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Pro-Palestinian activists began an encampment of Penn's College Green, joining dozens of universities nationwide.
Several protestors set up tents on College Green on Thursday around 4 p.m. The encampment began after a 2 p.m. protest originating at City Hall — which was organized by the Philly Palestine Coalition — arrived in University City.
The group demands that Penn divests from Israel, corporations that benefit from the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, and Israeli institutions committing “scholasticide.” It also demands that Penn defend Palestinian students, including granting amnesty to students involved in pro-Palestinian activism and reinstating Penn Students Against the Occupation of Palestine.
The activists set up the encampment less than a week after the University revoked PAO’s status as a registered student group. The de-registration occurred weeks after The Daily Pennsylvanian reported that the Center for Community Standards and Accountability launched an investigation into PAO on March 21.
"This group has failed to comply with policies that govern student organizations at Penn, despite repeated efforts to engage with the group and to provide opportunities to resolve noncompliance,” a University spokesperson previously told the DP.
The protestors are part of a nationwide movement of pro-Palestine encampments that have formed on university campuses over the past week.
This week, a “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” occupying Columbia University’s South Lawn called for the university to divest from Israel. Columbia President and former Penn professor Minouche Shafik authorized the New York Police Department to arrest 113 protesters and said that all students participating in the encampment had been suspended. Students have launched similar encampments at other universities, including Harvard and Brown.
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