At about 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, a group of about 20 people gathered at the Western side of the UMC fountain chanting slogans and carrying signs to protest the Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip.
One person threw a snowball at the demonstrators, while other bystanders yelled back at them. Another group started off with about 10 people carrying Israeli flags and signs of their own. This second group eventually grew to the about the same size as the first, and stood facing them from the opposite side of the fountain.
Asia Kambal, a senior international affairs major, carried a Palestinian flag and led the first group of demonstrators with chants like, “stop supporting Israel,” and “stop the killings, stop the hate, Israel is a terrorist state.”
Several of Kambal’s fellow demonstrators carried signs with pictures of dead Palestinian civilians.
“We are here because we are demonstrating against the Israeli occupation of the Gaza strip . . . against the massacre,” Kambal said. “The U.S. tax dollars are funding the war.”
Kambal said that the group she was with planned their protest on Jan 13., but only got permission to protest on Thursday morning. Several demonstrators mentioned holding another protest this Saturday on Pearl Street.
“I think it’s really important for students to come out and demonstrate because we have an extremely passive student body,” Kambal said.
Jeremy J. Darling, 21, a junior theatre and Jewish studies major, was among the bystanders who yelled back at the demonstrators, and later helped to gather the counter-demonstrators.
“There was a demonstration on the other side against Israel and we organized in 15 minutes,” Darling said after the groups broke up.
Darling said that he is with the group Students for Israel, and that his group has another rally planned at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, also at the fountain.
“We’re like a pro-peace group so we’re against terrorism, Hamas, not the Palestinian people,” Darling said. “We organized people in 15 minutes because we didn’t have anything planned.” Darling said.
Darling also said that his group objected to the demonstrators’ slogans.
During the demonstrations, several bystanders approached and argued with the demonstrators. Watching one of the arguments was Evan Yarus, 20, a junior philosophy major.
“I’m glad to see people pissed off enough to discuss in public,” Yarus said, adding that he only listened to the arguments but didn’t join in. “It just turned into name calling and people strawmanning each other.”
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Sam Dieter at Sam.Dieter@colorado.edu
