Pro-Palestinian protest at UW-Madison, activists ignore campus encampment ban

MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- A pro-Palestinian encampment remained in place late Monday night on the UW-Madison campus. Throughout the day, university leaders warned demonstrators any kind of camping on campus was illegal.

However, the police presence at Library Mall was small throughout the night, although officers were staged elsewhere near the encampment.

At one point in the evening, Dean of Students Christina Olstad was among a group handing out cards to demonstrators reminding them the encampment was illegal. When approached by a reporter, Olstad simply referred all questions to the university's public relations office.

By 10:00 p.m. Monday night, about 200 demonstrators were still on campus with about 25 tents set up.

A UW-Madison spokeswoman did not answer questions about whether the university would eventually authorize police to break up the encampment, which was peaceful and confined to the mall Monday.

Instead, the university issued a statement late Monday evening in which Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin was among the leaders noting the encampment was illegal calling on demonstrators to "voluntarily" remove the tents.

UW-Madison leadership signaled they'd meet with protest organizers to discuss their demands if they first took down the encampment.

"Once compliance with campus policy and state law has been achieved and tents have been removed from campus property, we, as campus leaders stand ready to meet with campus-based organizers to discuss their demands," the statement read.

The demands include full disclosure of the UW Foundation's investments and the cutting of all university ties to Israel, including study abroad programs. The demands also called for the university to publicly declare support for an "immediate, permanent ceasefire" and to "get cops off campus."

Some faculty showed up at the encampment to support participating students. Samer Alatout, an associate professor of community sociology, said he didn't have a stance on the specific demands but added he respected protestors' effort to change university policy.

"I'm here because I support the students' right to express themselves and to be heard and to contribute to the governance of the institution," Alatout said.

A group of about ten Jewish counter-protestors walked through the encampment several times back-and-forth late Monday afternoon. There were no visible confrontations, although the group said one pro-Palestinian told them he was "with Hamas."

Zachary Ogulnick, a UW-Madison senior who was among the group waving flags that read, 'End antisemitism,' said he didn't necessary want the encampment torn down but did not endorse the setup, either.

"I'll say this: It is their First Amendment right to express themselves in this way. Maybe not the tents. The tents are up for question, but if they want to express themselves, they're more than welcome to," Ogulnick said. "As long as [the encampment] lasts, we're gonna be out here pleading out message."

Alatout said he did not believe the demonstrators or their demands targeted anyone on campus or anybody's faith.

"It has nothing to do with Jewish students. It has to do with the Israeli state, so I don't know. I mean, people will read it differently; I don't read it as antisemetic, at all."

The demonstration made UW-Madison the latest campus to join a series of college protests happening across the U.S. for Palestinian rights.

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered on the UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee campuses Monday. It was the latest wave of protests underway across many major universities, with students calling on their institutions to divest from companies that could be profiting from the war in Gaza.

Earlier in the morning, a human wall was formed around nearly a dozen tents set up for encampment. It comes after university officials issued a letter Friday warning student groups encampments are against school protest policies and those who disobey the rules "can and will have consequences."

Still, student activists are determined and said they have no plans to leave until their demands are met.

"When compared to the horrors the people in Gaza are facing right now, the threats the university are giving us don't compare and we will be out here until we have justice for Palestinians," said Dahlia Saba, an activist with the group Students for Justice in Palestine.

While the demands vary slightly across the U.S., nearly all campus demonstrations, including UW-Madison, are asking for the same thing: that their university cuts ties with companies linked to Israel.

"We care very deeply and will fight to make sure this university ends its complicity with the utter horror that is happening right now in Gaza," said Saba.

The protest took place during the first day of final exams as classes nationwide are wrapping up for the semester. With graduation right around the corner, some UW students showed their frustration with the campus demonstration.

One student, a junior at UW-Madison who wants to remain anonymous, was seen booing protesters before police escorted him away.

"I don't like it at all to be completely honest," the student said. "Coming here to learn and then all these people coming here to ruin the fun and for what reason? This isn't really a protest against Israel or Palestine, it is a protest about America."

Campus police will monitor the protest throughout the week, but university officials have remained silent as to whether they'll crack down on the encampment.

It's been a focal point across the nation as protesters in encampments have led to a series of arrests.

At Columbia University, more than 100 people were arrested earlier this month after the administration called in the New York City police to clear out pro-Palestinian encampments. Since then, multiple universities and colleges have cracked down on similar protests.

So far, no arrests have been made on the UW-Madison campus.

This story will be updated.