The Daily Emerald is providing live coverage of the University of Oregon’s pro-Palestine encampment, which began on April 29 at 7 a.m. All of our coverage on the encampment can be found here.
Below is the Emerald’s coverage of May 4, the sixth day of the encampment.
It was a quieter day at the University of Oregon’s pro-Palestine encampment, as over an inch of rain led to thick mud across the Memorial Quad and kept many students in tents and under tarps throughout the day.
A group calling themselves University of Oregon Faculty & Staff for Justice in Palestine posted a “Call to Action” for UO faculty and staff members to sign a letter in solidarity with pro-Palestine student demonstrators. As of 10:54 p.m., at least 46 UO staff and faculty — including political science professor Joe Lowndes and law professors Michelle McKinley and Michael Fakhri, who have previously addressed the encampment — had signed onto the letter, which supports student demonstrators and urges the university to engage in “good faith” negotiations rather than “escalation.”
Encampment leaders made an Instagram post asking for donations to help with inclement weather conditions. The camp’s “current needs” include wool socks, rain coats and rain gloves, and “general waterproof gear.” The post also said that all extra supplies will be “redistributed to the Eugene community” after the encampment ends.
A dabke and klezmer dance scheduled for 8:30 p.m. was cancelled — then un-cancelled — due to the weather. Dabke is a traditional dance often performed in Palestine, while klezmer is an Ashkenazi Jewish musical tradition originating in central and eastern Europe.
Negotiations continued between university officials, including Dean of Students Marcus Langford, and negotiators for the encampment. Both parties have declined to comment on the ongoing, “sensitive” discussions.
Updated 10:54 p.m.
Daily Emerald reporters have left the scene of the encampment and will resume coverage tomorrow morning.
There is thick mud in many portions of the encampment and some tarps were visibly weighed down or collapsing from collected rainwater. Despite unfavorable weather conditions, the number of tents remained consistent at roughly 140 throughout the day.
No further details have been provided regarding negotiations between student demonstrators and the university. The Emerald has reached out to both parties for comment.
Read below for live updates as they happened.
Updated 8:31 p.m.
It was a largely uneventful sixth day at the encampment, as continued rainy conditions kept many demonstrators inside their tents and under tarps for the day. Nevertheless, the number of tents on the Memorial Quad has not decreased — and persists at around 140.
As of this writing, 46 UO staff and faculty had signed the letter released earlier today supporting students in the encampment and urging continued “good faith” negotiations rather than “escalation.”
Encampment leaders made an Instagram post asking for donations to help with inclement weather conditions. The camp’s “current needs” include wool socks, rain coats and rain gloves, and “general waterproof gear.” The post also clarified that all extra supplies will be “redistributed to the Eugene community” after the encampment ends.
A dabke and klezmer dance scheduled for 8:30 p.m. was cancelled — then un-cancelled — due to the weather. Dabke is a traditional dance often performed in Palestine, while klezmer is an Ashkenazi Jewish musical tradition originating in central and eastern Europe.
Roughly 30 students could be seen dancing in the rain when Emerald reporters were on the scene.
Updated 12:45 p.m.
A group calling themselves University of Oregon Faculty & Staff for Justice in Palestine posted a “Call to Action” for UO faculty and staff members to sign a letter in solidarity with pro-Palestine student demonstrators.
According to UO student and UO Coalition for Palestine media liaison who goes by LJ, the “Call to Action” was intended to bring solidarity and support from “every corner of campus possible.”
“Part of this movement really is about the collective and about bringing everybody together and it is about all parts of this campus while it is still student driven,” the media liaison said. “We love seeing the faculty come out to support because they’re so knowledgeable and that’s a community.”
In the letter posted by UOFSJP, it stated that faculty and staff of the University of Oregon support the encampment’s “fundamental right to protest injustice” as well as protest the actions of the university itself.
Their “most pressing” concern is the protection and safety of students within the encampment.
“This encampment is not acting in any way that threatens the safety of our campus community. The students participating in the encampment are engaging in an act of peaceful protest while simultaneously engaging in educational discussions and critically important dialogue, some of which has been led by UO faculty members,” the letter stated.
UOFSJP asked university administrators to not turn to “escalation through the use of discipline, force, or police repression.”
As of this writing, 12 faculty and staff members have signed the letter, including WGSS pro tem instructor Andrea Herrera, research assistant Kaleigh Bronson, and professors for the School of Law Michael Fakhri and Michelle McKinley.
Herrera said that they signed the letter to “protect” participants of the pro-Palestine encampment from “harm” by the university.
“I think it’s really important that one of the things that we as faculty and specifically me in my role as the professor and a student facing employee of this university, that I do what I can to protect those students from harm, and so the most immediate potential forms of harm that I see that might be coming to them are police escalation, police intervention or administrative retaliation from the university for exercising their right to protest and to call for the US divestment from Israel’s war,” they said.
Another media liaison for the coalition, going by Cedar Deodora, confirmed that the encampment would not comment on negotiations for the time being.
“We are not releasing details about the negotiations,” Deodora said. “They are sensitive and ongoing.”
Updated 11:38 a.m.
According to a student organizer and media liaison who goes by Cedar Deodora, members of the encampment have dealt with torrential downpour beginning last night, causing sidewalks and tents across the encampment to flood.
“It definitely was a testament to our resilience that so many people were able to push through the night,” Deodora said. “I mean, of course, we had tents flooding and people’s stuff getting wet. We’ve been doing our best. [The] community has been really great donating tarps.”
10 a.m. negotiations with university officials appear to have concluded, but spokespersons for the encampment declined to comment on the substance of the meetings.
Due to the rain, the Shabbat services at 11 a.m. were canceled. Instead, members of the encampment will participate in a Torah study in the Knight Library.
Updated 8:20 a.m.
It’s day six of UO’s pro-Palestine encampment.
Demonstrators have been battling at least an inch of rainfall over the past 24 hours, and more is expected well into this evening.
Conditions in the camp remain peaceful. Organizers for the encampment have announced a slate of various programming for the day, including “Harm Reduction 101” and “Solidarity Sports Time.” An Instagram post from the organizers did acknowledge it was “a bit wet.”
Several events are planned for the Jewish Sabbath, Shabbat, including 11 a.m. Shabbat services and a 7:30 p.m. Havdalah ritual to mark the beginning of the week.
The students’ negotiating team is expected to resume negotiations with university officials, including Dean of Students Marcus Langford, at 10 a.m. The parties met for the third time yesterday at 2:30 p.m., though spokespersons for both the university and encampment declined to comment on the substance of the meeting.
Daily Emerald reporters will be on scene and have the latest throughout the day.
