Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters lie on a sidewalk adjacent to the University Memorial Center on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (Henry Larson/CU Independent)
Dozens of members and supporters of the University of Colorado Boulder’s Students for Justice in Palestine met at the University Memorial Center for a brief protest on Wednesday, May 1.
The protest comes as students across the country stage large-scale acts of civil disobedience in opposition to Israel’s role in the ongoing war in Gaza. At the Auraria Campus, which houses CU Denver, more than 40 of those protesters were arrested after clashes with police on Friday.
Wednesday’s rally at CU Boulder was not one of these protest encampments. It lasted for about an hour and was opposed by less than a dozen pro-Israel students. Three CU police officers, and a handful of university administrators, watched the protest.
One Boulder SJP organizer, who declined to give the CU Independent their name, said the group had voted to not start an encampment because they believed other students would not support it.
“We do not have the culture, or the community, that would support an encampment in the same way as in Denver,” they said. “We prioritize the safety of our members, and it’s not within our plan.”
That encampment in Denver has only grown since police made arrests on the campus Friday. Some 50 to 60 tents now occupy the Tivoli Quad, and protesters have reached an impasse in negotiations with administrators.
Organizers at the Boulder campus picked May 1 to demonstrate because it was designated as a day of protest by the SJP’s national chapter, according to the protester who did not give their name.
The group began its demonstration on the north side of the UMC by lying down across the majority of a university sidewalk. Many participating in this “die-in” said they wanted the university to divest from corporations operating within Israel.
The College Foreign Gift and Contract Report website shows that CU Boulder has received no contracts from Israel since at least 2016. CU Denver, on the other hand, has received some $3 million in contracts from organizations based in Israel.
Counter-protesters mocked and yelled at the pro-Palestinian demonstrators while waving Israeli and American flags.
Counter-protestors hold an Israeli and an American flag at the CU Boulder protest on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (Kiara DeMare/CU Independent)
“We’re here just to show that we believe that what they’re doing is an absolute waste of time, they are fighting for a cause that they don’t know about or actually believe in, and we’re fighting for the truth,” said Asher Wilhelm, a CU Boulder student and member of Hillel.
After half an hour of silent demonstration, the protesters stood up and marched to Norlin Library. They chanted “Free, free Palestine,” and “Disclose, divest,” as they walked.
Students quickly began to disperse after arriving at Norlin, with just a handful of protesters remaining in front of the building just after noon. The counter-protesters stayed for a short while after, singing songs in Hebrew.
Contact CU Independent Special Investigations Editor Henry Larson at henry.larson@colorado.edu.
Contact CU Independent Managing Editor Kiara DeMare at kiara.demare@colorado.edu.
