Northwestern pro-Palestinian organizers hold press conference as Schill testifies

As Northwestern President Michael Schill testified on Capitol Hill Thursday morning, pro-Palestinian student activists held a press conference on the sidewalk outside Deering Meadow to reaffirm their stance and comment on the testimony.

The group consisted of students from Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace, and activists read statements on behalf of the organizations.

“While we are here on Northwestern campus, no university stands in Gaza. They have all been destroyed by Israel. We want to recognize the Chicagoland Palestinian community – the largest Palestinian diaspora in North America – for their support of our encampments and efforts. Solidarity with all communities is crucial toward ending genocide and freeing Palestine,” said an organizer on behalf of SJP and JVP.

Jewish students from JVP also spoke at the press conference.

“I grew up learning about the pogroms my ancestors fled in Eastern Europe. I learned about the Holocaust. The myriad ethnic cleansings that my people – the Jewish people – have endured throughout our history. But this gruesome history obliges me to stand up to violence against all groups, not just my own,” said Josh, a member of JVP. Speakers from the group asked to be referred to by first name only or did not provide a last name.

Evgeny, another Jewish student in JVP, spoke against Northwestern, saying the university “justifies its unwavering support for the genocide in Palestine by claiming that to do otherwise is antisemitic.”

He said that for many Jewish students the encampment became a place where they felt the “most connected to and supported in” their Judaism since arriving at Northwestern.

“We call on Schill, our university and political leaders to listen to Jewish students of all ideologies. It does a disservice to our Jewishness to assume that we are an ideological monolith and to ignore the calls of anti-Zionist Jewish students,” he said.

Evgeny also said that non-Jewish organizers of the encampment prioritized uplifting and protecting Jewish voices.

“On the first night on Deering Meadow we celebrated Passover with a Seder, traditional songs and cultural food. We handed out and broke matzo, representing the hardships experienced by freedom seekers, both the Jewish people historically and Palestinians today,” he said. “We taught our classmates about the story of Jewish liberation from bondage in light of Palestinians’ current battles for freedom.” 

The group was also supported by faculty members including Shirin Vossoughi, an associate professor in the School of Education and Social Policy.

“It is also our moral responsibility as educators to stand shoulder and shoulder with them in response to the genocide that’s unfolding and the scholasticide that’s unfolding, which is the destruction of the education system in Gaza, which is a tactic of genocide,” she said.

The activists replied to some parts of Schill’s opening testimony, including when he said he “rejected the main student demand for divestment and will not ever recommend that Northwestern use its resources for political purposes.”

Jordan, a member of SJP, said the group understands that divestment is “a long struggle” and spoke about the university’s history with divestment efforts, including calls to divest from apartheid in South Africa, from the conflict in Sudan and from fossil fuels.

“We are not surprised that they say they will not divest,” Jordan said. “Yet because we are at this university, because we pay tuition that is contributing to our endowment that is sending bombs around the world, we know that we must be a part of this effort. We will not take no. We will not take no to divest because it must happen.” 

Jordan also spoke against Schill’s assertion that the university wouldn’t use its resources for political purposes, saying that funding military weapons companies and fossil fuel companies is a political purpose. 

‘We want that to stop’

“We are directly funding things that are directly impacting people’s lives both around this country and on this campus. That is already happening, and we want that to stop.”

When asked whether they planned to abide by the stipulation in the agreement with Northwestern allowing a single aid tent on the meadow until June 1, an organizer said they were “not going to share strategy” because they “simply don’t know what the university is going to respond as per the agreement” to disclose.

Activists were also asked about setting up the encampment again and said that they could not “speak to strategy at the moment.”

However, Evgeny spoke about the effectiveness of the encampment, saying that a month ago, Schill said he would not disclose, would not use the word Palestine in his emails and “was going to arrest all of us.” 

“We know we have the people power to continue moving forward. Imagine if all it took was five days of plastic tents to get us complete and total disclosure of direct and indirect investments, imagine what we can do with that people power with six days, with 10 days, with 15 days, with a year, with four years, with five years,” he said. “So we will still be building our people power as we have for decades, and we will continue until this university does reach full and complete disclosure and divestment.”

Jordan said the group is committed to continuing their efforts and they do not see it ending with the school year.

“We will go back and forth between moments of visibility, but we also know that there’s research to be done,” Jordan said. There’s relationships to develop. There’s connections to be made. There’s community care, there’s connections with other universities and other community groups to be made. So that is also an essential part of our work.”