A truck was parked on the southwest side of the Main Quad with images projected on each side of Israeli hostages taken on Oct. 7 by Hamas, the Palestinian political and militant organization that holds power across sections of the Gaza Strip.
According to Jonah Long, senior in Business, the truck was not brought to campus as a form of counterprotest to the encampment.
Protestors in the encampment declined to comment on the truck and its placement, between Gregory and Lincoln Halls.
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Christopher Svochak, the individual who entered the encampment with a megaphone at around 12:40 p.m., returned at approximately 3:40 p.m. and spoke for nearly 20 minutes.
Svochak again preached about his views on religion, the encampment and homosexuality.
The encampment responded to Svochak’s remarks by holding up signs that read “womp womp” and chanting, “Hey hey, ho ho, the occupation has got to go” and “Free, free Palestine.”
Svochak made to leave, however, when demonstrators paused their chanting for a moment, Svochak returned to the encampment for an “encore,” during which one demonstrator stood directly in front of him holding a sign. During this brief speech, Svochak spoke disparagingly about the “Prophet Muhammad,” a central figure of the Islamic religion. Svochak left the premises around 4:03 p.m.
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The Daily Illini spoke with a media representative from the encampment for updates.
**This interview has been edited for length and clarity. The individual has elected to remain anonymous for safety reasons.**
DI: Can you tell me what happened last night?
Student representative: There was an altercation with some counterprotesters, and the counterprotesters then called the police. We were a little freaked out that the police thought it was going to be related to the encampment, and they were not whatsoever. We were worried the police were going to come and raid us. We got a little spooked, but everything was resolved. They had no correlation to us, so we’re all good.
DI: Was there any sort of physical alterations?
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Student representative: I think it was more just like a shout. The counterprotesters were trying to instigate something, and then they found the right guy to push up against that would give them a response.
DI: You guys have been meeting with Vice Chancellor Jim Hintz a lot these past two to three days. Can you tell me how those conversations are going?
Student representative: Yeah, we’ve just been in negotiations. He’s kind of the messenger to get through to the chancellor. We tell Hintz our demand, he goes back, (administration) responds and he comes back.
DI: Could you give me a glimpse into what your demands look like?
Student representative: Yeah, we have them posted on social media. We want complete divestment, to cut off all ties with anything related to Israel and we want amnesty for all students. We want disclosure. This is a public university, and you can easily search out where the investments go, but it is so confusing. You need the Freedom of Information Act to get into more specifics, and then when you’re there, it’s just so much editing. You would need a whole divestment research team to fully understand everything; even then, it’s still confusing because we have a lot of investments in Black Rock, but Black Rock itself does its own investments with the money. So it’s indirectly probably going to Israel, but we can’t access that as much because Black Rock controls it.
DI: Are there any negotiations or offers from their end that you guys would be willing to abide by or something you would be willing to agree with and step down from?
Student representative: I feel like when that time comes, I will probably have an answer, but as of right now, we are going to continue strong with the encampment and with our goal of divestment.
DI: Can you tell me about the speaker that was here today?
Student representative: There are always those weird speakers who come and tell everyone they’re all going to hell. One lady on the quad would come and have a big sign that said, “You’re going to hell if you’re a homo or a female.” It was literally just like that. He saw there was a big group of people there, and he took it upon himself to walk back and forth and yell stuff. They’re really hard to get rid of because this is a public university, and technically, he can be here. He was just a random person.
DI: Can you tell me how you guys feel about a state representative coming to support?
Student representative: That was really nice. I know State Representative Abdulnasser Rashid has always been very supportive. We actually brought him down last semester to talk about Boycott, Divestments and Sanctions in Illinois, so he’s always been a great support. I’m very grateful. State Representative Carol Ammons has also been a huge support. I know she’s been talking to the president and is on our side, protecting student protesters and working on any amnesty for us because we’re expressing our First Amendment rights. So yeah, it was very heartwarming. It was nice to see that we truly have the support of so many people. We have faculty, RSO and grad student support. It feels like everyone on this campus is supporting us, and I hope the admin is starting to realize that. Are they going to burn bridges with all the faculty and the facilities and services people to protect a foreign entity and continue bombing kids in Palestine? It’s nice to see and know that we have the full support of the community.
DI: Now that today is the first official day of finals, have you seen any dropping in numbers?
Student representative: Not really. I think a lot of people come during our teach-ins, so I always anticipate the numbers to come in during that time. If any of us need to study, we go somewhere safe to study, but it’s still close to the encampment. So, in case anything happens, we’re on call to come back.
**Due to Svochak yelling “liar, liar” over Rashid’s press conference, only the first 50 seconds of Rashid’s statement was able to be understood and transcribed.**
Abdelnasser Rashid, State Representative for Illinois 21st District, gave a press conference to the protesters at the encampment. Rashid was joined by Carol Ammons, State Representative for Illinois 103rd District, along with protesters. Several faculty members were present wearing shirts saying “Protect our students.”
“Hi, everyone. My name is Abdelnasser Rashid. I’m the state representative for the 21st District of Illinois, and I am so proud and so honored to stand here in support and solidarity with the protestors. I want to let all of you know that you are participating in the rich tradition of protesters — part of the American DNA. Generations of students before you were set up in camps just like these to protest the Vietnam War, to fight for civil rights and to protest apartheid in South Africa. You are carrying on that incredible legacy of fighting for peace and for justice, and you should be honored for that. You shouldn’t be maligned — students before you were maligned; the protesters before you were maligned. They’re going to fight back against it because we’re fighting the fight for peace and for justice.”
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The Daily Illini spoke with State Representative Abdelnasser Rashid, who was present at the encampment this afternoon. Rashid is the first Palestinian-American to serve in the Illinois House of Representatives and represents the 21st District, which covers part of the Chicagoland area. State Representative Carol Ammons, whose district includes the University, was also present at the scene.
**This interview has been edited for length and clarity.**
DI: Can you tell us why you’re here today?
Rashid: I’m here to support the students in their peaceful protest against the genocide that is unfolding in Gaza and supporting their calls for universities to divest their funds from supporting Israel’s war crimes. I’m here to thank them and let them know that they’ve inspired me and so many other people across the country.
DI: Are you planning to meet with the student organizers, or have you already met with them?
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Rashid: I’ve been talking to student organizers for some time now — here and on campuses throughout Illinois — to make sure that their rights are protected, to connect them with legal organizations and to make sure that they are respected in this work. And so I’ll continue that engagement.
DI: Do you have any plans on meeting with the administration of the University, or have you already met with them?
Rashid: I’ve put in phone calls to administrators at various universities, the U of I and the UI system and to fellow elected officials who represent these universities.
DI: Do you have any plans to write a statement to release publicly at all about the situation?
Rashid: Well, I’ve been speaking publicly, but essentially my statement is that I stand with the students who are peacefully protesting to stop billions of dollars of American funding to Israel, including through their university endowments; that is something that we should all be fighting for.
This is the type of protest that is part of the American DNA; the type of protest that we saw in the civil rights movement and the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa and that Americans should resonate with.
DI: You said that you support the freedom of their protest and allow them to speak freely. There have been counterprotests as well from Jewish students and Jewish organizations on campus. Can you talk a little bit about that and how you feel about that situation?
Rashid: Well, I was just talking to Jewish students who are here protesting the genocide and protesting their universities’ endowments supporting Israel’s war crimes. So many Jewish students across the country are standing up, and not just students; Jewish Voices for Peace and others that are critical of what Israel is doing and that want the United States to stop providing funds for these war crimes.
The Daily Illini spoke with Christopher Randolph Morris, junior in LAS, about his interaction with the speaker. Morris is not a member of the encampment, but he supports it.
DI: Are you a part of the encampment?
Morris: I don’t know. I’m here frequently, but I don’t necessarily consider myself part of anything. I just follow truth.
DI: Why did you decide to engage with the speaker?
Morris: I’m Christian, and I often follow what I feel like I should be doing at a certain point in time. I saw him speaking, and it felt like he was trying to pervert Christianity because he claims himself to be a Christian as well. It seemed as if he was attacking my Muslim brothers and sisters, so I felt it was important to engage.
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DI: Do you agree with anything that he was saying?
Morris: I agree with certain points that he was making, but I think he took a lot of things out of context and tried to flip it. I believe that he is close to the truth in believing that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, but I think he was trying to manipulate things to get to his point quicker instead of being patient and loving and kind.
A speaker with a megaphone is currently on the scene, disapproving of the current encampment and calling demonstrators “liars” and “brainwashed.”
The man reprimanded the demonstrators for, in his view, supporting Hamas. He said that God would judge them all, and without repenting, the protestors would go to hell.
The man also said that Muslims deserve hell for not worshipping the correct god. He called demonstrators “fake Muslims” for not praying at the right time toward the northeast.
“You deserve hell, you deserve hell, you deserve hell,” the man said, pointing to people on the scene.
Protestors offered the man a donut, which he refused.
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The man also called premarital and homosexual sex grounds for hell. He used the Bible as evidence for his claim, referring to the book of Romans and its discussion of sexual immorality.
“Nobody wants you guys here,” the man said. “But I do want to see you guys get saved.”
The man said a demonstrator was a “mind-controller” who was controlling people not to talk. He said the attendees were pawns in a wicked game of genocide, who were here because they were mind-controlled.
“You all are insane,” the man said. “Jesus can bring back your sanity. Liars, liars, liars, liars, liars,” he said. “What are you in solidarity for? Why are you silent?”
The man is making claims about Muhammad being a pedophile and rapist.
At 1:20 p.m., University officials approached the man. The man said, about the encampment, that demonstrators were also in violation.
At 1:22 p.m., a student talked to the man, asking for specific claims in the bible. Other demonstrators talked the student down.
Members of the encampment have been told not to engage with this man.
