Students show no sign of leaving pro-Palestinian encampment as Sonoma State University condemns antisemitic writing

About 20 tents still stood Monday on the pro-Palestinian encampment at Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park.

It marked the third day that SSU students and community members had camped on the lawn near the university’s student recreation center in protest of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, mimicking student-led efforts at universities across the nation.

A few dozen people stopped among the tents to talk, study and hang up signs. About 15 people had stayed overnight.

Fourth-year SSU student Nadia, whose father grew up in Gaza, spoke to a crowd of about 40 people Monday afternoon at the encampment. She thanked the students who established the space and said it and others nearby, such as at UC Berkeley, have “brought tears of happiness” to her family.

Nadia, 22, talked about her father’s experience with racism in the U.S. as a Middle Eastern man and how he told her and her siblings to hide their identities too, for their safety.

“If you feel helpless, know that you have already made an impact,” she said to the crowd. “You have made me feel seen, recognized and heard and have also contributed to giving hope to the Gazans who have received news of our efforts made across the nation, like this one here.”

Nadia did not want to share her last name for fear of retaliation against herself or her family.

“I’m a human being. I’m a person. I have a heart a mind and a soul … I am no different from the innocent Palestinian civilians being killed on a daily basis in Gaza,” she said. “We are no different from the people under the rubble.”

Almost a day before Nadia spoke, university student affairs officials informed students leading the encampment that they would have to move the tents, signs, tables, blankets and food because the lawn was booked Monday for another event: tabling for sororities and fraternities, said Julianna M., 19, a first-year political science student.

No staff or police showed up to move the encampment.

SSU spokesperson Jeff Keating said in an email the “groups scheduled to table in the same area as the encampment were relocated to an on-campus location more conducive to the success of their preplanned activities.”

Julianna M. said the group never intended to move.

“We’re making demands here, you know, and we’ve taken this space for us for our movement,” she said. “And if we’re too polite, our demands will never get met.”

The group has made four demands to university administration, said Albert Levine, 21, a third-year communications and media studies major. Those include disclosing and divesting from organizations that are providing assistance to Israel’s military actions in Gaza and asking university leaders to call for an immediate and permanent cease-fire in Gaza.

Columbia University began suspending students who remained in the pro-Palestine encampment at the New York City school beyond a 2 p.m. ET Monday deadline. Many students across the country have been arrested or were disciplined within their respective universities for similar actions.

SSU Police Chief Nader Oweis stopped by the encampment Monday morning to check on students, Julianna M. said.

Oweis later told a Press Democrat reporter on campus he stopped to speak with the students too see if there were any safety concerns. The students didn’t express any.

SSU President Mike Lee issued another email statement about the camp Monday morning.

Lee condemned what he identified as antisemitic messages written in chalk near the camp. He did not specify what the messages said.

“Their antisemitic wording has no place at Sonoma State or anywhere else respect and tolerance are practiced. Therefore, those messages will be removed,” he said in the email.

“Sonoma State University draws the line at depictions of intolerance and hate on our premises,” he continued. “They poison our atmosphere, which is one of respect and appreciation for diverse viewpoints and experiences and the people who embody them, and degrade our values that espouse each person's dignity and humanity.”

This is the third statement Lee has released in relation to the ongoing conflict in Gaza, which began after an Oct. 7 raid into southern Israel, in which Hamas and other militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250 hostages.

Since then, more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed, with at least two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Hamas-controlled health ministry in Gaza.

No university officials have come to remove any of the chalk messaging, said Levine, member of the Sonoma State chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine.

“We have heard the concerns from President Lee about antisemitic messaging in chalk around our encampment,” the SSU Students for Justice in Palestine organization said in a statement on Instagram. “We are clarifying that there is ZERO TOLERANCE of antisemitism in association with this camp & movement. We work closely with and listen to our Jewish community members and organizers.”

Levine said the organization has been trying to reach Lee but have had issues. They did not reach out to his direct school email because every message Levine said he sent prior to attempting to communicate the demands was just forwarded to the communications department.

“We would love to have a sit down conversation with Mike Lee,” Levine said.

Most of the day around the encampment was not scheduled. Some students walking by stopped to ask questions like “What is Zionism?” Some who stuck around made crafts for the cause — buttons that said “Free Palestine” and signs reading “Save all the kids in Gaza” and “Let Gaza live.”

Cindy Serrano, 34, of San Francisco, visited the encampment Monday for the second day.

On Sunday, they and their partner donated items like batteries, chargers, a table and flashlights to the encampment. They came back Monday when the SSU Students for Justice in Palestine organization posted on social media they may be threatened to move in the morning.

“We care about their safety and them being able to do what they want and show up,” Serrano said. “So if we can help in any way we definitely will.”

Serrano said that throughout the morning she saw more individuals, including people from the Santa Rosa Junior College and SSU faculty, pass through.

Two of those faculty were Hutchins School of Liberal Studies professors Margaret Anderson and Wendy Ostroff.

Ostroff, who wore a “Free Palestine” pin, said she came to support the students and have more open dialogue about the situation.

“I feel that innocent people are being murdered. I feel that it’s our civic duty to stand up for what’s right and make people aware,” she said. “I’m also teaching a class on challenge and response in the modern world, so we are talking about political movements, we’re talking about activism, so wouldn’t it be crazy to not come where there is a political movement on our campus?”

Ostroff, who is of Jewish ethnicity, said in her 24 years on campus she has always felt free to express her opinion and this situation was no exception.

“How do we create an equal playing field to go further without people being shut down?” Anderson said, demonstrating one of the questions she and her students pondered in one of her discussion classes.

Anderson said she was disappointed she didn’t see many other faculty stopping at the encampment Monday.

“Why not be near our students?” she said. “It’s the invisibility that breaks my heart.”

About 12:45 p.m., the people around the encampment grabbed signs, drums and a megaphone and marched a short distance to the space between the student recreational center and the student center. Some student organizations including a fraternity that displayed a flag of Israel were tabling in the area.

They shouted chants: “Gaza, Gaza you will rise. SSU has mobilized,” and “No more hiding, no more fear. Genocide, it’s crystal clear.”

They walked in circles as others on campus watched and pulled out phones. University employees monitored the situation to make sure it was safe.

After about 10 minutes, the demonstrators walked back to the encampment.

A student affairs employee spoke with people at the table where the Israeli flag was displayed and thanked them for not responding or escalating the situation. A Press Democrat reporter approached the people who were tabling but they declined to comment.

Madyline Jaramillo, 21, a third-year SSU student and organizer of the encampment, said the group did not have any intense interactions with others at the site.

The group is hosting a faculty walkout 11 a.m. Tuesday, Jaramillo said.

Editor’s Note: In a previous version of this story, organizer Albert Levine was incorrectly identified with a different first name.