UWM pro-Palestinian protest: frustration mounting on all sides over lack of communication from university

Updated: May 1 at 9:45 p.m. 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- In Milwaukee, on Wednesday, May 1, pro-Palestinian protests continued for a third day on the UW-Milwaukee campus, even after police moved into the Madison encampment in the morning.

All week, state and university officials have said the overnight encampments violate state law regulating camping and picnicking. While the Madison encampment was cleared, the UWM encampment has been allowed to stay, for now.

Tents were left up after dozens of protesters camped out overnight. There was no police activity or interaction with demonstrations.

But the developments in Madison were top of mind here today as protesters wondered if UWM police would move in like the police in Madison.

That did not happen, but there is still a lot of uncertainty.

UWM is still not granting interviews about the situation, so we cannot ask questions of the administration. Many organizations on both sides of the issue are frustrated with a lack of communication.

Rabbi Joshua Herman, of Hillel Milwaukee, told us, "I'm extremely disappointed in Chancellor Mone, who is refusing to take calls."

And Samia Saeed, with the UWM Popular University for Palestine Coalition, said, "We've basically exhausted all the avenues of communication."

As the UWM encampment continued for a third day, both sides of the issue are frustrated with the university.

A statement sent to us Wednesday by a UWM spokesperson was the same as a previous statement sent Tuesday:

"Members of the UWM administration are having conversations with students and community members in the background and are working on peaceful resolutions."

But both protesters and Herman say there has been no direct communication with them.

In the meantime, Herman says the protest is affecting Jewish students on campus.

He told us, "The past week has been filled with a lot of tears students calling us saying that they’re afraid to go to class, they are afraid to walk home."

The Hillel Milwaukee Jewish student center is a block away from the encampment.

Herman said, "There’s a lot of language which is advocating for violence, which is really instilling a lot of fear into Jewish students."

But Saeed denied it, saying, "There's no hate speech."

Protesters continued with speeches Wednesday, and dances and other cultural demonstrations.

Saeed told us, "As for anyone who says this isn't family friendly, well there are families here, and we are friendly. So we're family friendly."

Saeed said her main goal was to make sure protesters in Milwaukee stay safe.

"There have been no police interactions as of yet, but we have a good security team that is trying to protect us as much as they can," she said.

Also Wednesday, state and university authorities again weighed in.

After Madison's encampment was cleared in the morning, Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman was asked if police would also move in on UWM's protest.

Rothman said, "Each campus is unique and it will be dealt with in a unique manner, it's not a one size fits all in terms of the way we approach this."

At a separate event, Democratic Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez said, "We have to make sure that the protest for Palestinians is not inherently antisemitic."

Without clear information from the university, we asked Herman when he thought the situation would end.

He said, "I don’t know. I have a feeling the university is simply trying to wait it out. I think the university's strategy thus far has been to try to plug their ears and hope this all goes away."

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MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) --Day three of pro-Palestine demonstrations continued on the UW- Milwaukee campus.

Tents were still intact on Wednesday, May 1, after dozens of protesters camped out overnight. There was no police activity or interaction with demonstrations.

Protest organizers say they were disappointed to wake up to the news that UW-Madison had removed protesters from the encampment there.

Samia Saeed, a member of the UWM Popular University for Palestine Coalition said her main goal was to make sure protesters in Milwaukee stay safe.

"There have been no police interactions as of yet, but we have a good security team that is trying to protect us as much as they can," she said.

She also spoke about the atmosphere overnight. "We also have barricades all around...because this is a family friendly space, this is a family friendly protest...we had a bunch of families stay overnight so we need to be prepared for any aggression that we see from the authorities," she said.

Saeed says there's been a lot of community support and UW-Madison officials addressed the situation in Madison but there was no mention of UW-Milwaukee protestors being removed anytime soon.