Protestors rally on Freret Street against IDF reservists speaking on campus.
Some Tulane University students gathered in Joseph Merrick Jones Hall on Wednesday night to hear two Israel Defense Forces reservists talk about their service. Students Supporting Israel at Tulane hosted the soldiers as part of the Triggered: The Tour, a national speaker tour of over 100 college campuses.
The tour follows the Triggered: From Combat to Campus speaker series, which visited Chabad-Lubavitch of Louisiana on Freret Street last semester and sparked a protest that police dispersed.
“I believe it is important to bring IDF reservists to speak on college campuses because universities should be spaces where students are exposed to a wide range of firsthand perspectives, especially on complex and highly debated global issues,” SSI president and Tulane senior Jake Massett said in a statement.
On Freret Street outside the speaker event, a group of several dozen students and community members chanted and banged on drums in protest of the event. The noise was audible in Howard Tilton Memorial Library.
The demonstration was organized by groups including the Palestine Solidarity Coalition at Tulane University and Together United Louisiana Students for a Democratic Society.
Protestors chanted “not another penny, not another dime, no more money for Zionist slaughter” and “IOF off campus now,” referring to Israeli Occupation Forces, a term used by Palestinian advocates in place of Israel Defense Forces.
“[Tulane is] a place where people come to learn, and they need a baseline level of safety to have a learning environment,” Tulane graduate Rory MacDonald, who was protesting the event, said. “Having genocidal soldiers who are committing crimes against humanity … and platforming them and allowing them to do propaganda for Israel is appalling.”
As the event ended, protestors yelled “shame” at attendees and booed.
After around two hours, the protest began to disperse.
“I think this moment highlights the importance of maintaining spaces on campus where difficult conversations can happen in a constructive way,” Massett said.
“Tulane has tried to do a lot to silence students who support Palestine, and I can say definitely that as long as they platform terrorists like these Israeli soldiers, then students will be out here vocally supporting Palestine,” MacDonald said.