UC Davis students continued with a pro-Palestinian encampment for a fourth day Thursday.
Dozens of tents remain in the middle of the quad and organizers are holding daily lectures and readings related to the war in Gaza.
“We don’t want the attention on ourselves right now,” said Yara Kaadan, an undergraduate student and protester. “We are doing this so that people are keeping their eyes on the crimes of Zionism, keep their eyes on the justice the Palestinians are fighting for.”
Like many campus protests around the country, demonstrators are calling for divestment. Demonstrators at Sacramento State removed their encampment this week after the university made changes to its investment policies.
But demonstrators at UC Davis are also seeking specific changes at the university. Kaadan said students are demanding UC Davis Chancellor Gary May remove himself from the board of a global technology company Leidos that does defense technology work in Israel.
May’s office has yet to respond to specific demands, but in a statement released Monday said it is reviewing them and is committed to a safe campus environment and the right to free expression.
Another demand is an end to the Davis Koret program, which includes a veterinary exchange program in Israel.
Stanford McConnehey is a third year law school student. He said calls to end the Koret program are not meant to target the cultural activities of Jewish students.
“Traveling to a settler-colonial state is not a cultural practice and we’re very clear in our stance here that we don’t want to normalize the existence of settler-colonial occupation, apartheid and genocide,” McConnehey said.
Gabriel Gaysinsky is a UC Davis student and an executive board member for Aggies for Israel. He said demanding an end to the Koret program, which also gives scholarships to many Jewish students, goes too far.
“It is not merely an attempt to end the escalation and conflict in Gaza right now and killing so many people,” Gaysinsky said. “It simply is a way to isolate Israel and by that, half of the Jewish population from the rest of the world.”
He added that the encampment has been largely peaceful, but certain students are targeting Jewish students, making them feel unsafe. He said campus officials aren’t doing enough.
“I’m hoping the university acts to prevent any violence from happening before it happens,” Gaysinsky said. “Because as of right now, they are waiting for something to happen and that is not the right approach.”
A campus spokesperson said in an email to CapRadio the university takes all student safety very seriously and follows up on all reports.
“When the university receives a complaint of antisemitism or other offensive behavior, it immediately reaches out to the affected parties to provide support and resources, and reviews the allegations under the university’s anti-discrimination policy,” the email states.
This weekend’s annual Whole Earth Festival, which is usually held in the quad, will be held on Russell Field.
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