6 2 24 Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: divestpitt@gmail.com, @pittapartheiddivest
PALESTINE SOLIDARITY ENCAMPMENT RE-ESTABLISHED ON THE

UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH CAMPUS
Pittsburgh, PA (Sunday, June 2, 2024) — Today, students, faculty, staff, and community
members of the University of Pittsburgh have re-established a Palestine Solidarity Encampment
on the lawn of the Cathedral of Learning. The University responded to the previous actions
calling for action in response to the Zionist genocide with violence and the mobilization of
armed police on campus. Today the campus is reclaimed in the name of the liberation of
Palestine from the river to the sea. Hundreds of people joined in support of the encampment and
in solidarity with the people of Palestine. We unreservedly and wholeheartedly stand with the
people of Palestine in their resistance to the Zionist regime.
For nearly 8 months, the apartheid state "Israel" has engaged in a vicious escalation of genocide
against the Palestinian people after decades of occupation, ethnic cleansing, and apartheid. Over
36,000 people have been murdered, including over 15,000 children. We demand that our
institution take action, but the University has consistently refused to speak, let alone negotiate,
with students and faculty. Yet we know there is no such thing as "neutrality" during a genocide.
Indeed, significant portions of the University's endowment are invested in companies which
knowingly participate in and profit from apartheid, occupation, and genocide. Furthermore,
while the University displayed its recent ability to take political stances in its unreserved
solidarity with the people of Ukraine, the University has established to the world in its public
communications and actions that there exists a double standard: white European Ukrainians
deserve solidarity and support in response to invasion, while Palestinians deserve silence and
complicity in their destruction.
The encampment has been reestablished on University property to send a clear message to
Chancellor Joan Gabel, Board of Trustees Chair Louis R. Cestello, Chief Investment Officer
Jeffer Choudhry and the rest of senior administration and the Board. Our community does not
support and is not represented by a parasitic administration which rests in its complicity in
genocide. Student Government Board and many faculty have publicly called for the University to
take action. Escalation will continue until the University upholds its purported commitment to
justice and equity.
It is in this light that we demand the University of Pittsburgh:
1. DISCLOSE all University investments

2. DIVEST University of Pittsburgh finances, including the endowment, from companies
and institutions that profit from Israeli apartheid, genocide, and occupation in Palestine.
3. TERMINATE all research partnerships with complicit companies now and in the future.
4. REJECT the normalization of ties with the Zionist regime. Namely:
1. CANCEL all official partnerships with organizations promoting the normalization

of apartheid and occupation. Immediately terminate Pitt's chapter of Hillel.
Immediately terminate the Student Coalition for Israel at Pitt. These organizations
invited an IOF soldier to speak and promote Zionism as a core part of their
mission. They must be replaced by non-Zionist Jewish spaces that in no way
support the ongoing genocide, occupation, or apartheid in Palestine.
2. BAN speakers from campus who come to justify or normalize crimes against
humanity or promote hate speech.
3. REFUSE grants from the US-Israel Binational Science Foundation.
4. HEED the call for Cultural and Academic Boycott of Israeli universities and
institutions, including study-abroad programs, fellowships, and research
collaborations.
5. SUPPORT Palestinians and Palestinian academics the same way the University supported
Ukrainians and Ukrainian academics.
1. PUBLICLY release a statement standing in solidarity with the Palestinian people
and CONDEMN the comprehensive Israeli destruction of Palestinian universities
and education system.
2. PROVIDE grants, scholarships, fellowships, and visiting professorships to
Palestinian academics and students fleeing Zionist genocide in Gaza as well as to
those seeking to stay and rebuild destroyed infrastructure.
6. REMOVE the IHRA definition of antisemitism from the DEI website to avoid the false
and defamatory conflation of anti-Zionism with antisemitism.
7. ISSUE a formal apology from Chancellor Gabel as well as an acknowledgement of her
failing in her duties to protect Pitt community members and assure their rights.
8. CALL ON the DA to drop the charges against students arrested for peacefully protesting
immediately.
9. ASSURE the protection of first amendment rights now and in the future to speak,
assemble, and protest for justice on campus.
In addition, we present the following demands regarding police presence on campus:
1. DEMILITARIZE the campus police force by removing all armed police officers for the
safety of all Pitt community members.
2. PUBLICIZE the University of Pittsburgh Police Department’s record of arrests, traffic
stops, and citations.
3. TERMINATE any officers with a record of racial bias, excessive force, or unlawful
arrest/detainment immediately.
4. SEVER ties with the City of Pittsburgh Police Department for all on campus events and
activities which includes terminating any and all contracts with current or former City of
Pittsburgh police officers.
We will not rest until the University has acceded to our demands and addressed its ongoing
complicity in the genocide and oppression of Palestinians. There is no liberation for any without
liberation for all. Free Palestine.

6 2 24 Press Release

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact: divestpitt@gmail.com, @pittapartheiddivest

PALESTINE SOLIDARITY ENCAMPMENT RE-ESTABLISHED ON THE

It is in this light that we demand the University of Pittsburgh:

1. DISCLOSE all University investments

1. CANCEL all official partnerships with organizations promoting the normalization

In addition, we present the following demands regarding police presence on campus:

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