much about your community, Larry, put the money back into the community,” the speaker said. “We should have a say in where our money goes, and currently we’re demanding that it not be used to kill innocent civilians in Gaza.”
The speaker further criticized the University for what they described as permitting the doxxing of pro-Palestinian student activists, and for placing these students on academic probation.
The crowd then launched into chants of “Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest,” and “Liberation is our mission, no more bombs with our tuition.”
“Why are we being punished by the media? Why are we being punished by the police? For talking about genocide,” the Temple student speaker said. “Every time you hear a news report about protesters causing a disruption, remember why we’re here — to take a stance against a brutal genocide.”
Participants chanted “Every time the media lies, a neighborhood in Gaza dies” and “DP, DP, you can’t hide, you sign off on genocide” during the rally.
“We’re not here to appease Western media,” the Temple student said.
Speakers at the rally also criticized Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet for voting to shut down Qatar’s Al Jazeera satellite news network in Israel — the first time Israel has shut down a foreign news outlet. Al Jazeera has continuously reported on the Israel-Hamas conflict since October 2023 and has specifically covered the casualties in Gaza since the war began.
An additional speaker at the rally shared that her entire immediate and extended family lives in Gaza and discussed the difficulties that the Al Jazeera ban will cause.
“Al Jazeera cannot be in Gaza anymore, and we cannot understand just how crucial that is,” the speaker said. “Al Jazeera has played an incredible role in showing everyone the massive amount of destruction.”
The speaker cited the fact that 40,000 people have been reported dead since the war began, in addition to 10,000 missing.
“There’s no upcoming ceasefire,” the speaker said. “There’s always talk of it, but it’s not going to happen.”
A source familiar told the DP that morale in the encampment remains high, despite the rain this weekend. They said that encampment programming — including a Palestinian music and poetry session and midday updates from Gaza — has been well-attended, and student organizers have received significant support from all of Philadelphia.
They added that the encampment will continue to host and promote programming designed to create dialogue over the coming week.
Counterprotesters face off with encampment members
At around 6 p.m., around 15 pro-Israeli counterprotesters gathered on Locust Walk — some with Israeli flags and megaphones. Only a handful actively engaged with members of the Gaza Solidarity Encampment, with most of the others standing to the side behind Penn Police officers.
A man wrapped in an American flag shouted at members of the encampment, calling them “test optional students,” “jihadists,” and “seventh century barbarians.” At first, members of the encampment engaged with the counterprotesters, singing “The Imperial March” from the Star Wars movie franchise in reference to the counterprotesters’ support of Israel and the United States.
As the demonstration went on, pro-Palestinian protesters instead transitioned to chanting “Pay them no mind,” “Ain’t nobody got time for that,” and “Liberation is our mission, no more bombs with our tuition.” Counterprotesters left around an hour after the demonstration started.
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