Protesters at Pitt demand university disclose ties to Israeli organizations

PITTSBURGH — Echoes of the chant, "Free free Palestine" rang throughout the lawn in front of the University of Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning Tuesday afternoon as a group of demonstrators gathered to demand the school disclose investments in Israeli organizations.

The group, made up of more than 20 students and some unaffiliated with the university, gathered around banners that read "free Palestine,' and "genocide Joe, how many kids have you killed today?" in what organizers said was a show of solidarity with other universities across the country who were advocating for Palestinian liberation.

Tuesday's demonstration came as Pitt students flocked to their campus polling location to cast their votes in Pennsylvania's primary election. Statewide, groups opposing President Joe Biden's support of Israel in its war against Hamas, are urging Democratic voters to write in "No Joe" on their primary ballots.

Organizers of the demonstration pointed specifically to their solidarity with multiple other campuses across the country including Columbia University; Yale; Tufts; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Vanderbilt University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Students called on the university to make a public statement condemning the "genocide in Gaza," and asked for all ties with Israeli universities to be cut. They also demanded Pitt divest from companies they said are "complicit in apartheid, occupation, and genocide within the Consolidated Endowment Fund."

University divestment from companies with ties to Israel has been a key platform for pro-Palestine college students for decades, but the ongoing Israel-Hamas war has reinvigorated the issue, pushing to the center stage of protests across the country.

The Pitt demonstration originally began inside the Cathedral of Learning, before it was moved to the outside lawn where the organizing group said in an Instagram post they plan to remain until Friday.

Boxes of snacks and stacks of books and art were spread out across the lawn while some protesters were wrapped in Palestinian flags. Campus police stood feet away monitoring what remained a peaceful demonstration.