Students gathered on Deering Meadow in the late morning of Thursday, April 25, surrounded by the smell of damp earth and grass as a cool breeze blew through the trees. On the lawn in front of Deering Library, some held hands and danced Dabke, a traditional Palestinian dance in which the students’ feet fly to the beat resounding from speakers. Students talk and eat pizza sitting on the grass, some checking their Canvas notifications or reading. Deering Meadow, at the moment, does not seem that different from other spring mornings on campus, except for the presence of at least 20 tents.
Though it has since been taken down, the encampment at Northwestern was one of dozens of others at colleges and universities across the world, assembled to protest the War in Palestine and Israel. The 7-month-old conflict has now resulted in the deaths of more than 34,500 Palestinians and 1,200 Israelis as of May 4, and many activists condemn Israel’s actions over the past few months. Currently, around 1.7 million Palestinians are facing displacement and a director of the U.N. World Food Program called the situation “full-blown famine.”
