Students and community members march on the University of Arizona campus on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024.
Two days after a defining election, Pro-Palestinian protestors and Tucson activists gathered on the University of Arizona campus to lament a disillusionment in the two-party system and continue their calls for the University’s divestment in Israel.
Harlow Parkin, a student organizer with Students for Justice in Palestine, said he was “terrified” of the next four years, but that he didn’t have much faith in a Kamala Harris administration either.
“Trump is much more aligned with Netanyahu and his general politic, but I think this was never going to be a movement that accomplished things initially through the government. And I don't think that would have necessarily changed if Kamala Harris was the new president,” he said.
Student speakers also signaled for a regrouping after the UofA’s encampments this spring resulted in two days of violent clashes with police and four arrests.
“The encampments this spring showed us what was possible, but did not have a clear program and perspective, and they were not able to connect with the wider working class,” an organizer who identified himself as Kerrick told the crowd.
Student Liam Arias is trying to organize a student and faculty strike as a continuation of their demands from the spring, calling for the University to divest from Israel and weapons manufacturers.
“We're the lifeblood, and we have the ability to say, hey, if the admin’s policy and the admin themselves are in support of genocide, we can put a stop to it. We can say, we're not coming to work. We're not coming to school, until you end this,” Arias said.
Parkin also called for further organization in a speech to the crowd.
“If we gained one thing from this election is that no longer are we tempted by the liberal complacency of the Democratic establishment,” he said. “We lost so much to see through this facade, but at the very least, we now know without any doubt that if we hope to survive, we have no choice but to fight.”
About 100 demonstrators marched around Old Main and ended at the University’s Administration building, chanting “Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest,” and “No more weapons, no more cargo, we demand an arms embargo.”
About an hour into the demonstration, about four counter protestors, some wearing symbols of Israel, stood adjacent to the group but did not engage.
Keeping Students Safe, a faculty group formed in the heat of the encampment this spring, surrounded the pro-Palestine group of students as they marched and spoke. They also filmed the counter protestors and watched onlookers.
Faculty member Vanessa Perry said Donald Trump’s rhetoric about Pro-Palestinian protestors is causing concern within Keeping Students Safe as a second Trump Administration looms.
“Some of the comments that he made on the campaign trail, talked about wanting to crush student protests, wanting to eliminate them, to squash them. I mean, he talked himself about asking his own people if he could shoot protesters,” she said. “I think that you'll see us building our capacity as a group, increasing in numbers, and offering our bodies if we have to.”
Protestors delivered a list of demands to UofA faculty earlier this spring, outlining their divestment demands. However, a state law passed in 2016, and later amended in 2022 to include community colleges and public universities, prevents state and local governments from adopting investment policies that involve boycotting Israel.
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