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2024 Ohio State University pro-Palestinian campus protests

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Coordinates: 40°00′07″N 83°00′54″W / 40.002°N 83.015°W / 40.002; -83.015
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For 2024 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses, see 2024 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses. For a list of pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses in the United States, see List of pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses in the United States in 2024.

2024 Ohio State University campus protests
Part of the Israel-Hamas war protests in the United States and the 2024 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses
DateOctober 7th, 2023 - Present
Location
Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, United States

40°00′07″N 83°00′54″W / 40.002°N 83.015°W / 40.002; -83.015
Methods
Parties

Pro-Palestinian groups:

  • Students for Justice in Palestine, OSU
  • Justice, Unity, & Social Transformation, Columbus
  • Party for Socialism and Liberation, Columbus
  • Rising Tide Columbus
  • Jews for Justice in Palestine, OSU
  • Ohio Youth for Climate Justice, OSU

United States Local authorities:

Pro-Israel groups:

Lead figures

Protesters and organizers

Casualties and losses
  • 18 Ohio State students arrested
  • 20 non-Ohio State students arrested
None

A series of ongoing protests at the Ohio State University by pro-Palestinian demonstrators have occurred on OSU's campus in response to the Israel-Palestine conflict beginning on October 7th, 2023 and culminating in April, 2024. On April 25th, a solidarity encampment was constructed on the OSU South Oval, during which there were 36 arrests.[1] 38 Ohio residents and student protesters have been arrested in total across multiple non-violent protests beginning in April.

Pro-Palestine demonstrators have been critical of the university's harsh response, including the university's referral to pro-Palestine demonstrations as consisting of "threats of violence" and "hate speech",[2] deploying riot police to arrest OSU students once they began to pray[3] and deploying snipers who aimed long-ranged rifles at students during the April 25th encampment.[4]

The university has insisted their actions are politically neutral, with President Walter E. Carter Jr. stating the "university's long-standing space rules are content neutral and are enforced uniformly."[5]

Major events

Undergraduate Student Government divestment scandal

On March 25th, 2024, OSU's Undergraduate Student Government proposed an initiative titled "Urging OSU to Divest from Companies Profiting from Human Right Violations". The initiative received 1247 signatures (with 415 digital signatures from a digital circulator and 832 signatures from other sources), above the 1,000-signature minimum needed to appear on the presidency ballot. USG's Judicial Panel nullified this initiative. According to OSU Students for Justice in Palestine President Jineen Musa, the signatures were "deemed invalid due to the dissemination of the petition on Instagram." Musa claimed other candidates who had "used the exact same method to a greater extent than what we did" were not penalized, implying their initiative was targeted due to its pro-Palestine content.[6]

Student newspaper The Lantern leaked screenshots of emails between Senior Vice President for Student Life Javaune Adams-Gaston and Hillel International member Joseph Kohane[7]. In the email, Kohane implores USG's Judicial Panel to veto the initiative, saying, "we urge that USG and especially the Judicial Panel hold itself accountable and make the needed changes, including reversing the signature threshold." Threats of impeachment ensued against the USG justices "due to concerns of an 'abuse of power and position', which caused three justices to resign shortly after the incident.[8]

Meiling Hall protest

On April 23rd, 2024, in an event organized by Ohio Youth for Climate Justice, around 60 individuals gathered outside Meiling Hall, an administrative building near the Wexner Medical Center, to protest the Israel-Palestine conflict and to advocate fossil fuel divestment during an OSU Board of Trustees meeting inside the building.

According to the President of OHYCJ, students "were met by Office of Student Life employees and OSU police officers who warned them there would be 'no tolerance for amplified noise' because it was Reading Day". In order to comply, the students chanted without using their megaphones after marching to Meiling Hall. OSU police officers told the protesters that even though they did not bring their megaphones, they could still be heard from inside the building's lobby. After refusing to leave, police moved in on students and arrested two chant leaders who were OSU students, charging them with criminal trespassing and misdemeanor.[9][10]

Gaza Solidarity Encampment

An encampment was organized, promoted, and scheduled for April 25th, 2024 by multiple pro-Palestine student organizations including OSU Students for Justice in Palestine, OSU Jews for Justice in Palestine, the Party for Socialism and Liberation in Columbus,[11] Justice, Unity, & Social Transformation,[12] Rising Tide Columbus,[13] and Ohio Youth for Climate Justice (OHYCJ).[14] This encampment was announced directly after the beginning of the 2024 Columbia University pro-Palestinian campus occupations.

Protesters initially arrived in the morning. Several were arrested throughout the day for pitching tents on the South Oval and taken to sheriff's buses parked nearby, but until 10 p.m., police observed from a distance, "occasionally issuing threats". During the night of the encampment, President Walter E. Carter Jr. "requested the state patrol's assistance", although "university police had been coordinating with state police before Carter requested the reinforcements". Officials cited "rules prohibiting camping, overnight events, and disruption to university business", which was later satirized by organizers in a political cartoon depicting university mascot Brutus Buckeye aiming a gun at student while citing "university space rules".[15]

Riot police began using force to remove and arrest students at around 10 p.m., beginning arrests while Muslim students were praying.[16] At this point, Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers on the Ohio Union switched from observing students to aiming long-range firearms at students "as part of their protocol."[17] University spokesperson Benjamin Johnson later said "the team carries standard equipment, including firearms, that would only be used reactively to protect the safety of all present, including demonstrators".

By the end of the evening, 36 protesters, including 16 Ohio State students and 20 non-Ohio State students, had been arrested,[18] making for the "highest number of protest-related arrests [in Columbus] since the Vietnam War."[19] Those arrested were charged with criminal trespassing. A statement OSU later released read: "Arrests are not an action we take lightly, and we appreciate the support of all of our law enforcement partners to disperse the encampment for the safety of our university community."

Protester demands

List of demands

According to an Instagram post by encampment organizers Students for Justice in Palestine,[20] the following are the demands of those who supported the OSU Gaza Solidarity Encampment:

  1. Financial divestment
  2. Academic boycott
  3. Financial disclosure
  4. Acknowledge the genocide
  5. End targeted policing

University responses

Ohio State University officials, including university spokesperson Benjamin Johnson, have referenced Ohio Revised Code Section 9.76, a state law passed in 2016 and amended in 2022, which prohibits state agencies, including public universities, from boycotting Israel or divesting from companies that have policies against Israel.[21]

Conflicts between pro-Israel and pro-Palestine protesters

Hillel flag vandalism

On November 9th, 2023, two protesters not affiliated with OSU vandalized Israeli flags in OSU Hillel International's lobby, who shouted "fuck you", "you support genocide", and "free Palestine". These two protesters were charged with misdemeanor, ethnic intimidation, theft, criminal trespass and criminal mischief.[22]

Hillel infosession disruption

On March 27th, 2024, according to an Instagram post by OSU Jews for Justice in Palestine (JJP),[23] JJP and an unnamed allied organization disrupted an infosession on OSU campus for Hillel International's annual "Fact Finder Israel Trip", which is supported by Ohio State University. According to JJP, Hillel has accused pro-Palestine protesters of antisemitism. In their statement, JJP claimed Hillel is an "ethnonationalistic" organization.

During the disruption, three black bloc individuals displayed a banner outside Hillel saying "OSU Hillel invites you to visit a genocidal state."[24] The Hillel event was canceled due to the disruption. Hillel Rabbii Aaron initiated dialogue with the counter-protesters for about an hour, after which Hillel CEO Naomi Lamb publicly expressed that the actions of counter-protesters were threatening toward Hillel students and urged OSU to "condemn the protest as an act of hate against the Jewish community".

Ohio State Student Union protest clash

On October 7th, 2023, during a protest in the Ohio State Student Union, OSU Jews for Justice in Palestine (JJP) posted a video after the event showing a counter-protester wearing a kippah confronting pro-Palestine protesters, repeatedly yelling "show your face" at a masked protester and pushing him shortly after.[25]

References

  1. ^ Farkas, Karen (April 25, 2024). "Hamas-Israel War: Gaza Protest at Ohio State University Campus". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
  2. ^ "President's Message: April 22, 2024". president.osu.edu. The Ohio State University. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
  3. ^ "About three dozen pro-Palestine protesters arrested at Ohio State". NBC4i. April 2024. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
  4. ^ "University says officers had readied firearms, directed toward protesters from Ohio Union's roof once arrests began". The Lantern. April 2024. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
  5. ^ Volokh, Eugene (May 1, 2024). "Ohio State University President's Statement on Clearing". Reason.com. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
  6. ^ "OSU Divests initiative removed from USG ballot despite 1,000 signatures due to alleged bylaw violations". The Lantern. March 2024. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
  7. ^ @osudivst (March 1, 2024). "USG email screenshots". Retrieved June 9, 2024 – via Instagram.
  8. ^ "University pauses vote on USG divestment ballot initiative". The Lantern. March 2024. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
  9. ^ "Gaza War Ohio State Students Campus Protest Arrest". The Columbus Dispatch. April 23, 2024. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
  10. ^ @risingtide.cbus (April 23, 2024). "Rising Tide Meiling Hall Instagram Post". Retrieved June 9, 2024 – via Instagram.
  11. ^ @pslcolumbus (April 25, 2024). "PSL Encampment Instagram Post". Retrieved June 9, 2024 – via Instagram.
  12. ^ @just.614 (April 25, 2024). "SJP Encampment Instagram Post". Retrieved June 9, 2024 – via Instagram.
  13. ^ @risingtide.cbus (April 25, 2024). "Rising Tide Encampment Instagram Story". Retrieved June 9, 2024 – via Instagram.
  14. ^ @climatestrikeoh (April 25, 2024). "OHYCJ Encampment Promotion". Retrieved June 9, 2024 – via Instagram.
  15. ^ @risingtide.cbus (March 30, 2024). "Rising Tide Satire Instagram Post". Retrieved June 9, 2024 – via Instagram.
  16. ^ "About three dozen pro-Palestine protesters arrested at Ohio State". NBC4 WCMH-TV. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
  17. ^ "University says officers had readied firearms, directed toward protesters from Ohio Union's roof once arrests began". The Lantern. April 2024. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
  18. ^ Farkas, Karen (April 25, 2024). "Hamas-Israel War: Gaza Protest at Ohio State University Campus". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
  19. ^ "About three dozen pro-Palestine protesters arrested at Ohio State". NBC4 WCMH-TV. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
  20. ^ @sjposu (April 27, 2024). "SJP Demands Instagram Post". Retrieved June 9, 2024 – via Instagram.
  21. ^ "Ohio State Legally Can't Divest from Israel Amid Gaza Protests and War". The Columbus Dispatch. April 26, 2024. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
  22. ^ "Israeli flags vandalized at OSU Hillel, anti-Israel statements, threats shouted, 2 Jewish students assaulted". Cleveland Jewish News. May 15, 2024. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
  23. ^ "JJP Hillel Instagram Post". March 28, 2024. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
  24. ^ "Masked individuals hold banner outside OSU Hillel calling Israel 'genocidal state'". Cleveland Jewish News. June 8, 2024. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
  25. ^ @jews4palestine.osu (April 20, 2024). "JJP Union Protest Instagram Post". Retrieved June 9, 2024 – via Instagram.
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