Around 30 Penn students and faculty walked out of class and held a teach-out at Clark Park on Nov. 4, protesting the University's execution of a search warrant at an off-campus house belonging to pro-Palestinian student activists.
Penn Students Against the Occupation of Palestine hosted the walkout in conjunction with Penn Faculty for Justice in Palestine. The walkout and teach-out were publicized through a statement on an Instagram post signed by eight organizations at Penn, including Jewish Voice for Peace and Queer Muslims at Penn.
“We, the undersigned, are writing as a united front of students and student groups at the University of Pennsylvania to wholly and utterly reject such flagrant abuses of power,” the statement read. “We stand with immovable conviction, expressing our solidarity with those affected students, instead recognizing these reactions for what they truly are: the actions of an administration intent on repressing those students involved in the fight for Palestinian liberation.”
The walkout was organized amid continued criticism of Penn's decision to execute a search warrant at an off-campus house belonging to pro-Palestinian student activists. The search — which took place on the morning of Oct. 18 and was publicly disclosed on social media by PAO on the evening of Oct. 21 — followed Penn's obtaining of a search warrant which was reviewed by the Philadelphia District Attorney's office and approved by a bail commissioner.
A University spokesperson previously defended Penn Police’s actions in a statement to The Daily Pennsylvanian, writing that “a small group of individuals, some of whom may be students, continue to take disruptive and at times illegal actions against the University community.” The statement added that part of Penn Police’s work “involves investigating alleged incidents to determine if laws have been violated, following the facts wherever they lead.”
On Nov. 4, Penn students walked out of their classrooms at 1 p.m. to congregate at Clark Park. A Palestinian flag was hung on a tree near the Clark Park gravel, and tables, chairs, and blankets were set out for attendees to use.
A statement announcing the walkout, which was signed by "concerned Penn student groups and allies," outlined demands directed at Penn and called for signatures on a petition started by PFJP requesting an investigation into Vice President for Public Safety Kathleen Anderson, Detective Paul Guercio, and other officers who authorized the Oct. 18 search.
One speaker at the teach-out emphasized “Four Points of Unity for a Safe and Ethical Campus” that were listed in the statement, which included calling on Penn to divest from companies that create a "substantial social injury."
“The University must divest from the Israeli apartheid regime as a matter of divesting from companies that by their own bylaws constitute substantial social injury,” the speaker said. “Is a genocide not substantial social injury enough for you?”
The event then split into two student-led teach-in groups: one on the history of Palestine and another on the relationship between the Philadelphia Police Department, Penn Police, and the Israel Defense Forces.
The leader of the police teach-in said that PPD has contracts with several Israeli surveillance and weapons technology companies that are used for “real-time decision making in combat scenarios … internet data scraping … [and] tracking movement across security cameras.”
They alleged that all Penn Police officers engage in a “community counter-terrorism training," and that "all of those technologies are fundamentally meant to break the people apart."
The teach-in leader also denounced Ghost Robotics — a company housed in Pennovation Works that develops and sells four-legged robots to be used for "data collection, intelligence, security, asset protection, and military-specific uses," according to its website. The leader alleged that the weapons are deployed directly to Israel and used against Palestinians.
Two faculty members conducted teach-ins at the walkout following the conclusion of the student-led groups. One focused on the history of Palestinian resistance, and the other addressed what the leaders referred to as the "American failure in Palestine."
The faculty member leading that teach-in discussed how “a particularly fierce political struggle,” such as the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, “bind[s] together a knot of other issues.” They drew connections between the United States' involvement in Palestine and historical patterns of colonialism.
“When you look at Palestine and our funding of Israeli home demolition and the despoiling of the land, it’s not over," the faculty member said. "Americans are forced to recognize that we are still involved in it … on a global scale … and that our position on this particular struggle is bound up with the worst things in our history."
The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.
Donate
