Rutgers Agrees To 8 Demands From Pro-Gaza Protesters

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — Rutgers University is one of the few colleges in the nation where a pro-Gaza solidarity tent camp was voluntarily dismantled by students last week — after it was up for only four days — and with no arrests of student protesters.

Meanwhile at Princeton, 13 protesters were arrested last Monday, and more students started a hunger strike on Friday.

At Rutgers, students agreed to take down the tents after the university agreed to these eight demands:

• Accept at least 10 displaced Gazan students to study at Rutgers on a scholarship.
• Open an Arab Cultural Center at Rutgers (one does not currently exist).
• Establish a long-term educational partnership with Birzeit University, which is located in the West Bank. "Many of us are excited for the opportunity to study abroad at Birzeit University — an opportunity to go home, the West Bank, for the first time — and likewise welcome Birzeit students to our New Brunswick campus," said the Rutgers chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine.
• Use the words "Palestine" and "Palestinians" in all future communications related to the Israel-Hamas war (as opposed to "Middle East" "Gaza region" etc.). Also, have Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway acknowledge "the ongoing genocide against Palestinians ... and advocate for a ceasefire," in the words of the students. (Holloway called for a cease-fire several weeks ago, before the students set up their tent protest.)
• Hire senior administrators knowledgeable about Arabs, Palestinians, Muslims, anti-Palestinian racism and Islamophobia.
• Hire additional professors specializing in Palestine studies and Middle East studies, and establish a path for a Department of Middle East studies at Rutgers (there is not one currently).
• Display the flags of Palestinians, Kurds and Kashmiris in all areas displaying international flags.
• Provide amnesty for anyone arrested during pro-Palestine protests.

Rutgers administration confirmed it agreed to those eight requests.

"This agreement opens the door for ongoing dialogue and better addresses the needs of our Arab, Muslim and Palestinian student body, which numbers over 7,000," said Rutgers chancellor Francine Conway in this May 2 statement.

What Rutgers has not agreed to is the students' final two demands:

Divest all university investments from the nation of Israel, and terminate plans to open a satellite campus of Tel Aviv University in New Brunswick.

Conway said their request for divestment from Israel is currently "under review."

Students for Justice in Palestine said they "will not give up" on those two final demands, "as we feel strongly these are the most material actions our university can take."

Here are all 10 of the students' demands, including their demand to divest from Israel, and the university's response.

NJ Republicans slam Rutgers' agreement

But Republican lawmakers slammed Rutgers for agreeing to the demands.

Congressman Chris Smith, one of New Jersey's two remaining Republican congressman and who represents the Jersey Shore, called Rutgers' decision "an appeasement of antisemitic, anti-Israel, pro-Hamas protesters."

Republican state Senator Jon Bramnick, who represents the Westfield area, will ask the state Legislature to hold a hearing on whether Rutgers can accept those eight demands.

"You had students illegally occupying campus. Rutgers shouldn't have had any discussion with these lawbreakers until they had left the location," Bramnick told Fox News Sunday. "It's a really bad precedent. What this does is tell people you can break the law and then we'e gonna do what you want us to do. It sends a terrible message to the people of New Jersey."

Bramnick said he has his own demands for the pro-Gaza protesters:

• Condemn Hamas
• Call for Hamas to release the 130 kidnapped Israeli hostages that still remain held by Hamas
• Recognize Israel's right to exist

“The Legislature must schedule a hearing to review the decision of Rutgers to accept the demands of protesters," said Bramnick. "The agreement requires spending of taxpayer dollars. I will submit legislation to prevent these payments and a resolution rejecting the decision of Rutgers university."

“Any capitulation whatsoever to antisemitic, anti-Israel, pro-Hamas protesters is absolutely disgraceful,” said Congressman Smith, who visited the New Brunswick campus last Thursday to view the encampment.

“Instead of rewarding unbridled hatred for Jews and the nation of Israel, Rutgers should be working to combat the violent and antisemitic threats that have been escalating against Jewish students on campus,” said Smith.

In this speech on the House Floor last Wednesday, Smith reiterated that “Hamas is a terrorist organization that commits mass murder of Jews and seeks the evisceration of Israel.”

“Don’t believe it?” Smith continued. “Remember the horrific violence of October 7 and the ongoing ordeal of the hostages. Or just read the Hamas Charter of 1988, the blueprint for genocide against the Jews — a modern-day Nazi-like final solution."

Last week, Rutgers made the rare decision to postpone its first day of final exams and ordered the students to clear out the tents by 4 p.m. Thursday, or else Rutgers Police would forcibly tear down the tents. The students complied before the 4 p.m. deadline. Rutgers President Holloway also said there were outside protesters — not students — at the camp.

The students say they were "ready to face arrest."

They also said: "Our decision to end our encampment ... reflects our strategic logic regarding building power on campus."

Protesters Launch Hunger Strike For Gaza At Princeton University (May 3)

Students Leave Peacefully From Rutgers Pro-Gaza Tent Protest (May 2)

Pro-Palestine Group Wants Rutgers To Cancel Tel Aviv University Deal (April 3)

Tel Aviv University The Newest Tenant At Rutgers' Tech Hub (2021)