Above photo: About 200 people gathered Nov. 9 at Klarman Hall in Cornell University at a die-in to protest against genocide and express solidarity with Palestine. Prakriti Panwar/The Ithacan.
On March 10, we as members of the Ithaca community joined with Cornell students and allies to exercise our First Amendment right to protest on behalf of the Palestinians in Gaza, who are the victims of genocide at the hands of the Israeli Occupation Forces. We and multiple students were arrested on the orders of Cornell’s president, self-proclaimed 1st Amendment champion Michael Kotlikoff.
His office had invited a panel comprised of war criminals and genocide enablers from the US and Israeli government, with a token former Palestinian government official who had a <25% approval rating by Palestinians, under the guise of discussing “pathways to peace”. The event was one of many events at CU designed to justify genocide. One of the panelists, Tzipi Livni, former Foreign Minister, Vice Prime Minister of Israel, was personally responsible for Operation Cast Lead, the 2008 operation in Gaza that killed 1400 Palestinians, also known as the Gaza Massacre, during which illegal white phosphorus munitions were used in this highly urbanized open-air prison on a civilian population under the illegal practice of collective punishment. She has been wanted for questioning for her war crimes in the UK and Belgium.
At one point, panel moderator and former US Ambassador Ryan Crocker, (who was charged with DUI and hit and run in 2012), made the tone-deaf remark that if he wanted, he could have a nightcap in Gaza City. Nobody is having a nightcap in Gaza City, not even a non- alcoholic one, because there are no cities left in Gaza. Israel has again resumed its illegal practice of withholding humanitarian aid, like food, electricity, and water as a weapon of war; one of many commonplace practices used by the rogue nation that are illegal under international law and rules of war.
This action happened with the backdrop of Trump administration attempting to remove Columbia student organizer Mahmoud Khalil, not based on crimes — they admit he committed none — but based on his speech in support of Palestine. Columbia is now expelling student protesters en-masse and revoking their degrees all in the name of protecting Jewish students from supposed antisemitism. Let us be very clear, criticism of Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza and 80-year occupation is not antisemitism. Despite the fact that many universities are cracking down harder on protected first amendment activities, the Trump administration is withdrawing millions in funding from institutions anyway and has initiated investigations around accusations of antisemitism on campus under Title VI while simultaneously cracking down on “DEI” and programs that support diversity. All this while presiding over arguably the most antisemitic administration in US history.
As Ithacans, we are no stranger to protests at Cornell. Ithaca and the Cornell student body have a long history of solidarity in disputes with our local Ivy, from the black student takeover of Willard Straight Hall in 1969, opposition to the US war in Vietnam, the divestment campaign targeting South Africa in the 1980’s, Kyoto Now and Redbud Woods in the 2000s, to the modern labor disputes with UAW local 2300. The student-led protests in support of ending the genocide in Gaza and divestment from weapons manufacturers are no different. Cornell has repeatedly breached the peace here in our beloved community and has proved again and again that they are not a good neighbor nor a trustworthy institution. They have repeatedly violated the rights of students, staff and community members, steamrolled public opinion and stymied progress all while enjoying the luxury of tax-free status.
Meanwhile the highly intelligent, educated, creative and hardworking communities of Ithaca and Tompkins County continue to struggle economically, all while propping up this globalized behemoth with its $10 billion endowment. Cornell spent over $700K last year on slope day, meanwhile we spend exponentially more than that on car repairs because of the terrible state of our roads and streets, can’t pass a school budget to fully support our students and teachers, can’t afford to purchase a first home or stay in ones we’ve lived in our whole lives, can’t afford basic necessities, and continue to deal with a persistent and growing crisis of homelessness.
Cornell, we would like to remind you that your campus sits on stolen land that was ripped away from the Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫʼ (Cayuga) Nation during the Sullivan-Clinton Campaign of 1779; the first genocide in a long and unbroken chain of horror that mars our history as a nation. The fact that a land acknowledgement was spoken before Monday’s panel was peak hypocrisy.
The genocide in Gaza is horrible, visible and stoppable; and endemic to US government policy. It is only fitting that we should fight to end that terrible cycle here on this land. Cornell University, the Board of Trustees, and President Michael Kotlikoff, you are complicit in this carnage, and we will continue to demand that you divest from corporations that profit from arms manufacturing and genocide. We demand that you pay your fair share to Ithaca and Tompkins County. We demand that you protect 1st amendment activities on your campus. It is crucial that we as Ithacans continue to exercise our First Amendment rights, and we call on our fellow Ithacans to join us. In the streets, in the halls of power, and in our community, we will not be silent!