A pro-Israel group said that Stanford University should be careful in meetings with a group of pro-Palestine protesters who staged a sit-in on campus for 120 days.
Adam Sabes | Campus Reform | February 15, 2024
Photo Credit: Screenshot
A pro-Israel organization said that Stanford University should be cautious in meetings with a group of pro-Palestine protesters who staged a sit-in on campus for 120 days.
The group, Stanford Sit-in to Stop Genocide, announced on Tuesday night that the school’s administration has agreed to hold meetings about the group’s demands if the group ends its sit-in on Friday at 8 p.m.
Stanford administrators also agreed to grant amnesty from law enforcement action and disciplinary action to the student group and protesters as long as they vacate the sit-in by the Friday deadline.
University administrators agreed to hold two one-hour discussions occurring before Thursday, which are meant to “understand” the group’s five demands. The demands include the provision of ‘dedicated resources’ to Palestinian students, that the university issue a statement condemning Israel, and that the school commit to joining the “Boycott, Divest from and Sanction” movement against Israel.
Roz Rothstein, co-founder and CEO of StandWithUs, a pro-Israel education organization, told Campus Reform that Stanford administrators should be careful during these meetings.
”The University administration should be very careful in its negotiations with people aligned with Hamas, a designated foreign terrorist organization by the US State Department and by countries around the world,” Rothstein said. “A ceasefire would allow Hamas to rearm and steal humanitarian aid from the Gazans. It should be clear to anyone paying attention, that Hamas’ tyrannical government in Gaza continues to harm both Palestinians and Israelis,” she added.”
”The hypocrisy we are seeing from the pro-Hamas protesters is shocking, but unsurprising. As usual, they blame Israel for the crimes that Hamas is guilty of. They blame Israel for being dragged into the war of October 7th and defending itself against Hamas, an openly genocidal organization sworn to repeat massacres of Jews and whose charter calls for the elimination of Israel,” she added. “Protesters who collaborate with Hamas have conveniently forgotten that Hamas initiated this war by torturing and slaughtering over 1200 human beings on October 7th and kidnapped 250 people, dragging them into Gaza, where 134 still remain in captivity.”
Stanford Sit-in to Stop Genocide said it would “mobilize again” if “significant progress” isn’t made during the meetings, as Campus Reform reported.
”Should the President and Provost fail to make significant progress towards our demands, we will mobilize again, as we have done for 117 days without pause. Our ultimate commitment is not to the physical space of the Sit-in, but to the fight for Palestinian liberation,” the group wrote.
In a statement , Stanford University wrote that it is “pleased that students representing the Sit-In to Stop Genocide have agreed to end overnight camping by this Friday, Feb. 16.”
”The university has agreed to refrain from initiating law enforcement action and Office of Community Standards proceedings until after that time, in order to support an orderly end to overnight camping in White Plaza. The university also has agreed to two further meetings with representatives of the group to further hear its stated demands,” Stanford University wrote. “We understand and appreciate the passionately held beliefs of students who are engaged in advocacy on White Plaza. Stanford continues to firmly support the peaceful expression of divergent views by members of our community, and we will continue working to provide for the physical safety and well-being of all members of our community.”
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