Letter: Rescind Campus Ban on Peaceful Amherst Protestors
UMass student encampment, April 29, 2024. Photo: Art Keene
On the one-year anniversary of October 7th, 2023, a group of us sent the following letter to the Amherst Town Council and presented a shorter version at the council meeting, during the public comment period.
As we pause to mark the somber one-year anniversary of the October 7th Hamas attack on Israel, killing nearly 1200 people, taking an additional 250 hostage, and precipitating the current stage of Israel’s assault on the Palestinian people, we must reaffirm our commitment to ending this genocidal war. The Israeli military continues to devastate Gaza, bulldoze through the Occupied West Bank, and bomb Yemen and Lebanon. To date, Israel has killed at least 42,000 people in Gaza, including nearly 16,500 children; at least 723 people in the Occupied West Bank; and more than 2,000 people in Lebanon. This carnage has been and continues to be enabled by a massive amount of U.S. military aid, making all Americans complicit.
Especially on the heels of the Amherst Town Council resolution supporting a ceasefire in Gaza, it was wrong of the town to send police to the UMass campus in May to support the break-up of the student encampment and the arrests of peaceful protesters, including a number of Amherst residents. It blatantly disregarded the views of the townspeople on this issue. No doubt it cost the town money in police overtime, use of police vehicles, and more. Furthermore, the Amherst residents who were arrested had their charges dropped, but nonetheless, unlike the UMass-affiliated protesters, they were banned from campus for two years. This is outrageous.
Here is just one clause from the Resolution in Support of a Ceasefire in Gaza:
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we extend our support to all the broken-hearted and vulnerable members of our Amherst community who are directly affected by this ongoing crisis, reaffirm our commitment to the safety of all members of our community, and pledge to join with others seeking just and peaceful solutions. Is this the way we show our support to the broken-hearted and vulnerable members of our Amherst community? Promote the safety of all members of our community? Join with others seeking just and peaceful solutions?
Our own townspeople, including grieving Palestinian American residents, were arrested, zip-tied and held overnight as Amherst police stood guard, despite the stated commitment of the Council resolution. And now, to add insult to injury, banned from campus? No Amherst resident should be considered an “outsider” to the UMass community. In fact, no resident of the Commonwealth should be an outsider to an un-gated public university. Furthermore, the taxes we pay to the Town of Amherst and the State of Massachusetts support the university. We strenuously object to the town’s use of its resources to enable the arrests of its own residents.
We call upon the Amherst Town Council to demand that UMass Chancellor Reyes rescind the campus ban on the Amherst community members who supported the peaceful protest in May. We further call upon you to charge the Amherst Police Chief and the Town Manager not to respond to future calls from the university to arrest peaceful protesters, especially those protesting in support of an issue that the Town Council has itself supported.
Josna Rege
Dave King
Hind Mari
Nurah Jaradat
Jen Cannon
John Bonifaz
Amber Cano-Martin
JuPong Lin
Brooks Ballenger
Jenifer McKenna
Gerry Weiss
Leyla Moushabeck
Corey Kurtz
Carlie Tartakov
Gary Tartakov
Andrew Melnechuk
Jill Brevik
The signatories are members of Amherst for Palestine (formerly Amherst for Ceasefire)
There are 364 better days to do this on, including the day that Israel actually went into Gaza (October 13th).
With all due respect, Mr. Cutting, October 7th, 2024 was exactly the right day for us to renew our commitment to ending this genocidal war.
In March , 2024 the Amherst Town Council passed a resolution to support a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to unconditional U.S. military aid to Israel, to encourage peaceful efforts to end the war, and to protect vulnerable members of the community who were directly affected by it. The somber anniversary of the Hamas attacks, as we mourned the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians over a horrific year, was exactly the right day to ask our elected town council to follow up on their resolution by calling upon UMass Amherst to rescind its campus ban on our peacefully protesting townspeople and calling upon our town officials to protect them, not participate in their arrests.
Furthermore, Mr. Cutting, there is no wrong day to call for an end to war.
Here is the operative text of the resolution:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that we, the Amherst Town Council, call for an immediate and
sustained ceasefire in Gaza, an end to the Israeli military siege of the Gaza Strip, the release of the
hostages and detainees on both sides, the removal of obstacles to urgently needed humanitarian aid
entering Gaza, and an end to unconditional U.S. military aid to the Israeli government.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we extend our support to all the broken-hearted and vulnerable
members of our Amherst community who are directly affected by this ongoing crisis, reaffirm our
commitment to the safety of all members of our community, and pledge to join with others seeking just
and peaceful solutions.
While I appreciate the local opposition to U.S. supported Israeli genocide, is that all we can do?