Pro-Palestine encampment leaves quad but protestors say it isn’t over

URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) — On Friday, the University of Illinois geared up for graduation with the pro-Palestine encampment officially behind them for now. Campus grounds workers cleared out what was left of the nearly two-week protest Friday morning.

Protestors said it was already in their plan to pack up on Friday and say the end of the 12-day encampment isn’t the end of their mission.

“I think in a lot of ways, this encampment was a really amazing beginning, and it was a really important win,” said a member of Faculty for Justice in Palestine.

It all started after a clash with law enforcement during a brief encounter near the Alma Mater statue. This time around, Students for Justice in Palestine, or SJP, wanted to end their demonstration differently.

“So the plan had been that they were going to be quietly decamping overnight and removing everything and leaving a nice, clean space to respect the land and respect the workers,” she said.

But this member of Faculty for Justice in Palestine says something similar began to happen.

“Unfortunately, about 15 Daily Illini reporters aggressively came up and started disrupting the encampment and frightening the students who were trying to decamp,” she added.

Protestors wanted the university to divest from companies that are profiting off the Israel-Hamas war. They say that didn’t happen.

“And the university is still complicit in a lot of this because of the fact that they have been completely unwilling to come to the table.”

When asked about the end of the demonstration, university officials released this statement:

“The peaceful end to the prohibited encampment is helpful, and we look forward to a joyous conclusion to the semester for our graduates and visitors.”

But protestors say something good did come from their demonstration.

There are entirely new organizations that formed as a result of this work. And so, I know that none of us are going anywhere.

The overseas conflict is still ongoing — and protestors say, so are their plans.

“This is just the beginning, not the end. We have a lot of coalition building to do through the summer and there will absolutely be more in the fall.”

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