Students Leave Peacefully From Rutgers Pro-Gaza Tent Protest

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — Update 8:43 p.m. Thursday: The students who set up a pro-Gaza solidarity tent camp at Rutgers agreed to peacefully end their protest, the university announced Wednesday evening.

The students "committed to removing their tents and belongings, effectively clearing Voorhees Mall. This process began before the 4 p.m. deadline and is currently underway," said the university in a statement.

This video on X shows students dismantling the tents.

The students did this after President Jonathan Holloway said Rutgers Police would begin forcefully clearing the camp starting at 4 p.m. Thursday. It did not come to police action, said Rutgers Chancellor Francine Conway. There were no arrests Thursday.

Tensions were extremely high on Voorhees Mall Thursday: Counter protesters shouted "USA, USA!" while others shouted "Free, free Palestine!" and "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!" and people kept the two crowds separated.

She did warn that "individual students involved in the encampment may still be subject to the Code of Student Conduct."

Conway also said Rutgers can "serve as a model to the nation."

"This resolution was achieved through constructive dialogue between the protesting students and our leadership teams," she said. "This agreement opens the door for ongoing dialogue and better addresses the needs of our Arab, Muslim and Palestinian student body, which numbers over 7,000.

Rutgers is currently "reviewing" the students' request to divest university funds from the nation of Israel.

An Advisory Council for Arab, Muslim and Palestinian Life has also been formed at Rutgers.

Rutgers postponed its first round of final exams Thursday morning — a decision Holloway called "unprecedented" in school history — because the university says pro-Palestine protests have "escalated" and they fear for student safety.

"This morning, we met again with the students representing the protest, again expressing our concerns for safety and student success, and informed them that their tents need to be removed from Voorhees Mall by 4 p.m. today," said Holloway in an email to all students Thursday afternoon. "If the protesters do not comply and disperse, clearing the area of their tents and belongings, they will be considered to have trespassed, and we will be left with no other option than, with the assistance of law enforcement, to remove the protesters and their belongings."

The tents will not be allowed back:

"The safety of our students and their academic success are our highest priorities. Exams previously scheduled for this morning are being rescheduled or relocated, and the protest area on Voorhees Mall and any other places where University business is conducted will be cleared of all protesters for the remainder of the semester," Holloway warned.

The protesters call their tent encampment the "Liberation Zone." The students say they are not leaving until these following 10 demands are accepted, which includes not allowing Tel Aviv University to open a satellite campus at Rutgers.

Earlier in that same email, Holloway said:

"Several days ago, some people, including Rutgers students and individuals not from our community, set up tents on Voorhees Mall. Our strategy has been focused on de-escalation and yesterday (Wednesday), we met with a group of students representing the protest to discuss the need to ensure that their fellow students’ exam period was not disrupted. We emphasized that student safety and student success are our most important priorities as an institution.

"However, we were disappointed to learn that overnight, Students for Justice in Palestine called for a significant rally on the Voorhees Mall, coinciding with the beginning of the exam period, specifically intended to disrupt finals for our students. Buildings surrounding Voorhees Mall are the site of hundreds of exams during the finals period, and students are rightly concerned about their ability to take exams in this environment.

"The morning rally disrupted 28 scheduled exams, impacting more than 1,000 students. While the protesters eventually responded to our request to cease their disruption, the disruption adversely impacted our students and University operations and forced our postponement announcement.

"We value free speech and the right to protest, but it should not come at the cost of our students’ education and safety," said Holloway. "We believe the action we have taken today is appropriate."

Rutgers protest camp has been up for four days

Thursday is the fourth day of the Gaza solidarity tents set up in the center of the Rutgers New Brunswick campus, on Voorhees Mall. Students first erected the tents Monday, and there are currently about 60 tents up.

The pro-Palestine students are demanding Rutgers cancel all final exams.

Just before midnight Wednesday, Students for Justice in Palestine sent out a mass email saying "DAY 4 ENCAMPMENT — F*** FINALS FREE FALASTEEN PROTEST."

"We will be protesting at our Liberation Zone to demand the cancellation of finals since there are no universities left in Gaza," said the college students.

The pro-Palestine student group said Wednesday night:

"We will not leave Voorhees Mall the same way Palestinians in Gaza refuse to leave their homes until our demands are met. Tomorrow morning we will tell the university that we are not going to our final exams and ask our teachers to cancel them."