Editor's note: This story was updated at 1:22 p.m. Dec. 5 to more accurately reflect information about Students for Justice in Palestine and how an SJP protestor wished to be identified.
OU Students for Justice in Palestine continues to demand the university divest from corporate partners and the ongoing war in Gaza in response to university officials removing Palestinian flags and paper signs during a study-in protest.
SJP posted a video on Instagram showing a university security guard tearing down pro-Palestine flyers and flags during their study-in Tuesday. The flyers read “books not bombs,” “there are no universities left in Gaza” and “OU divest from death,” according to the post.
One protester said the study-in was organized to recognize students in Gaza who no longer have a university. She said the act of sitting united and studying acknowledges their privilege of being able to attend classes and be in school.
“Our demands have always been the same of divestment, and so us sitting here and studying, we acknowledge our privilege of being able to continue our education here in the U.S.,” the protester said. “But we also understand our university’s complicity in the genocide that has ended a generation of Gaza’s chance of education. And so we continue to call on our university to stop being complicit in the genocide in Gaza.”
An international studies and Arabic major who asked to be identified only by the name Cruz said the removal of the flags and fliers showed the university’s loyalty to capitalism and militarism. He said it was disappointing to see the university worried more about flags hung in the library than the cause the students were representing.
“What the university is doing, it’s just a silence. … Our university would rather rip down flags that say ‘books not bombs’ or ‘divest’ rather than actually try to stop murdering children. I think that really shows where your tuition is going, where your money is, where the heart of the university is,” Cruz said. “It’s not for Palestinians. It’s not for people of color here. It’s strictly for supporting militarism and capitalism in the U.S., and that’s my issue, and I think you can start to see it really impact the people here as we saw yesterday.”
OU Marketing and Communications responded to questions from OU Daily about why the flags and fliers were removed with a link to the university's expressive activity guidelines. When asked for further details, the university said it would stand by its initial response.
Another protester said demonstrations like the study-in are important because there are no universities left in Gaza. He said weapons manufactured in the U.S. are responsible for the destruction of Gaza, specifically noting the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant located about two hours east of Norman.
“The labor from our university goes into that development of some of these weapons,” the protester said. “This issue is very near and dear and close to home because we are directly complicit, and our university is directly complicit through its investments … and through its normalization of imperialist narratives on campus and in our curriculum.”
Over the past year, SJP has held multiple protests regarding the war in Gaza. In October 2023, around 150 students staged a walkout across the South Oval, where they chanted and held signs calling for OU to divest from weapons manufacturers.
In March, over 150 students congregated in the Oklahoma Memorial Union. Pro-Palestinian protesters and pro-Israeli counter-protesters gathered in the food court to advocate for their stances.
At a May Day rally, SJP and the Student Socialist League organized over 100 students to protest Gov. Kevin Stitt’s executive order calling for a review of diversity, equity and inclusion programs, the closure of OU’s Gender + Equality Center and OU’s corporate partnerships, including those with Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
In September, around 60 students held a rally in the Oklahoma Memorial Union, again calling for divestment from OU’s corporate partners.
SJP will hold a study-in protest Thursday from 12-4 p.m. in the Bizzell Memorial Library, the final day of the three-day study-in protest.
This story was edited by Anusha Fathepure and Ana Barboza. This story was copy edited by Kylie Caldwell and Grace Rhodes.
