https://chicago.suntimes.com/israel-hamas-war/2024/05/03/university-of-
chicago-officials-pro-palestinian-protesters-encampment-impasse

Pro-Palestinian encampment organizers at the University of Chicago had
reached what they called an �impasse� with university officials Friday.
After tensions briefly bubbled over during a confrontation with counter-
protesters, protesters were left waiting for the university to act.

A meeting held Thursday between three students, two faculty members,
university president Paul Alivisatos and provost Katherine Baicker �ended
without resolution,� according to UChicago United for Palestine, the group
organizing the encampment.

Organizers had previously rejected an offer for a one-hour meeting with
Alivisatos and Baicker in exchange for removing the encampment, and
continued to make their demands for disclosing investments in weapons
manufacturers, divesting from those aiding Israel in its continued strikes
in Gaza and repairing the damage done by the investments both on the South
Side and abroad.

"[UChicago United for Palestine] refuses to accept President Alivisatos�
repeated condescending offer of a public forum to discuss �diverse
viewpoints� ... as this is clearly a poor attempt at saving face without
material change,� said Christopher Iacovetti, a student who participated
in negotiations, in a statement Friday.

In a statement Friday, Alivisatos accused the group of creating a
�systematic disruption� on campus, with protesters, among other things,
destroying an installation of Israeli flags, vandalizing school buildings
and flying the Palestinian flag on a university flagpole.

�Out of principle we provide the greatest leeway possible for free
expression, even expression of viewpoints that some find deeply offensive,
even in rare cases at the expense of some policy violations � for a time,�
he wrote in the statement. �But the encampment cannot continue.�

�The administration has been refusing to meaningfully negotiate,� said
Andrew Basta, a senior with UChicago Jews for a Free Palestine, said
Friday morning.

�Do we feel like as a community that we can continue? The overwhelming
answer is yes,� said Kelly H., a senior at the university encampment
Friday morning who declined to share her last name out of safety concerns.
�We�re gonna stay here until our demands are met.�

Others hoped for an end to the protest. When Eliza Ross, a senior at the
university and a member of Maroons for Israel, got the president�s email
Friday morning, she thought, �Finally.�

�You feel the fact that there�s an encampment. You hear it everyday, pass
it everyday,� Ross said. �Whether or not this escalates depends on what
the university decides to do.�

The day appeared mostly peaceful on the university�s grassy main
quadrangle. The situation got more heated when counter-protesters
confronted pro-Palestine demonstrators, prompting campus police to arrive
before the situation cooled a few hours later.

Shortly after 12:30 p.m., the counter-protest arrived near the previously
peaceful encampment, with some members carrying American flags. Encampment
demonstrators chanted �Disclose, Divest, we will not step, we will not
rest,� while the opposing group chanted �U.S.A.� Some students threw
punches during the skirmish. No arrests were made.

Campus police arrived at the confrontation in riot gear, including shields
and batons, standing between the two groups.

Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez addressed the crowd, saying the �agitation and
intimidation� seen against other campus protests around the country
shouldn�t be allowed.

�We are not going to allow attacks on peaceful protesters,� said Ald.
Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th), standing across the line from counter-
protesters. �The president should look into foreign policy and address the
issues at the core here.�

But the fracas stayed contained and was over quickly. The rest of the
campus seemed unaffected, as a group of people enjoyed the day by playing
with a frisbee on the same quad. By about 3:25 p.m., most of the counter-
protesters had dispersed and the quad was once again calm. Police officers
were seen leaving the main quad area around 4 p.m.

�While members of the University community are free to express their views
on the Quad and elsewhere, using force or physical intimidation to carry
out a protest is never acceptable,� the university said in a statement.

Universities and colleges across the country have called on police to
crack down on student encampments. At the University of California at Los
Angeles, police cracked down on the encampment after protesters defied an
order to leave Thursday morning.

So far, pro-Palestinian encampments at Chicago schools have not
experienced the same level of police escalation, though students have
expressed worries.

CPD Supt. Larry Snelling said at an unrelated news conference Friday the
department does not want to unnecessarily escalate the situations and has
deferred the plan of action to the universities.

�What we don�t want to do as a police department is escalate any situation
unnecessarily,� Snelling told reporters."So we take our time. We assess
these situations. And if it�s not necessary for us to go in and attempt to
start removing people, then we won�t.�

Snelling added that the department would work with campuses �to provide
them any help if necessary.�

Mayor Brandon Johnson said his administration is �paying attention� to the
national protests. His main goal, he said, is to ensure people�s safety,
but that protecting people�s First Amendment rights was �paramount.�

�We�re at a critical point in our nation�s history,� he said. � But we
will continue to evaluate and assess these demonstrations throughout the
remainder of however long they last.�

At Northwestern University, encampment organizers reached a deal with the
university to clear all but one resource tent in exchange for the
university agreeing to disclose information about investments to people
associated with the university within 30 days of the inquiry.

Three anonymous students have since filed a lawsuit, saying the university
subjected them to harassment by not clearing the encampment. Several
Jewish groups also called for the school�s president to resign.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Contributing: Lynn Sweet, Cindy Hernandez

--
We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that
stupid people won't be offended.

Durham Report: The FBI has an integrity problem. It has none.

No collusion - Special Counsel Robert Swan Mueller III, March 2019.
Officially made Nancy Pelosi a two-time impeachment loser.

Thank you for cleaning up the disaster of the 2008-2017 Obama / Biden
fiasco, President Trump.

Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.

President Trump boosted the economy, reduced illegal invasions, appointed
dozens of judges and three SCOTUS justices.