Photos From 2nd Day Of Gaza Solidarity Camp On Rutgers Campus

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — The pro-Palestine Gaza solidarity camp continued for its second day Tuesday on the Rutgers New Brunswick campus.

Students have been sleeping in tents overnight on Voorhees Mall off College Avenue. Rutgers is allowing the students and tents to remain, as long as they do not disrupt students getting to class or cause violence, said the school.

At Princeton, 13 students were arrested Monday night after they briefly occupied Clio Hall. All 13 were given summonses for trespassing and have been barred from campus. They are facing suspension or expulsion, said the Princeton university president.

The protest is organized by Students for Justice in Palestine-Rutgers chapter, and Endowment Justice Collective. Both are calling for Rutgers to divest from any investments or involvement with Israel. That request is currently undergoing a formal review process in line with Rutgers' investment policy. Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway previously said he does not support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.

The students say they are not leaving the mall until these following 10 demands are accepted:

Rutgers University must:

1) Divest from any firm or corporation working in Israel

2) Terminate its partnership with Tel Aviv University to open a satellite campus in New Brunswick. (Rutgers president Holloway also affirmed his support for the relationship with Tel Aviv University, and that the Tel Aviv U. satellite campus will move forward.)

3) Accept at least 10 displaced Gazan students to study at Rutgers on scholarship.

4) Build an Arab Cultural Center.

5) Instead of partnering with Tel Aviv University, partner with Birzeit University, a college in Palestine, which William Paterson University has done.

6) Name "Palestine" and "Palestinians" in all future communications related to the Israel-Hamas war (as opposed to "Middle East" "Gaza region"). President Holloway should also publicly acknowledge the genocide against Palestinians and advocate for a ceasefire (Holloway, like Gov. Phil Murphy and President Joe Biden, has called for a ceasefire in the war).

7) Hire senior administrators with cultural knowledge about Arabs, Palestinians, Muslims and anti-Palestinian racism.

8) Hire additional professors specializing in Palestine studies and Middle East Studies, build a center for Palestine studies and create a department for Middle East Studies.

9) Display flags of occupied peoples — they list Palestinians, Kurds and Kashmiris — in all areas where international flags are flown on the Rutgers campus.

10) Provide full amnesty — legal, academic and disciplinary — for all students, faculty and staff arrested or penalized while they protest.