Approximately 200 Princeton University students and supporters held a rally on Friday, April 19 to stand in solidarity with the more than 100 pro-Palestinian protestors at Columbia University who were arrested by the NYPD the day before.
The rally, held in front of the iconic, ivy-covered Nassau Hall at Princeton, was organized by multiple local coalitions including the Princeton Palestine Liberation Coalition (PPLC), Princeton Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), and Princeton Alumni for Palestine, the Princeton chapter of the National Alumni for Justice in Palestine.
As protesters gathered around the steps of the building multiple speakers expressed their views on Princeton University’s response to student and community outcry and their solidarity with the Pro-Palestinian cause.
The protestors’ demands included the university’s divestment from companies associated with Israel’s ongoing military campaign, complete financial transparency, divestment from fossil fuels, and full acknowledgment of the college’s role in the military industrial complex, according to multiple students.
In between speakers, the crowd chanted “Free Palestine,” “We Demand Equality,” and “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free.”
At one point during the rally, the speakers were told by campus police not to use a megaphone and had it taken away. When asked about the situation, the campus police declined to comment.
Angela Malavega, a third-year Theological Seminary student, said she was at the rally representing a collective of students called the Seminarians for Peace and Justice.
To the crowd, she said, “The least we can do is show up and show out in large numbers to say, with one united voice, that this genocide must end, that our schools must divest from funding Israel, and that our silence is complicity with their violence.”
As speakers took turns addressing the crowd, Dr. Jarrett Fisher, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Students and Director of Student Agencies, stood alongside the campus police. When asked his thoughts on the rally, Dr. Fisher declined to comment.
According to an article by the Daily Princetonian, President of the Council of the Princeton University Committee (CPUC) Christopher Eisgruber said the University would not take action on a student petition calling for divestment from companies associated with “Israel’s ongoing military campaign, occupation, and apartheid policies” until campus consensus on the issue has been reached.
While many showed up for the Pro-Palestinian cause, a group of approximately 10 protestors came in support of Israel.
Jared Stone, a junior at Princeton who displayed an Israeli flag, said in an interview, “[This protest] is frankly ridiculous and an absurd demonstration. What happened yesterday [at] Colombia was completely insane. Students [were] trespassing and accusing the response that occurred as being due to a violation of free speech, which is absolutely not the case.”
Stone continued, “They never acknowledged the atrocities, the genocide that was committed against Israel, and Jewish people on October 7. So we’re here to show our support for the free world for the Jewish people and for the United States.”
Speakers finished addressing the crowd around 4 PM and then the protestors marched toward the center of campus where students were holding an annual Major Declaration Day festivity where they indicate their intended academic area of study.
As the rally participants continued chanting, a pro-Israeli student ran in front of the group with the Israeli flag draped across his back. This drew sounds of disapproval from the rally participants. However, everyone at the event remained peaceful and those students gathered for Major Declaration event continued with their celebration.
Princeton University student, Bob, who would only give his first name, was celebrating his major declaration. He said, “Well, I think today is a wonderful day to celebrate each of us declaring our majors. So I think that that should be the focus for today.”
Bob continued, “You know, I do have sympathy for the people in the [Middle] East. I understand what they’re going through. And I do think that they should have the right to protest. Even on a day like today. I just think they should have chosen another day.”
