Around 100 protestors demanded that IU “divest now” from Israel, the U.S. military and its contractors at a protest at Sample Gates on Thursday.
The protestors, crying “free, free, Palestine,” and “shame,” among other chants, began their protest with speeches at Sample Gates before marching around IU’s campus and downtown Bloomington.
Organized by IU’s Palestine Solidarity Committee, the event was planned in tandem with a national “Day of Action,” a walkout organized by the national chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine.
Protest organizers and attendees accused IU's administration of being "complicit in genocide."
“Whitten, Whitten, you can’t hide. You’re supporting genocide,” they yelled directly toward IU administrative offices in Bryan Hall.
The International Court of Justice issued a preliminary ruling Jan. 26 stating there was “plausible” evidence Israel was violating some portions of the 1948 Genocide Convention and ordered Israel to increase humanitarian aid in Gaza and prevent acts of genocide. The court did not order a ceasefire in the war.
According to the Associated Press, over 28,000 people have been killed in Gaza as of Feb. 9 in the Israel-Hamas war, which began after Hamas’ assault on Israel on Oct. 7 killed around 1,200 people.
PSC Graduate Advisor Bryce Greene said they were protesting to end IU’s investments, monetary and otherwise, in Israel and military contractors involved in the war, though the PSC does not have a comprehensive list at this time.
“We’re working on getting a full accounting in IU’s investments in these companies that support the occupation or are affiliated with the illegal action of the Israeli military,” Greene said.
Protestors said they want to see an end to all collaboration and ties with military contractors.
Employees of RTX Corporation, a military contractor formerly known as Raytheon Technologies Corporation, are offered online master’s degrees and corporate MBA’s in a program from the Kelley School of Business.
RTX specializes in manufacturing missiles, missile defense systems and aircraft components. They produce most of the missiles and missile components used in the Israeli Iron Dome, a purely defensive system designed to shoot down rockets fired into Israeli territory. RTX also produces several systems in U.S. F-16 jets, but it is not clear if this is used by the Israeli military.
Though the IDS cannot verify that specific RTX components are used in Gaza, RTX CEO Greg Hayes said at the start of the war that Raytheon would benefit from the restocking of missiles and increased demand from the U.S. Department of Defense.
Lockheed Martin, another defense contractor, holds a STEM scholarship program in collaboration with IU. The company holds several military collaborations with Israel, including the production of F-35, F-16 and C-130J jets used by the IDF.
IU declined to comment on the allegations of collaboration with military contractors levied by protestors.
Protestors also decried IU’s response to the war for pro-Palestinian people, including the suspension of professor Abdulkader Sinno and the canceled exhibition of Palestinian painter and IU alumna Samia Halaby at the Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art.
IU suspended Sinno following the university’s denial of a room reservation for an event hosted by the Palestine Solidarity Committee while Sinno was the group's advisor, alleging he violated university policy when he incorrectly filled out the room reservation. Halaby’s exhibition was canceled in a two-sentence letter to the artist Dec. 20 after being planned for 3 years.
Greene said the PSC will ramp up and increase their protests as the war continues. The group is holding weekly sit-ins at the Indiana Memorial Union’s Starbucks, documentary screenings and additional protests in the weeks ahead.
Editor's Note: Bryce Greene previously worked as an opinion columnist at the Indiana Daily Student.
