Civil rights icon Angela Davis speaks at Auraria campus in Denver after 40 protestors arrested
After Friday's arrests of 40 protestors, over half of whom were students, a cold and wet weekend and a visit from civil rights icon Angela Davis on Saturday, the encampment on the lawn of the Tivoli at the Auraria Campus was largely a scene of serenity on Sunday as the sun shined and protestors passed the time.
Some students in the neighboring CU Denver residence hall posted signs of support in their windows.
"I want you to know how important it is that you are taking this stand and this moment," Davis said, addressing the protesters. "I want to emphasize what this means for history. As you imagine this period being narrated 10 years, 20 years, 50 years from now, you will be the historical actors who made it possible for a breakthrough for the struggle against Zionism and the struggle for a free Palestine."
Davis was heavily involved in the civil rights movement in the 1960s as a professor and activist. She has written about and protested against capitalism, segregation and racism in the American south, protested against the Vietnam War, imperialism and war, generally, and even participated in the Girl Scouts National Roundup in Colorado in 1959.
Now an author on civil rights and human rights with over a dozen books published, she makes regular speaking appearances at universities and elsewhere. In her 2013 book "Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement," she talked about parallels she saw between racism and the criminal justice system in the U.S. and Israel's treatment of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
"I wanted you to know that, as a person who's been involved in the movement to develop solidarity with Palestine since the 1960s, this is the moment we have all been waiting for," Davis continued. "After having struggled for decades and decades, I realized that this is what we've been struggling for and I stand here, not as an individual, but to bear witness for all of those who have been involved in this struggle to generate solidarity with Palestine, justice for Palestine, freedom for Palestine. If Palestine can be free, then the entire world can be free."
Between brief pauses, protesters erupted in applause with some banging drums and whistling in support of Davis.
Not everyone was welcoming of the message or efforts on the campus, though.
"The people who are here supporting blood libel against Jews are racist," said Elliot Fladen.
He drove down from Superior to voice his displeasure with the encampment. He says the whole exercise is antisemitic.
"Claiming Israel is committing a genocide is an action of racist antisemitism because it is false," said Fladen.
On Friday, the leader of Hillel Colorado said since Oct. 7, Jewish students are afraid to come to campus.
"The demonstrations and the rhetoric and the classroom comments have gone way beyond normal discourse," Daniel Bennett, the executive director of Hillel Colorado, told CBS News Colorado.
But American Jews have been increasingly divided on the issue of Israel and Palestine, with some breaking from those like Fladen and Bennett.
Daryn Copeland is a Jewish American who's been at the encampment since Thursday with Jewish Voice for Peace. He says he and his fellow Jewish protestors feel completely safe.
"We've not seen any antisemitism on this campus. Those claims are absolutely false," said Copeland.
He says Jewish Voice for Peace stands with the protestors calling for divestment and thinks all people succeed and flourish together.
"The protection and safety of Jews is not going to come through a military force, violence or a nationalist ideology," he said.
One Jewish woman who didn't want to show her face or share her name for fear of retribution was raised in Tel Aviv. She says she thinks she knows where the confusion lies.
"Really, it's anti-Israel," she said. "But when you say something against Israel and then it's considered antisemitic, then, you know, that's just how it is perceived."
But she says no matter where you fall on the issue, the encampments here and across the nation and being noticed across the globe.
"The people in Gaza see this too and they made these big signs thanking the students," she said. "That's how powerful it is."
The Auraria Campus, in a statement on Sunday, said they support people's rights to peacefully protest but that the tents and encampment violate campus policy.
"The Auraria Campus and its partner institutions strongly support the right to peacefully demonstrate as long as it's done so in accordance with the law and campus policies," the statement reads, in part. "Recent demonstrators have established an encampment, which violates campus policy prohibiting camping and has the potential to cause numerous safety, accessibility, and public health concerns. Recent demonstrators include our students, community members, and numerous external community members. Once the encampment was established, it became a violation of campus policy and, therefore, unlawful assembly."
The statement says that the policy was communicated to protesters and, when they refused to take down tents, some were arrested.
According to a campus spokesperson, 40 people were arrested, at least 52% of whom were "affiliated with the campus."
