Around 100 pro-Palestinian protesters marched on Walnut Street on March 31.
Credit: Jean ParkAround 75 pro-Palestinian protesters rallied near Penn Hillel as an event featuring Israeli activist Noa Tishby and two survivors of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel took place on Monday.
The March 31 protest began at 30th and Market streets around 4:30 p.m. as part of an “All Out for Palestine Rally.” The demonstration included speeches and chants as it moved down Walnut Street before stopping near Penn Hillel in protest of an event hosted by the organization for Israel Week.
As protestors gathered, several organizers distributed mock newspapers — titled “The New York War Crimes” — that emphasized Palestine as “the land of the people.” Other flyers were also distributed, including a statement by Workers’ Voice titled “Israel: Hands off Gaza! No US Aid to Israel! Free Mahmoud Khalil!”
Once the rally began, a speaker explained that the demonstration observed “Land Day” — a Palestinian day of commemoration marking a large-scale 1976 Israeli land confiscation.
“This is to honor the six martyrs of the 1976 uprisings in Palestine … they stood firm against the Zionist entities attempting theft and looting of their land,” one speaker said.
Ahead of the demonstration, organizers also said that they were protesting against “Noa Tishby and her Zionist ghouls.” The Hillel event was part of the organization’s ongoing Israel Week programming and offered “students a rare and intimate opportunity to hear directly from those who endured unimaginable tragedy,” according to a description of the event.
As the protest moved up Walnut Street, Penn Police Department and Philadelphia Police Department officers blocked off 39th Street Walk between Walnut Street and Penn Hillel. Penn Police, Philadelphia Police, and Drexel University Police had a large presence throughout the demonstration.
Penn’s Division of Public Safety released an advisory shortly after the protest began, announcing “intermittent closures on Walnut Street between 30th and 40th Streets due to demonstration activity.” The advisory also noted the presence of Penn Police and the Philadelphia Police Department to “assist with traffic closures.”
Brothers of Penn’s Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity stood on the porch with an Israeli flag as the protest passed their chapter house.
The demonstration stopped as a speaker reiterated their commitment to the Palestinian cause in the face of counter-protestors. A few individuals in the protest formed upside down triangles — a symbol used by Hamas to indicate military targets — with their hands and directed them at the fraternity.
One speaker said they were “happy” about the presence of Israeli flags around campus.
“I'm happy because it shows where their true commitments stand: not to their students, but with Jewish fascism,” the individual said. “Let them hang an Israeli flag on top of College Hall … let them fly the flag of the oppressor.”
When the crowd stopped at 39th Street, organizers chanted “F**k Penn” and “F**k Hillel.” A speaker said that Penn invited Tishby “with the express purpose of justifying genocide on college campuses.” They continued that Tishby’s participation in Penn Hillel’s Israel Week “serves only to manufacture consent for the genocide.”
Requests for comment were left with spokespeople for the University, Penn Hillel, and Tishby.
“Tishby demands that the Palestinian people lay down and die, that they anguish in Israeli prisons where they are beaten, assaulted, and murdered every single day,” one speaker said. “The genocidal freaks of Penn Hillel welcome these advocates for genocide.”
The protestors also addressed recent federal actions that have resulted in the deportation of pro-Palestinian student protestors.
“If ICE shows up on our campus, we will show up,” one speaker said. “We will show up to put ourselves in the way of Homeland Security.”
Staff reporters Ayana Chari and Christine Oh contributed reporting.
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
