2024 Ohio State University pro-Palestine campus protests

For 2024 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses, see 2024 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses. For a list of pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses in the United States, see List of pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses in the United States in 2024.

2024 Ohio State University campus protests
Part of pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses and Israel-Hamas war protests in the United States
Date	October 7th, 2023 - Present
Location	Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, United States 40.002°N 83.015°W / 40.002; -83.015
Methods	Sit-in Lock-on Civil disobedience Marching Counter-protest
Parties
Pro-Palestinian groups: Students for Justice in Palestine, OSU Justice, Unity, & Social Transformation, Columbus Party for Socialism and Liberation, Columbus Rising Tide Columbus Jews for Justice in Palestine, OSU Central Ohio Revolutionary Socialists Ohio Youth for Climate Justice, OSU Local authorities: Ohio State University administration Ohio State University Office of Student Life Ohio State University campus police Columbus Division of Police Franklin County Sheriff's Office State Highway Patrol Pro-Israel groups: Hillel International, OSU
Lead figures
Protesters and organizers President Walter E. Carter Jr. University Spokesperson Benjamin Johnson
Casualties and losses
41 arrested (21 OSU students, 20 other) None

A series of ongoing protests at the Ohio State University by pro-Palestinian demonstrators have occurred on-campus in response to the Israel-Palestine conflict beginning on October 7th, 2023. A solidarity encampment was constructed on OSU's South Oval on April 25th, 2024, during which there were 36 arrests. 41 Ohio residents and student protesters have been arrested in total across multiple non-violent protests, making for the highest number of protest-related arrests in Columbus since the 1969-1970 Vietnam War protests.

Pro-Palestine groups have been critical of the university's response to the protests, including the university's deployment of snipers who aimed long-ranged rifles at students during the April 25th encampment, suspension of pro-Palestinian student organizations, and suppression of the Undergraduate Student Government's attempts]] at passing legislation for financial divestment from Israel after receiving pressure from officials in Zionist organization Hillel International.

The university has insisted their actions are politically neutral, with President Walter E. Carter Jr. stating the "university's long-standing space rules are content neutral and are enforced uniformly."

Major protests

Meiling Hall disruption

5 Ohio State students were arrested during this event.

On April 23rd, 2024, in an event organized by Ohio Youth for Climate Justice, around 60 individuals gathered outside Meiling Hall, an administrative building near the Wexner Medical Center, to protest the Israel-Palestine conflict and to advocate fossil fuel divestment during an OSU Board of Trustees meeting inside the building.

According to the President of Ohio Youth for Climate Justice, students "were met by Office of Student Life employees and OSU police officers who warned them there would be 'no tolerance for amplified noise' because it was Reading Day." In order to comply, the students chanted without using their megaphones after marching to Meiling Hall. OSU police officers told the protesters that even though they did not bring their megaphones, they could be heard from inside the building's lobby. After refusing to leave, police moved in on students and arrested two chant leaders who were OSU students, charging them with criminal trespassing and misdemeanor.

In an op-ed by former OSU Professor Keith Kilty titled "Ted Carter, you turned campus into military zone. Your goons crushed protester's rights," Kilty criticized the administration's suppression of using sound systems, stating, "During my 29 years as a professor at OSU, I helped to organize many rallies and demonstrations, where we used sound systems so that we could be heard, and those were at all times of the day. Yet now, under your leadership, we are to be silenced and denied our right to speak?"

The following day, on April 24th, 2024, three more protesters were taken into custody by police, making for five total arrests in response to the Meiling Hall disruption.

Gaza Solidarity Encampment

16 Ohio State students and 20 non-Ohio State students were arrested during this event.

April 25th Encampment

An encampment was organized, promoted, and scheduled for April 25th, 2024 by multiple pro-Palestine student organizations including OSU Students for Justice in Palestine, OSU Jews for Justice in Palestine, the Party for Socialism and Liberation in Columbus, Justice, Unity, & Social Transformation, Rising Tide Columbus, and Ohio Youth for Climate Justice. This encampment was announced directly after the beginning of the 2024 Columbia University pro-Palestinian campus occupations.

Protesters initially arrived in the morning. Several were arrested throughout the day for pitching tents on the South Oval and taken to the 5 arrest vehicles parked nearby, but throughout most the day, police observed from a distance, "occasionally issuing threats." During the night of the encampment, President Walter E. Carter Jr. "requested the state patrol's assistance," although "university police had been coordinating with state police before Carter requested the reinforcements." Officials cited "rules prohibiting camping, overnight events, and disruption to university business," which was later satirized by organizers in a political cartoon by Rising Tide Columbus depicting university mascot Brutus Buckeye aiming a gun at a student wearing a hijab, citing university space rules.

At 7:32 p.m., authorities issued a warning: "disperse within 15 minutes or face arrest." According to The Lantern, "although warnings came from beyond the crowd, laughter and smiles abounded within." At around 10 p.m., while Muslim students were praying, riot police marched on the encampment and began arrests. In response, protesters formed a human barrier around the tents by connecting their arms together. The second person arrested "looked nearly unconscious, their feet dragging against the concrete."

At this point, Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers on the Ohio Union switched from observing students through binoculars to aiming long-range firearms at students "as part of their protocol." University spokesperson Benjamin Johnson originally stated "there are no snipers" on the Ohio Union rooftop, but after photographs of the snipers were later released, he admitted "the team carries standard equipment, including firearms, that would only be used reactively to protect the safety of all present, including demonstrators."

By the end of the evening, 36 protesters, including 16 Ohio State students and 20 non-Ohio State students, had been arrested, One woman who was struck in the face showed "her bruise to others watching as she walked away from the chaos." Those arrested were charged with criminal trespassing. A statement OSU later released read: "Arrests are not an action we take lightly, and we appreciate the support of all of our law enforcement partners to disperse the encampment for the safety of our university community."

According to an Instagram post by OSU Students for Justice in Palestine, there were "at least 70 officers" on the scene. They claimed that after being arrested, hijabs were forcefully removed from students during mugshots, that Muslim students were refused a space to pray, and that police refused to provide Halal food.

April 29th Columbus City Council hearings

The second pro-Palestine OSU student speaker, who was arrested at the Gaza Solidarity Encampment, in an altercation with Columbus City Council President Shannon G. Hardin.

On April 29th, 2024, pro-Palestine demonstrators arrived at the Columbus City Council meeting to support demonstrators who were arrested at the Gaza Solidarity Encampment who had just gone through their arraignments, demanding the city drop all charges against them for criminal trespassing. Tensions were high, as pro-Palestine demonstrators filled the gallery and yelled slogans such as "shame" at courthouse representatives during the speeches of three OSU students who had been arrested at the Gaza Solidarity Encampment and had pending criminal charges.

The second student speaker described having "a severe concussion" from her injuries at the encampment.

The third student speaker described being asked to put his hands behind his back, but was unable to because his hands were ziptied in front of his stomach. In response, officers allegedly pulled his pants down while they were attempting to relocate his hands.

This student also reported that in the jail truck, one protester was in extreme pain due to the zipties. After asking officers to loosen the zipties, they ignored and rejected his requests, leading him to pass out, "smashing his head on the steel wall" as he fell to the ground. "I thought that man was dead" he reported. The police ignored the students' requests for help from the jail truck, saying, "that's what you signed up for." It took 15 minutes before officers took action to retrieve a paramedic to treat the unconscious student.

Administration conflicts with pro-Palestine organizations

Undergraduate Student Government divestment scandal

On March 25th, 2024, OSU's Undergraduate Student Government proposed an initiative titled "Urging OSU to Divest from Companies Profiting from Human Right Violations." The initiative received 1247 signatures (with 415 digital signatures from a digital circulator and 832 signatures from other sources), above the 1,000-signature minimum needed to appear on the presidency ballot. USG's Judicial Panel nullified this initiative.

According to OSU Students for Justice in Palestine President Jineen Musa, the signatures were "deemed invalid due to the dissemination of the petition on Instagram." Musa claimed other candidates who had "used the exact same method to a greater extent than what we did" were not penalized, implying their initiative was targeted due to its pro-Palestine content.

Student newspaper The Lantern leaked screenshots of emails between Senior Vice President for Student Life Javaune Adams-Gaston and Hillel International member Joseph Kohane. In the email, Kohane implores USG's Judicial Panel to veto the initiative, saying, "we urge that USG and especially the Judicial Panel hold itself accountable and make the needed changes, including reversing the signature threshold." Threats of impeachment ensued against the USG justices "due to concerns of an 'abuse of power and position,'" which caused three justices to resign shortly after the incident.

Central Ohio Revolutionary Socialists suspension

On December 13, 2023, the Central Ohio Revolutionary Socialists (CORS), a registered pro-Palestinian OSU student organization, was suspended from OSU, during which "the club [was] prohibited from participating in or holding activities." According to OSU spokesperson Dave Isaacs, this was due to several violations, including "disregarding university directives, being non-responsive to meeting requests from the organization's advisors and university leaders, and dissemination of materials that include a logo associated with a designated terrorist organization." Their poster, titled "Intifada, Revolution, and the Path to a Free Palestine," included a drawing of an armed pro-Palestinian militant, which caused the university to claim CORS posed a "significant risk of substantial harm."

On February 2nd, 2024, CORS was reinstated as a student organization under the condition they "attend some extra meetings with administration," which CORS claims was largely due to "the hundreds of individuals and organizations who supported us." CORS called the statements made by The Lantern "defamatory," demanding that the OSU administration "retract and apologize for" their statements. In a public statement, they disputed the allegations laid against them by OSU:

• CORS claims their use of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine logo was not identified by OSU administration, but rather was identified "due to a coordinated harassment campaign by Zionists," citing an Instagram post accusing them of calling for "the genocide of Jews" by supporting armed resistance.
• CORS claims the only emails they received from OSU administration were an email sent the night before a meeting regarding the logistics of reserving a room; and an email from Senior Vice President for Student Life Dr. Melissa Shivers, who asked for "the opportunity to connect with you all", giving "no indication that this meeting was mandatory, nor that it was anything but a generic mass-email."
• According to CORS, they had reserved the same empty classroom for every Thursday evening through the end of the semester, so they did not realize Reading Day (a study period for final's week) would be an exception. They also claim that OSU administration admitted "a case of room reservation policy violation has never been referred to Student Conduct before," accusing OSU administration of selective enforcement.
• After OSU elaborated that their postering policy is enforced against organizations on the basis of student complaints, CORS responded in their statement: "Ah, so the reason that the beach volleyball club can flyer on campus and we can't is because they don't have hundreds of bloodthirsty Zionists after them. The selective enforcement is built into this rule!"

Protester demands

List of demands

According to an Instagram post by encampment organizers Students for Justice in Palestine, the following are the demands of those who supported the OSU Gaza Solidarity Encampment:

1. Financial divestment
2. Academic boycott
3. Financial disclosure
4. Acknowledge the genocide
5. End targeted policing

University responses

Ohio State University officials, including university spokesperson Benjamin Johnson, have referenced Ohio Revised Code Section 9.76, a state law passed in 2016 and amended in 2022, which prohibits state agencies, including public universities, from boycotting Israel or divesting from companies that have policies against Israel.

Conflicts between pro-Israel and pro-Palestine protesters

Hillel flag vandalism

On November 9th, 2023, two protesters unaffiliated with OSU, acting independently of any known activism organizations, vandalized Israeli flags in OSU Hillel International's lobby, shouting slogans including "fuck you", "you support genocide", and "free Palestine." These two protesters were charged with misdemeanor, ethnic intimidation, theft, criminal trespass and criminal mischief.

Hillel infosession disruption

On March 27th, 2024, according to an Instagram post by OSU Jews for Justice in Palestine (JJP), JJP and an unnamed allied organization disrupted an infosession on OSU campus for Hillel International's annual "Fact Finder Israel Trip", which is supported by Ohio State University. According to JJP, Hillel has accused pro-Palestine protesters of antisemitism. In their statement, JJP claimed Hillel is an "ethnonationalistic" organization.

During the disruption, three black bloc individuals displayed a banner outside Hillel, reading, "OSU Hillel invites you to visit a genocidal state." The Hillel event was canceled due to the disruption. Hillel Rabbii Aaron initiated dialogue with the counter-protesters for about an hour, after which Hillel CEO Naomi Lamb publicly expressed that the actions of counter-protesters were threatening toward Hillel students and urged OSU to "condemn the protest as an act of hate against the Jewish community."

Ohio State Student Union protest clash

On April 20th, 2024, during a protest in the Ohio State Student Union, OSU Jews for Justice in Palestine posted a video after the event showing a counter-protester wearing a kippah confronting pro-Palestine protesters, repeatedly yelling "show your face" at a masked protester and pushing him shortly after.

Hate speech and intimidation

Antisemitic

As of June 9, 2024, there have been no reported incidents of anti-semitic hate speech at the Ohio State University during protests, except for the university's criticism of anti-Zionist protest chants that have been used in solidarity encampments across the United States.

That said, on November 10th, 2023, there was a violent anti-semitic hate crime perpetrated by "two males" against Jewish students on North High Street next to OSU campus.

On October 8th, 2023, according to the Ohio Capital Journal, one unnamed student in the OSU Oval purchasing a bracelet saying "I stand with Israel" was spat on.

In both cases, the individuals responsible were not identified and there is no indication they are affiliated with any pro-Palestine organization. Regardless, President Walter E. Carter Jr. has referred to pro-Palestine demonstrations as consisting of "threats of violence" and "hate speech."

Anti-Palestinian

Multiple OSU Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) members "say they have been targets of social media death threats, in-class harassment, public profiling and, in one female student’s case, a stalking incident."

One SJP member received a death threat through Instagram direct messages, saying: "Death to you and your family. I hope the IDF find [sic] you and you die slowly. It’s good to know you go to tosu terrorist, the dean will know your [sic] beheading babies bitch"

Another SJP member claimed she was "stalked by a stranger who followed her several times from a chemistry class. 'I filed a formal complaint and reached out to supervisors at least 10 times, but nobody was really listening to me. I eventually quit going to the class.'"

Another SJP member claimed "someone using a fake name and address sent a flyer of an Israeli hostage to her private address."

A public database called the "Canary Mission" dedicated to doxxing pro-Palestinian protesters has targeted and blacklisted multiple students in OSU SJP.