Student activists at the University of Washington in Seattle postponed a “UW Palestine encampment” because there were too many white students involved, according to a report from 770 KTTH.
The protest was going to be instigated by the UW Progressive Student Union (UWPSU) on Thursday. However, it was called off because the group received criticism for not including Muslim and Arab students in the organizing. The organization stated that the demonstration would be postponed “to make sure this encampment is a better reflection of the UW community, and having even greater unity with Muslim, Palestinian and Arab students.”
“We want to be part of a much larger coalition of groups and make no mistake, WE WILL HAVE A UW ENCAMPMENT! We want to make sure everyone’s voice is included and this action is as safe, secure, and strong as possible,” a UWPSU statement shared on Instagram said.
Reportedly, university administrators privately told Jewish leaders that the school did not intend to intervene with the protest unless “the event escalates and threatens life safety.”
YOU CAN'T MAKE THIS UP: In the most Seattle development ever, antisemitic UW activists postponed their anti-Israel encampment because of a lack of diversity. There were too many white organizers!
— Jason Rantz on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) April 25, 2024
Read 👇🏼 https://t.co/Do5KBLbFM2
This week, several schools, namely Columbia University, have made headlines for their students holding pro-Hamas protests. Pro-Hamas activists at Columbia built a tent city on school grounds, as Matt covered. Not to mention, hundreds of staff members walked out of work to join the protests. At one point, Minnesota Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar’s daughter was suspended from school and later arrested for her involvement.
As a result, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) came out and said that if college student in his state tries to harass Jewish students, they will be expelled from school.
“You look at these universities…when we have students who are doing that…some of stuff with Hamas, I think it’s absurd that someone would go out and demonstrate on that, but, if you’re chasing Jewish students around, when you’re not letting a Jewish professor enter a building, when you’re targeting people like that…that’s not free speech. That’s harassment,” DeSantis explained.
Earlier in the week, he made a similar statement.
“The students do this stuff, and know there's not gonna be any repercussions. The minute there's repercussions, you will start to see a change in behavior,” DeSantis said.