University employees took down the “Gaza Solidarity Sukkah” honoring the Jewish holiday of Sukkot on Deering Meadow Wednesday evening.
About a dozen students set up the sukkah, calling on the U.S. to enact an arms embargo on Israel and push Northwestern to divest from companies tied to the country amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
Demonstrators recited a poem as University employees used power tools to deconstruct the wooden structure shortly after 9 p.m. Several police officers guarded the area. There were no physical confrontations.
Sukkot, an eight-day celebration that runs Oct. 16 through Oct. 23 this year, marks the fall harvest and commemorates the 40 years Israelites spent wandering the desert after fleeing slavery in Egypt.
A tradition of this holiday is constructing a sukkah — a hut-like temporary structure — after the impermanent shelters the Israelites lived in during that time. JVP NU wrote in a Wednesday statement that it “will be centering the struggle of Palestinian liberation” as it observes the holiday on Deering Meadow.
“As we remember our people’s history of displacement, we find it impossible to separate this ritual from the mass displacement of Palestinians,” members wrote. “Knowing that all struggles are intertwined, we will be centering the struggle of Palestinian liberation in our rituals and observance of Sukkot.”
Vice President of Student Affairs Susan Davis and Dean of Students Mona Dugo told NU Jewish Voice for Peace members that the structure was in violation of the University’s Display and Solicitation policy, according to Medill senior and former Daily staffer Isabelle Butera. Butera said police told the students that they could face “repercussions” if they did not comply.
“We asked if we could stay on this lawn, as we are students of this campus and have every right to be here,” Butera said. “So we stayed and watched the police tear down the beautiful structure that we built only hours ago.”
University Spokesperson Jon Yates told The Daily in an email that JVP NU requested University permission for the event, which was denied because “the group is not a recognized student organization, and because the structure violates the University’s display policy.”
Yates stated that the students were told to remove the structure “repeatedly.”
“The students did not comply and the University removed the structure. The students face disciplinary action,” Yates wrote to The Daily.
Before the observance, organizers acknowledged NU’s new demonstration policy, which prohibits overnight demonstrations between midnight and 6 a.m., but said they believed the Sukkah, a religious observation rather than a demonstration, did not violate the University’s Code of Conduct.
“We recognize that the updates to Northwestern’s demonstration policy grant the institution intentionally ambiguous and broad discretion to police any and all student activities on campus,” the group wrote. “We see this obfuscation as incompatible with student safety.”
The organizers said they have received permits from the City of Evanston for the event. A city spokesperson told The Daily a permit was requested for loudspeaker use only on Deering Meadow and that it is not in effect while pending approval documentation from the University.
In an Oct. 10 interview with The Daily, University President Michael Schill defended his response to the April pro-Palestinian encampment on Deering Meadow but said he would pursue disciplinary action against students if they were to stage a similar demonstration following the rollout of new policies.
“If they violate the University’s rules — which an encampment having tents up would violate the University rules, staying overnight would violate the University rules, using amplification would violate the University rules — then there would be consequences, and the consequences could range from probation all the way to expulsion,” Schill said. “And we will enforce our rules.”
The comments came just days after Schill received blowback from student activists for vowing to discipline students who participated in an Oct. 7 walkout at The Rock — in defiance of the new demonstration policy.
This is a developing story and will be updated as new information becomes available.
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