Sonoma State faculty join student-led pro-Palestinian protests

As many as 20 professors joined Sonoma State University students Tuesday for the fourth day of their pro-Palestinian protest against the Israel-Hamas war as similar student-led efforts at U.S. colleges have attracted suspensions and police raids.

The faculty members marched and chanted with students during the planned walkout; four of them spoke to a crowd of about 45 people, including 25 people who had stayed in the encampment on Person Lawn the night before. Some students have been camped out since Friday.

The students, organized by the SSU Students for Justice in Palestine, are demanding the school call for a permanent and immediate cease-fire; recognize Palestinian identity in academics, as with other ethnic and racial groups; divest from all entities that profit from and support the occupation of Palestine; and agree to an academic boycott that would shut down study-abroad programs linked to Israel.

Kim Hester Williams, who has taught at the Rohnert Park university for 23 years, talked Tuesday about the importance of protesting.

“We have to be about doing the work of freedom and justice. No matter where, what or when and no matter how much the cost,” she said. “I don’t know, as a Black woman, where we would be without protest. What would this world look like if we didn’t have protest?”

She also discussed how the students’ voices can be used to fight against the individuals perpetuating violence in Gaza.

“As a person of color, as a woman of color, I take great offense to the killing, violence, starvation of these people of color,” she said.

The educators began gathering about 11 a.m. at the edge of the encampment, which was set up Friday near the student center and recreational center. They chatted with one another about why they chose to attend and some spotted a few students from their courses.

Lena McQuade, a women’s and gender studies professor at SSU and who is Jewish, joined the demonstration carrying a poster with a picture of her grandparents. She said they taught her to stand up for peace and work for justice.

“They were supporters of Israel. They saw it as a strategy for Jewish safety,” she said of her grandparents. “It has been important for me to come forward and to say, while I still want Jewish safety, what’s happening right now is not bringing safety.

“The war, the killing is not bringing safety to Gazans. It’s not bringing safety to Palestinians. It’s not bringing safety to Jews.”

After the speakers concluded, the group marched from the lawn to the space between the recreational center and student center. They shouted chants — “There is only one solution, Intifada revolution,” and “Whose school? Our school.” Some carried signs with messages like “Criticizing Israel is not antisemitic” and “Strike for Gaza.”

Across the way, members of Alpha Epsilon Pi raised money for Israel’s emergency medical services system and the Israel Cancer Research Fund, according to John Pierce, a spokesperson for the national fraternity, which is dedicated to Judaism. A table they were at displayed Israel’s flag.

Pierce said the fraternity was initially set to table on Person Lawn, where the encampment’s tents are, but decided to move because of the demonstration. He said it was frustrating that the group had to move when AEPi had reserved the space and the other student group had not.

The SSU chapter of Alpha Epsilon Pi posted a photo on its Instagram account Monday of a plaque that is part of the school’s Holocaust memorial. Beneath the sign, the word “IsNOTreal” were written in chalk.

“What happened to never again?” the caption reads, referring to lessens learned from the Holocaust or similar genocides.

Another student reposted the photo, calling the language unacceptable.

Alpha Epsilon Pi members said they did not want to comment on the post when approached by a Press Democrat reporter Tuesday.

Albert Levine, 21, a third-year student and encampment organizer, said he does not believe anyone within the encampment wrote the message.

“We’ve been very clear on our guidelines. There is absolutely no place for antisemitism here,” said Levine, a member of SSU Students for Justice in Palestine.

Levine added, at one point the group had set out chalk where passersby could have grabbed a piece.

On Monday, SSU President Mike Lee sent out an email saying what he identified as antisemitic messages that were written on the sidewalk in the front of the encampment. He said the writing would be removed and denounced as hateful rhetoric.

The student group, in connection with Jewish Voice for Peace, released a statement on Instagram saying they did not believe any statements written were antisemitic.

After several minutes of marching, Tuesday afternoon’s demonstrators returned to the encampment and continued to shout chants and bang drums and empty water jugs as people continued to walk by.

Emily Bousquet, 19, a first-year theater and music student, has been at the encampment for multiple days. They said they initially joined because of the violent ways police dealt with students at some encampments across the country.

One of their friends was arrested at a demonstration at Emory University, Bousquet said. That was their tipping point.

“This is not something that I think should be allowed in the country,” Bousquet said. “It just made the most sense to come and join the encampment and show my support for the people organizing.”

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

You can reach Staff Writer Madison Smalstig at madison.smalstig@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @madi.smals.