Protesters at Syracuse University packed up the Gaza Solidarity Encampment nestled at the heart of the campus Wednesday morning, as negotiations over a list of demands presented to university administration stalled over the last two days.
The encampment lasted just over two weeks.
The move comes after university officials had demanded protesters relocate to other areas of the campus for last week’s commencement ceremonies. Protesters vowed to not move until they met with university representatives to negotiate the GSE’s list of demands, which included the university calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, as well as the disclosure and divestment of university contributions to weapons manufacturers aiding Israel’s war efforts and the termination of academic programs related to Israel’s security state.
A group of negotiators from the GSE and senior members of the SU division of student experience, including the dean of students, met Monday to discuss the demands. Protesters accused SU’s negotiating team of negotiating in bad faith, dismissal of the encampment’s demands, and prejudice against Palestinians and Arabs.
A university spokesperson did not comment on the allegations by the time of publication.
Ultimately, their negotiations were distilled to two points:
- SU would issue a statement calling for a ceasefire, which has occurred at private universities. Protesters argued calling for a halt to the war would build on the university’s stances on other conflicts like the war between Russia and Ukraine.
- A working group made up of students and university officials would be created to investigate and disclose SU’s investments, partnerships, and programs with companies and institutions supporting the occupation in Palestine. At least half of that group would be student representatives selected by GSE.
Protesters promised to take down the encampment by Tuesday 2 p.m. if the university committed to those concessions.
At 1:59 p.m. Tuesday, protesters allege, the university asked for more time to deliberate.
Talks broke down later Tuesday after the university’s negotiating team sent an email to protesters rejecting their demands. In it the group said that Chancellor Kent Syverud has already issued two statements that address “the loss of life in both Israel and Gaza” last October.
“Given the number of conflicts across the globe at any point in time, the university uses its voice only to address the impact on our community and does so in a limited way to allow individual campus voices to be heard,” their statement read.
Regarding the other demand, the university’s negotiating team said that protesters have not followed the university’s process for individuals to raise a concern regarding endowment investments.
“You need to utilize that existing process,” they said in a statement.
Protesters responded in a statement issued Wednesday, noting they would be leaving the GSE.
“In the face of Syracuse University’s irrational and inhumane reluctance to center the suffering of Palestinians, and its attachment to a status quo that normalizes their mass killings, we decide to leave the Gaza Solidarity Encampment on our own terms,” protesters said.
They added that they would come back in the fall to continue their advocacy, although protesters noted they do not know if that will take the shape of another encampment.
“Returning as an encampment is not off the table, but right now our strategies are focused on creating sustainable ways to organize protests and support for Palestinian liberation that work across the town/gown divide to connect the university’s community with the broader Syracuse community,” said Cai Cafiero, who has handled communications for the GSE and is a doctoral student at the College of Education.
The encampment drew hundreds of students, staff, and sympathetic community members vying for Palestinian liberation to the Shaw Quadrangular over the course of the last 16 days, and was part of the international movement of pro-Palestinian demonstrators at almost 200 college campuses across the world.
Protesters say they see GSE as a learning experience.
“We succeeded in bringing attention to the atrocities committed by the Israeli political leadership and military-industrial complex, and shedding light on Syracuse University’s connections to them,” they said in a statement.
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