An encampment with about 200 people took place in Yale’s Beinecke Plaza on Tuesday night, the day before Israel’s far-right security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was set to hold a talk with Yale’s Shabtai Society.
The encampment dispersed at about 11:30 p.m. after organizers said they planned to stay the night, citing fears of “retribution,” according to Yale Daily News. The encampment took place on the one-year anniversary of Yale’s first encampment on April 22, 2024.
The protest began at 8 p.m. and eight tents were erected at the protest, according to Yale Daily News.
Yalies for Palestine had another protest planned yesterday beginning at 6 p.m. to oppose Ben-Gvir’s visit.
Howard University has also held a recent encampment and Emory University has several days of rallies planned.
Recent protests have taken place across the state as part of Israeli Apartheid Week, which took place April 14-19.
The Instagram account for student group Yalies for Palestine commented on the event while it was ongoing.
“In the face of censorship, repression, and crackdowns, student resistance stands unwavering,” the post said. “Stand with and support Yale students!”
The account said that Yale repressed rights to assembly.
“Yale University is actively repressing our efforts to peacefully assemble. They refuse to listen to our demands and now threaten aggressive action against us,” the account said.
Yale did not respond to a request for comment from The Daily Campus.
According to Yale Daily News, students were handed cards by Pilar Montalvo, assistant vice president for university life, with a QR code that linked to Yale’s freedom of expression policies that notified them that they risked arrest by continuing to protest.
Yalies for Palestine condemned Ben-Gvir’s visit.
“Today, Itamar Ben-Gvir, a core architect of the genocide in Gaza, will be coming to the students of this University to speak,” the account said. “This is unacceptable to the students of Yale, and we condemn his visit in the strongest terms.”
Ben-Gvir was convicted of incitement to racism and supporting a terrorist organization in 2007, according to the Jerusalem Post. He was acquitted on similar charges of chanting “Death to Arabs.” 50,810 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed and 155,688 have been injured since Oct. 7, 2023, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs via Gaza’s Ministry of Health.
The group promised to escalate protests in the future.
“Let us recognize what we’ve done in a moment of severe repression,” their post said. “We have shown this University that we are not afraid to escalate! And we will escalate for Gaza until divestment and liberation.”
Featured photo courtesy of @yalies4palestine/Instagram
It’s a shame that there is so little happening at UConn that the daily campus has no choice but to cover protests of off-campus events in New Haven. I’m sure that there has been past coverage in the DC of protests of every controversial speaker who has ever come to Connecticut.