Illinois Student Council President Rudy LaFave and Vice President Hunter Farnham released a joint Instagram statement with other ISC members around 8 p.m. this evening condemning the University’s response to the pro-Palestinian encampment on the quad.
“Peaceful protestors sometimes have to break certain rules, not out of disregard for authority but out of a deep commitment to justice and human rights,” the statement read. “If the lawfulness of tents on our quad is concerning to you, we urge you to consider the Israeli government’s blatant violations of international law.”
In the post, they included a guide from the American Civil Liberties Union, a nonprofit human rights organization, on what to do if stopped by the police while protesting.
They also included Students for Justice in Palestine’s four encampment demands for the University: divesting from organizations profiting off of or supporting Palestine’s occupation, disclosing all financial assets, cutting ties with Israeli institutions and offering student protestors amnesty.
“We stand with our peers and call on the University to resume good-faith negotiations,” the post’s caption read.
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Starting at approximately 5:20 p.m. today, demonstrators gathered in the center of the encampment for a rally celebrating May Day, a day designated for the global commemoration of labor movements and airing political grievances.
Protest chants included “U of I you can’t hide, you are funding genocide” and “When Palestine is under attack, what do we do? Stand up fight back.”
Recognizing occupation around the world, the crowd also chanted, “Resistance is justified when people are occupied” and “Occupation is a crime, from C-U to Palestine.”
A speaker for American Muslims for Palestine Chicago extended support to Illinois student protestors.
“We have all of you and our strength on our side and God willingly, we will be victorious,” the speaker said.
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The rally detailed the history of May Day, also known as International Workers’ Day.
May Day takes place yearly on May 1 in memory of the 1886 Haymarket Affair.
Originally a peaceful protest to shorten the workday, the event at Haymarket Square resulted in a confrontation between protestors and the police.
The event ended in the death of a protester and injury of several others. The following day, a bomb thrown by protestors killed seven officers and injured 60 attendees.
The police retaliated by punishing eight men, many of whom were not present at the square on May 4. This event inflamed emerging left-wing movements of the time.
The rally speaker drew a parallel of militarized police abuse between the Haymarket Affair and the stand-off with protestors last Friday, calling them “the same struggle.”
“We stand here today because the struggle of the Palestinians is the struggle of the worker everywhere,” one speaker said. “Freedom from the occupation in the case of the Palestinian is freedom from the capitalist in the case of the worker.”
Day four of the student encampment has started similarly to the previous three days and follows an uneventful night on the Main Quad.
Since the protest in front of Alma Mater on Friday, interactions between the University administration and community demonstrators have relaxed. Protesters began placing tents on the south side of the Main Quad on Sunday afternoon near a sign that read “UIUC LIBERATION ZONE.”
Protesters were left undisturbed in the three days since they moved to the Main Quad and have seen minimal interactions with the police and other demonstrators. The number of tents in the encampment has more than doubled from roughly 20 to around 47.
After repeated attempts fell through, negotiations are still at a standstill between the University administration and protesters. Protest groups, including the Students for Justice in Palestine, have repeatedly stated that the University is responsible for conversations not occurring. However, the University put out a statement on Sunday stating that protesters refused an offer for discussions.
At 8 a.m. today, SJP released a “UIUC Encampment for Palestine Report,” in which it discussed the protestors’ experiences and laid out its demands for the University administration.
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“We demand the University of Illinois System, invest in students and community rather than genocide,” the statement read.
The report also stated that “The administration violated labor law by forcing building and service workers to suppress student speech, removing tents surrounded police.”
Following the heated protests between police, protestors and Facilities & Services workers on Friday, the Campus Faculty Association, along with the Non-Tenure Faculty Union Coalition, released statements in which they condemned the University for sending building service workers into the protests.
“This attempt to force our amazing BSWs to participate in the suppression of a political action is woefully irresponsible and unacceptable in trampling on the human, civil, and labor rights of any individual on this campus,” the CFA’s statement read.
