SEATTLE — Pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli supporters clashed at the University of Washington (UW) on Sunday afternoon. The only two things keeping the groups from truly getting in each other’s faces were a group of security guards in riot gear and the barriers placed around the quad where the pro-Palestinian encampment was set up.
The pro-Israeli march was supposedly organized by a Christian church called Pursuit Northwest. KIRO 7 has reached out to the church for more details on the planned march and their thoughts on how it all went down. Some of the supporters in that crowd want the school to take down the encampment immediately.
“I genuinely think that none of these guys step foot in Israel and they don’t really know what’s going on there,” Amir Shmuel, who is from Israel said.
On the other side, the pro-Palestinian encampment has been at the quad for nearly two weeks. Several of the people who were part of the group KIRO 7 spoke with say they want their focus to be on what’s going on in the Gaza Strip and that the UW listen to them.
“And our emphasis is to always keep eyes on Gaza. To center Gaza, all eyes on Rafah and to center the Palestinian voice,” pro-Palestinian support Juliette said.
A spokesperson with the university sent KIRO 7 this statement about Sunday’s protests:
“Our priority is the safety and security of our campus community. We are aware of a pro-Israel march walking through campus today. Our hope is that people with opposing views refrain from seeking confrontations and avoid antagonizing one another. We do not detail or share security plans in advance of events but are taking appropriate advance measures in the interest of everyone’s safety.
The barricades are in place around the quad in order to dissuade opposing groups from engaging with one another. And we have been in contact with the march organizers as well as representatives in the encampment in advance.”
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