PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — About 100 students from Drexel University and the University of Pennsylvania staged a walkout rally and demonstration Wednesday, denouncing the Israeli occupation of Gaza and demanding a ceasefire in the war that started 2 ½-weeks ago, when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israeli civilians.
Holding signs reading "Cease Fire Now End the Israeli Occupation" and "End the Gaza Genocide" and "Stop the Slaughter,” about 100 students, some carrying Palestinian flags, walked the half-mile from Drexel’s dragon statue to Claes Oldenburg’s “Split Button” sculpture at Penn.
As Israel’s attacks on Gaza have intensified in the time since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, some college students have expressed solidarity with Palestinians. Students for Justice in Palestine and several other groups called for the nationwide student walkout on college campuses to demand an end to Israeli attacks on Gaza and to U.S. financial backing for Israel.
One protester who spoke at the rally portion, expressed grief and anger about the thousands of Palestinian civilians killed in Gaza and the danger her family members are in as they suffer from lack of food and water.
An organizer of the student rally and march said she has become distrustful of the media and refused to answer questions, citing concerns for their safety. On a bull horn, an organizer told demonstrators that if anyone asks them a question about the rally and march, a good response would be “I don't know.”
More than a dozen participants refused to talk on the record.
Jewish student groups made a conscious decision not to hold a counter-demonstration because of concerns for their safety, as well.
"I think my sentiment is shared with the vast majority of Jews,” said Eyal Yakoby, a senior at Penn. “When we had … a march for Israel, I was a speaker, and I asked the crowd if you feel unsafe as a Jew, and every single person raised their hand — and this was 400 Jewish members of the community."
As Wednesday’s demonstrators made their way through Penn's campus, they encountered a stretch of flyers posted by pro-Israeli students showing pictures of some of the 200 or more people held hostage by Hamas.
Kayla Bleier, a Penn sophomore, said she wants student demonstrators to understand that the Israel-Hamas war goes beyond politics.
“I think even when the war started, it was beyond politics. …This is not a fight of Palestinians versus Israelis. This is not about a land conflict,” Bleier said. “I want people to understand that Hamas committed and continues to commit horrible … atrocities and are continuing to do so without any regard, without any remorse.”
Bleier, who is Jewish, says maybe when the fighting ends, it will become political again — “but until the fighting is over, it's not political, it's about survival.”
KYW's Hadas Kuznits and The Associated Press contributed to this report.