‘Free, Free Palestine’: Columbus State University students hold protest on campus

“Bombing children is not self defense,” read one sign held up Thursday by protesters on the campus of Columbus State University.

Students on CSU’s campus gathered together in a peaceful protest near the Davidson Student Center on the main campus in support of Palestine.

Chants of “Free, Free Palestine” and “Cease Fire Now” rang out from the crowd of approximately 60 to 70 people as Palestinian flags waved on the windy day.

A small band of Israel supporters soon showed up across the way.

Cody Collyer, Leader of the Revolution Project in Columbus, said “It just goes without saying that terrorists are very bad people, and we just were very concerned that the state of Israel will stoop down to their level.”

The Revolution Project is a city-wide non-profit, according to Collyer.

Collyer said he thinks of this protest mostly as an anti-war protest. He denied that the group is protesting in support of Hamas.

“We’re just trying to hold the democratic government of Israel accountable,” Collyer said.

Not everyone agreed with the protest in support of Palestine.

“When there’s something going on in town that is anti-Israel, anti-semetic, anti-jews, someone’s gotta stand up,” said Michael Goldman, president of Shearith Israel Synagogue.

“Supporting the Palestinian people is one thing but supporting Hamas is totally different,” Goldman said. “Right now you can’t separate the two because Hamas is in charge of Gaza which is in charge of the Palestinian people.”

One member of the Revolution Project said that the protesters just want peace.

“We decided that we were going to hold a rally in solidarity with the people of Palestine to advocate for peace,” said Connor, who declined to give his last name.

Connor paraphrased Martin Luther King Jr. stating, “A threat to justice anywhere, is a threat to justice everywhere.”

“We believe that in order to fight injustice anywhere you have to fight injustice everywhere,” Connor said.

Background

The Palestinian-Israel conflict began on Oct. 7 after Hamas militants attacked from the Gaza strip and into Israeli towns during a Jewish holiday, according to Associated Press reporting.

AP reported the attack in these communities left hundreds, including civilians and soldiers, dead while others were abducted.

Reports of hundreds killed during an explosion a Gaza Strip hospital has garnered conflicting claims of who was responsible for the blast, according to AP reporting.

AP reported Hamas officials have blamed an Israeli airstrike on the explosion while Israel said the blast was due to a rocket misfire by Islamic Jihad.

CSU’s Response

CSU released a statement that said the event is not a university sponsored event.

“At CSU, we respect everyone’s constitutional right to peaceably assemble in order to express their personal views. When they express their personal views, they do not speak on behalf of the institution.

“Because it is not the University’s position to comment on global conflicts, CSU has not and will not issue a public statement on the Oct. 7 terror attack in Israel,” the statement continued.

This story was originally published November 16, 2023 at 1:48 PM.