What's the future of the UW's pro-Palestinian encampment? It depends who you ask

Columbia. Emerson College. University of Texas at Austin.

Across the country, at dozens of campuses, college students and faculty have gathered to protest the war in Gaza. And in many cases, organizers are also calling on their schools to divest from their financial and educational ties to Israel.

This is happening at the University of Washington as well.

The situation on campus reached a new level of tension over the past 48 hours.

After pro-Palestinian graffiti showed up on many campus buildings Wednesday morning, UW President Ana Marie Cauce published a statement in which she called for a ceasefire in Gaza and also condemned some of the language of protesters on campus as antisemitic. Cauce said the university will not participate in an academic boycott of Israel or cut ties with Boeing, and she called again for the encampment to disband.

Protesters say they aren’t going anywhere. In a statement from UW United Front for Palestinian Liberation, the group said they “remain steadfastly committed to achieving our demands and seeing a liberated Palestine.”

KUOW Director of Community Engagement Zaki Hamid sat down with Soundside host Libby Denkmann to talk about his experience speaking with students, faculty, and counter-protestors about the encampment.