Students’ identities in this story will be kept anonymous.
Over 150 LHS students walked up to the University of Kansas campus on Thursday in support of KU students’ demands for KU to financially divest from Israel.
Following fifth hour, Lawrence High students congregated in the atrium before walking up the hill to KU. Many brought signs and wore kafiyahs, traditional headdresses worn throughout the Middle East.
Along with financial separation from Israeli linked institutions, protestors at KU provided three other demands to University administration:
- Increase financial transparency
- Refuse to accept grants from corporations linked to the US military
- Maintain amnesty for students who participate in any protests
Students felt the need to organize a walkout to support KU students and their efforts for the university to meet their demands.
“I think the Palestinian genocide is a very tragic thing that’s happening right now in the world. The only way to raise awareness and put pressure on these universities to divest from Israel and help the people in Gaza is to protest,” one student who helped to organize the walkout said.
Walking up the hill to KU, students held signs and joined in chants to voice their support for the people of Palestine. Signs read phrases such as ‘Free Free Palestine’, ‘Not in our name’ and ‘Ceasefire now’.
“If you’re not horrified by it, if you’re not thinking that it’s something important, you’re probably not paying proper attention to it,” another student organizer said.
Students of all backgrounds joined the KU encampment outside of Fraser Hall. One student, although not directly related to the conflict, felt heavily connected to the events in Gaza.
“As an American Indian, I see a lot of parallels between what’s happening in Gaza and what happened during the colonization of North America,” the student said.
Many students expressed frustration regarding the desensitization of media that has come out of the conflict.
“I’ve witnessed things that I think are human rights violations and things that I feel like we need to talk more about and bring more awareness to,” an anonymous student said.
The protest comes at a time when more than 1,800 students have been arrested for similar demonstrations around the country, with many colleges and universities calling in law enforcement to dismantle student encampments.
Encampments across the country were sparked when students at Columbia University established around 50 tents on April 17, attracting national media attention when police were called to dismantle and arrest students who participated.
“I think it’s tragic because many of the times these protesters are peacefully protesting, which we have a clear right to do,” a student organizer said. “It’s evident of where we are as a nation right now. It’s evident of where our priorities are and desensitization towards a genocide.”
Students at other universities quickly followed with similar demonstrations at over 40 U.S. campuses, leading to over 2,000 students being arrested.
Despite backlash from countermovements, many LHS protestors believe the events surrounding Gaza stray from politics.
“I don’t think it’s a partisan issue. I think it’s just like a human issue. People are dying. There’s a genocide going on.”
Ashlynn Tell contributed to this report.
