‘It’s important to use these platforms to speak out about the genocide’: a Yale student organizer on the school’s encampment protest

Last week Yale University became one of the many U.S. schools to launch a protest encampment in support of Gaza. A few days the cops swarmed Yale’s Benicke Plaza at 6:00 a.m. and arrested 47 protesters who refused to leave the lawn.

Yale, like many of the universities currently engulfed by protest, has a long history of activism that has only intensified since Israel’s assault on Gaza began last fall.

Mondoweiss spoke with Chisato Kimura, a second-year student at Yale Law School and a member of the Yale Law Students for Justice in Palestine, about the protests.

Mondoweiss: Can you talk about the Palestine activism on campus leading up to the encampments, particularly what’s been happening since October? I know there was a recent hunger strike over Gaza.

Chisato Kimura: Yes, sure. Palestine solidarity has been something that’s existed on campus for a very, very long time and pre-dates October 7, but I think with the current genocide in Gaza a lot more people have been mobilized.

I think there’s been a lot of visibility into what’s happening in Gaza and what’s happening in Palestine overall. So, we’ve definitely had a huge increase in the number of people coming out, participating, and getting involved. It’s been really encouraging, but I also think that it speaks to the urgency of the situation.

Since October 7 we’ve had many rallies, many teach-ins, many events and there’s a lot of different ways to bring attention to what’s happening in Gaza, to the over 35, 000 people who have been killed, to the millions who’ve been displaced. We have also been trying to get the Yale administration and Yale Corporation’s attention and highlighting the fact that Yale needs to divest from weapons manufacturing. Yale is currently profiting from the genocide.

As you mentioned, there was a group of students who were hunger striking in solidarity with Palestinians, and they were demanding that Yale divest from weapons manufacturing. They were in Beinecke Plaza every day, and it was very inspiring to see people really dedicate themselves to a movement. It was in conjunction with many different events. There were protests and different actions all week. There have been for months, but they were really ramped up last week. There was a daytime occupation of Beinecke Plaza, which ultimately led to the encampment being set up Friday night.

A lot of the inspiration did really come from the Columbia students. The encampment was set up in solidarity with the Columbia students and so many students across the country who have really taken up the call to bring attention to the genocide in Gaza. We’re in absolute solidarity with all the students who have been brutalized by the cops who’ve been arrested. We’re acutely aware of how what’s happening in Palestine is related to the cops and police brutality here in the U.S.

You mentioned the cops and I know there were some arrests. What do you think about the way Yale’s administration reacted to this protest?

The tent encampments were set up on Friday night and the cops threatened to arrest us every single night, but we were able to turn out a lot of community members. New Haven community members, Connecticut community members, Yale community members. Everyone was coming together to protect the folks who were sleeping overnight in the encampment, so we were able to hold off the cops for about three nights.

However, on Monday morning the cops came in around 6 a.m. We had no warning that they were coming. We had no idea that they were coming. They really ambushed us. Some of the people were still sleeping in their tents when the cops showed up and the cops demanded that we vacate the plaza immediately or we would all be arrested.

I think there’s probably a strategic reason why they chose 6:00 in the morning, with no warning. I think it was to catch us by surprise. We asked what we were doing wrong and pointed out that we were just students peacefully protesting. We’re taking up space on our campus. This is our community, this is our space.

We tried to explain all that to them and asked why we’d be arrested and they refused to answer. They would not tell us what we were doing wrong, but they insisted we’d be arrested if we didn’t leave. So fifty of our fellow students and New Haven community members were arrested by the cops.

Yale continues to be complicit in the genocide in Gaza. In response to peaceful protests against that genocide, the university decided to call the cops onto campus and arrest its students and community members.

What’s the mood in the encampment? What does the coalition look like?

Since the mass arrest happened we’ve moved locations and started an encampment elsewhere on campus. So, we’re continuing strong. I think the mood is energized and hopeful. There’s also a sense of urgency because we recognize and the reason that we’re out here is because the genocide is continuing. There are a lot of new faces that I haven’t seen before, which is really, really encouraging and incredible.

We know that Yale continues to be complicit in this genocide, so while there’s a lot of energy there is also a sense of urgency because we know that Palestinians and Gaza do not have the luxury of time.

It’s a very wide coalition of people of all different backgrounds, which is incredible to see and I think we have been very successful in getting our messaging across. At the end of the day, it’s a call to humanity, a call for an end to the genocide, a call for a liberated Palestine, and I think a lot of people are able to see that. What’s happening now in Gaza is completely unacceptable and also what’s been happening over the last 75 years is horrific and something that needs to be changed.

There seems to be a segment of the mainstream that’s stupefied and upset that this is happening at a lot of “elite” schools. Yale, Harvard, Columbia. What do you make of that reaction, and what do you think about the fact we have seen this kind of organizing at the most prestigious of universities?

First and foremost, I’m always so inspired by folks at state schools at smaller schools because I think we always follow them, and they have a really long history of activism. I think many of us at the Ivys are really, really inspired by it. I think this is just another example of us following after months and months of mobilization at some of the state schools in some of the smaller schools.

I also think that this is just a moment where the entire country is coming together recognizing that what’s happening in Gaza is a genocide against Palestinians. So, regardless of the environment that we’re in I think all of us feel called to speak out about it and use our positionalities and our privileges to do what we can to put a stop to it.

I think, for some very weird reason, there’s a big focus from the media on some of these elite universities, including Yale, Columbia, and Harvard, and I think many of us at these universities are aware of this obsession. I certainly feel like we have access to a platform, and because of that privilege, we have an obligation to use it however we can.

It’s important to use these platforms to speak out about the genocide. Many of us at these universities are aware of that unequal attention on our universities, and as a result, I think we feel even more encouraged, and we have even more responsibility to continue speaking out, to continue making sure that the genocide in Gaza is in the news and continues to be centered.

Students and youth have been at the forefront of many different movements and this is no exception. I also will say that a lot of the demonstrations, a lot of the encampments, a lot of the mobilization that’s been going on obviously hasn’t just been happening at these elite universities. I think oftentimes, unfortunately, they’re the only ones that make it into the news, but it’s certainly not true that other schools aren’t mobilizing. We know across the country there are so many schools and so many students who are doing everything they can to mobilize, to get their universities to divest, to bring attention to the genocide in Gaza. I’m really inspired by everyone across the country doing what they can to bring attention to the genocide, to bring attention to our universities’ and our country’s role in it

I do think there’s a lot of fear among students, faculty, and a lot of different people that speaking out about Palestine could cost you a job or could cost you future career opportunities. So, I’m really inspired by everyone organizing despite those risks. Everyone showing up and continuing to speak out because it’s really important in moments like these to use our privileges to recognize the fact that we still have university campuses that we can use as a platform to speak out about the genocide, to speak out about the decades of settler colonization that’s been happening in Palestine. I’m really inspired that students across the country are continuing to do that.

Speaking of mainstream narratives, there’s been this big focus on campus safety and these universities allegedly becoming unsafe environments for Jewish students. What do you make of that?

I think that has been a kind of characterization across protests, but at the end of the day, you see the demands of the students. It’s to divest from weapons manufacturing, that is at the heart of the demands. It’s to divest from genocide. Those are very reasonable common sense demands.

Also, I would mention that across the country, students are coming together in very wide coalitions that include students and community members from all different backgrounds. These include organizations like Jews for Ceasefire and Jewish Voice for Peace. So, I think it’s important to recognize that it is a very wide coalition of people coming together in recognition of the genocide in Gaza and in recognition of our role in it and our institution’s role in it.

I also think that when we talk about people feeling unsafe on campus we should look at who’s perpetrating the violence. The fact is that Yale University and Yale police department are the ones who came onto campus. The cops were the ones who came up to people peacefully protesting against a genocide and used their power to violently sweep Benicke Plaza and arrest 50 students and community members. I think if we’re thinking about violence at protests and what makes us feel unsafe, what puts us in danger–it’s the police. It’s the Yale administration.

We’re peacefully protesting. It’s really clear that the danger is the cops.

I realize it’s impossible to predict, but what do you think might be next for Yale’s encampment and overall Palestine organizing?

I think it’s up to all of us to decide the direction that we want to take this in. I’ve seen so many new faces, there’s an energized atmosphere, people are ready to continue mobilizing. People are even more informed than ever about Yale’s role, about what’s happening in Palestine, what’s been historically been happening in Palestine.

I think this is an exciting moment to continue building our relationships, our coalitions, and our communities to be able to mobilize against Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Yale University and universities across the country have really tried to shut down peaceful protests against genocide by arresting us, by suspending students, by expelling students. However, students and community members have shown that we will not be silent and that they cannot silence us. We’re going to continue to mobilize, we’re going to continue showing out to bring an end to the genocide.

At the end of the day, we absolutely want a ceasefire, but it doesn’t end there. We’re going to continue mobilizing until we see a free Palestine and I am really hopeful that we will see a free Palestine within our lifetime.