As the pro-Palestine encampment staged in the Arts Quad nears its 96-hour mark, negotiations between protesters and the University remain inconclusive and more suspensions remain a looming prospect.
On Sunday, April 28, the Coalition for Mutual Liberation called for an 11:30 a.m. emergency rally in support of the encampment in response to a statement released by Joel Malina, vice president for University relations on Saturday, April 27.
The statement confirmed that the University had issued immediate temporary suspensions to several student participants and said that the administration is preparing to issue additional suspensions as well as referrals to human resources for employee participants.
The student organization Climate Justice Cornell was suspended due to applying for the event under what the administration referred to as “false pretenses,” since the student group stated that the event would not include tents and would end at 8 p.m. on Thursday, according to the statement. Participants in the encampment refused to both remove the tents and leave the area on Thursday.
The statement also condemned some chants from encampment participants, particularly the phrase: “There is only one solution: Intifada Revolution.”
“The protesting group has repeatedly stated that their protest is political and not antisemitic, but these chants belie that claim,” Malina wrote.
At 11:10 a.m. on Sunday, CML sent a statement to The Sun that foresaw that there would be a confrontation with police at noon. However, police presence remained minimal throughout the day, with no notable increase at noon.
The CML statement also claimed that the administration agreed to reverse its decision to evict the four suspended students and to open negotiations with CML over their eight demands due to support from the Cornell community.
“This shift shows the undeniable power of student protests, and that Cornell knows investing in genocide and targeting peaceful protestors is unpopular,” the statement read.
Rebecca Valli, a representative of Cornell Media Relations, declined to share more information about the reasoning behind the University reversing evictions and about what negotiations would entail with The Sun.
Around 11:40 a.m., a group of about 10 people walked past the encampment while waving Israeli flags and holding a banner that read “Run for Their Lives,” a movement that calls “for the immediate release of the hostages held by Hamas.”
The group — who told The Sun they gather every week, either on campus or downtown — assembled as the rally began and responded to some of the speeches by screaming “bullsh*t” at speakers.
But protesters continued their rally, delivering speeches and chants for about an hour.
During the rally, Jawuanna McAllister grad anticipated further disciplinary actions from the University as “imminent.”
“We will not be moving. They have indicated that more suspensions and arrests may come,” McAllister said. “We are ready.”