KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Pro-Palestinian protesters took to University of Missouri - Kansas City's campus on Monday, just to clear what students called a "liberation zone" after seven hours.
Despite prolonged protests on college campuses across the nation, UMKC's protest did not return Tuesday, but an organizer said the university will see more.
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“When we came yesterday, we said we were going to put the pressure on the university and show them that we are going to be here, we are going to occupy a space, we are going to raise our student voices to make sure we are heard and host a space from 2 to 9 p.m. where Palestinian voices can come speak their voices, speak their stories, other people can come speak their opinions," Mahmoud Kutmah, vice president of UMKC's Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), said.
The protesters and several tents — which violated UMKC's campus policies — were cleared by 9 p.m.
UMKC's SJP, who organized the protest, made an official statement Monday, listing five demands the group has for the greater University of Missouri system.
Despite the protest being cleared, remnants remain.
Protesters spent Monday writing the names of Palestinians killed since Oct. 7 — when the Israel-Hamas war began — in chalk on the sidewalk outside UMKC's library.
Kutmah said the liberation zone was a "safe area on campus" for people to share their stories, voice their opinions and hear about how they can get involved.
Kutmah said the group has been holding events on campus prior to Oct. 7 to discuss events in Palestine.
“We’ve been having events on campus about, speaking about what’s happening in Palestine, we actually table in the library — almost weekly at a certain point — teaching people about Palestine, about what’s going on, to call their representatives, to do stuff on campus," he said.
Kutmah says those efforts will continue.
“We’re going to continue doing liberation zones," he said.
Kutmah said UMKC's SJP isn't as large of a group as some other SJP groups at other universities, so funding and planning — which protests require — can take time.
Protests have also reached University of Missouri's campus in Columbia.
Assima Blumenthal, vice president of Mizzou's Jewish Student Organization, said she feels like Mizzou's protests haven't been anti-semetic.
"I think that the protests that have been going on on campus are very intentional about not making Jewish students feel as though they’re against them," she said.
On University of Kansas' campus, Jewish students are concerned about safety if protests expand to Lawrence, according to Ben Davis, assistant director of KU's Hillel.
“First and foremost on our minds is the safety and security and sense of belonging for Jewish students on campus, nobody is here to curtail the right of expression for anybody, even if we disagree with their opinions," Davis said.
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