Students protested in support of Palestine in front of Denny Chimes Tuesday evening, following a previous larger demonstration in May.
Around 50 protestors holding signs with calls for an immediate ceasefire and other anti-war messages gathered in a roped-off section of the Quad, opposing the counterprotesters gathered in a separate section nearby.
Israel and Hamas are reportedly far from a ceasefire deal in a war in which Israel’s offensive has killed more than 40,000 Gazans. The war began Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas militants killed 1,200 people in Israel and took 250 others hostage.
“The purpose of the protest is to send a message about how destructive the University’s connection to Lockheed Martin is as well as to call attention to institutional support by our government for the genocide in Gaza,” said Ethan Henry, a senior economics major who helped organize and lead the event.
According to a flier advertising the event, the protestors demand several things of University — some of which were also demands made in the May demonstrations — including that the University:
- Stop allowing Lockheed Martin to recruit on campus
- End its role as a “partner university” with the company
- Rename Hewson Hall, named after Marillyn Hewson, the former chairman, president and CEO of Lockheed Martin, a defense contractor
- Disclose investments made with the University’s endowment and divest from corporations that are supporting what protestors call the “genocide” in Gaza
- Cease research funded by the Department of Defense
- Release a statement calling for an immediate, permanent ceasefire to the war in Gaza
“Marillyn Hewson is directly connected to the Lockheed Martin [Corporation], who has profited millions of dollars off not just the genocide of Gazans, but conflicts like this all over the world, where the U.S. is playing war profiteer,” said Isabella Cornelius, a senior majoring in news media who acted as the media liaison for protestors.
The Crimson White was unable to independently verify that the University is considered a “partner university” with Lockheed Martin.
Around 20 designated counterprotesters showed up in opposition to the pro-Palestine demonstration, but they collected into smaller groups, each with its own motivation and thought process behind protesting. Some wore or held the Israeli or American flags, while others donned clothing expressing their support for former President Donald Trump.
Trenton Buffenbarger, a junior political science major and president of Young Americans for Freedom, expressed his distaste at the protesters’ demands, which he called “unfair.” He said the demand to rename Hewson Hall was unfair, claiming that “because she’s a female CEO of a company, they want to take her name off of things.”
Freshman finance major Elliot Pollak said that as a Jewish student, it was important for him to counterprotest. However, he disagreed with the ways both sides of the protest were being run.
“I’m afraid a lot of people are not here for the right reason,” Pollak said, referring to counterprotesters who yelled anti-Islamic sentiments like “take off the towel” in reference to the Palestinian keffiyeh and traditionally muslim hijabs that were being worn by some pro-Palestine protesters.
“I’ve seen Nazis, and I’ve seen white supremacists saying anti-Islam sentiment, and they seem to have a similar rhetoric,” Pollak said. He shared that while some people were at the protest to support Israel, he believed some were anti-muslim and using the protest as a way to express their sentiments.
Counterprotestors accused the students demonstrating of being “terrorists.”
Henry said the demonstration seeks to end the war and stop the deaths of all civilians, adding the protestors condemned antisemitism.
While rhetoric used by each group was strongly worded, the protest remained entirely peaceful, and UAPD officers were present to secure the event.
“The University of Alabama is committed to free and open inquiry and expression for members of the University campus community,” said Deidre Simmons, executive director of communications for the University. “As part of this commitment, UA encourages responsible deliberation and debate on campus and facilitates numerous opportunities for members of our community to express differing points of view.”
Simmons added that the University appreciated that attendees followed campus policy and exercised their free speech rights with no disruptions, noting that University staff and UAPD officers at the event shared expectations and guidance with attendees to keep the event peaceful .
Cornelius said that to her knowledge, since the May demonstration the University has not reached out to speak with demonstrators about their demands. Henry declined to say whether the protestors would organize similar demonstrations in the future.
