University of Maryland students and activists staged a pro-Palestine protest outside McKeldin Library on Monday morning.
The protests come as police have started to crack down on much larger pro-Palestine protests occurring at Yale and Columbia University in protest to the ongoing war in Gaza.
UMD students were seen peacefully sitting down with Palestine flags staked into the grown.
On one of the signs staked into the ground it read students are demanding UMD to divest from military contractors and companies in association with Israel.
Some protestors also advocated for “policing” to end on campus, which comes to many students as a bizarre request, considering there has been an uptick in crime on UMD’s campus and on Baltimore Avenue, where a plethora of off-campus housing is located.
The protests on the lawn, however, were broken up shortly around noon.
The timing of the protest comes as many Jewish students on campus are celebrating the Passover, a holiday that commemorates the Hebrews’ liberation from slavery in Egypt.
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UMD’s protest was on a much smaller scale than protests occurring at Columbia University, which has caused the Ivy League school to cancel classes.
Per The New York Post:
Columbia University canceled all in-person classes Monday ahead of the start of Passover as anti-Israel protests continue on campus — flaring tensions and stoking safety concerns at the prestigious school.
Embattled President Minouche Shafik, who has vowed to crack down on antisemitism, told students in an email that was also shared to the Ivy League college’s website that they “need a reset” as the heated demonstrations enter the sixth day.
“I am deeply saddened by what is happening on our campus. Our bonds as a community have been severely tested in ways that will take a great deal of time and effort to reaffirm,” Shafik wrote.