Students demonstrate on October 7th anniversary at Records Field

On Tuesday, a coalition of nine student organizations held a demonstration regarding the second anniversary of the October 7th attacks in Israel, and the subsequent military action in the Gaza Strip. This was held in the designated “Free Speech Zone” of Records Field behind Brower Commons. Students chanted for an end to the war in Gaza and for their perceptions of Palestinian freedom.

The organizations signed on to the event, per Instagram, included RU Progressive, Students for Environmental Awareness, Rutgers Kashmir, New Jersey 4 Falasteen, the Arab Cultural Club, Queer Caucus at Rutgers, and Queer Jewish Anti-Zionists at Rutgers, Anakbayan Rutgers, and the Muslim Public Relations Council (MPRC).

The president of the MPRC explained the process behind booking the Records Field for their demonstration. They filled out the Free Speech Form through the “Free Speech at Rutgers” webpage. In terms of booking the space, it was a simple process and was similar to how they prepared for other massive gatherings. In terms of spreading the word to the Rutgers community, much of the advertisement was through the MPRC’s Instagram account and through word of mouth.

The organizations hosted multiple students to speak of the situation in Palestine, one of whom mentioned the absent status of Gaza universities, provoking emotional reactions from the crowd of demonstrators. According to the president of the MPRC, the speakers were chosen internally among the student organizations. The protestors called upon President Donald Trump at the federal level, and the Rutgers administration, led by President William F. Tate at the local level, to be held accountable for their perceived complicity in this serious matter. A student watched the demonstration from afar and shared his input on what the protestors likely believed in. Listen below for more:

A group of three people appeared around 3:20 P.M. to counter-protest the pro-Palestine demonstrations. The counter-protestors were ushered away by Rutgers staff from the sidewalk and pushed onto the grassy hill behind Brower Commons, holding up cardboard posters to express their political beliefs. One poster depicted a yellow ribbon, demanding action to free the Israeli hostages in Gaza, with other posters depicting pictures and names of specific hostages, writing out “Bring Them Home” underneath them. They also laid down an Israeli flag on the grass in front of them. WRSU reached out to the counter-protestors for comment, and they declined to speak with the press.

The protests ended around 4:20 P.M., meeting the deadline for the Rutgers free speech regulations to end demonstrations at 5:00 P.M.

Andrew Hawthorne, Julia Saker, Hayah Mian and Keya Raval contributed to this story.