For a brief moment on Wednesday morning, various educational building signs bore the names of Palestinians killed in the Israel-Hamas conflict.
These posters draped over signs in front of Lincoln Hall, Engineering Hall and the Electrical and Computer Engineering building, according to a post by the Students for Justice in Palestine on Instagram.
The posters were formatted in orange and blue. Each displayed the names, photographs, biographies and descriptions of deaths of noncombatant Palestinians lost in the war, headlined with “We will honor all our martyrs.”
The ECE building’s sign displayed “Hind Rajab Hall,” resembling that of Columbia’s protest, which transformed Hamilton Hall into Hind’s Hall. Both demonstrations honored Hind Rajab, a 6-year-old Palestinian girl killed in Gaza on Jan. 29.
Lincoln Hall’s sign said “Hamza Al-Dahdouh Auditorium” — a dedication to the Palestinian Al Jazeera journalist killed by an Israeli airstrike on Jan. 7.
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Engineering Hall became “Ayman El-Mana’ama Hall.” According to his poster’s biography, “several 2-ton bombs” killed El-Mana’ama as he stood outside the evacuation zone.
However, the alterations didn’t last long into the afternoon; the University removed all signs as of 2 p.m. Wednesday.
The University established parameters for free speech through the portion of the Campus Administrative Manual that discusses expressive activity. The display directly violated portions of this policy, according to Robin Kaler, associate chancellor of strategic communications and marketing at the University.
“Affixing banners in unauthorized areas, such as on building signs, is not permitted by this policy and subjects those affiliated with the University to internal disciplinary processes,” Kaler said in an email statement.