Students Shut Down Cal Poly Humboldt Campus to Support Gaza Ceasefire, Divestment From Israel

(The Sacramento Bee/TNS) — After a violent clash with campus and local police Monday night, students at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt have taken over a campus administration building and barricaded themselves inside, demanding that the university sever ties with Israel and any companies that support “the Zionist entity.”

Cal Poly Humboldt joins several college campuses across the U.S., including Columbia University in New York City, University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Southern California to occupy campus spaces in opposition to Israel.

But so far, Humboldt is the only college where students have occupied a campus building.

Inside Siemens Hall, students and community members have barricaded themselves in the administrative building, and have no plans to leave until campus leadership supports a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, and divests from companies that support the Israeli military.

Some students reported that there are close to 150-200 students inside the building, while others reported there were closer to 20-30. There is no one group organizing the occupation; a few dozen students entered Siemens Hall on Monday afternoon around 4 p.m., and more students joined as the police presence grew.

The students were met by a janitor who “did not seem down for the cause,” according to one student.

As students occupied the hall, the mood around Siemens Hall was joyful. Several hundred students milled about the quad around the occupied building Tuesday night, making signs, participating in dabke dance lessons from a Palestinian student activist, and lighting candles at a makeshift altar. A local band set up and to play live music as community members settled in for the night in tents while they ate homemade Mexican food, practiced yoga, and burned sage.

The students and community members blocking the doors during Monday night’s occupation were “really awesome,” said the student.

Police “just escalate stuff when they come in here,” but “it was really awesome to see people outside the doors all night. People out here supporting us, keeping watch. They were here with us, and they are here with Palestine,” the student said.

The student occupiers say they won’t leave Siemens Hall until the university does the following: disclose all financial ties to “the Zionist entity,” cut ties with all Israeli universities, divest from all companies “complicit in the occupation of Palestine,” drop charges and attacks against student organizers, and call for “an immediate ceasefire and end to the occupation of Palestine.”

The university halted all campus operations on Monday amid the protests, calling the demonstration a “dangerous situation,” and emailed students that the campus would remain closed through Wednesday. Three students were arrested, and then released, Monday night.