Both anti and pro-Israeli demonstrators curse Joe Biden at University of Alabama, loud chants break out at protest site
A viral video shows the two groups chanting together even as they are separated by roped barriers
Both anti and pro-Israeli protesters came together at University of Alabama on Wednesday, May 1, chanting “fu** Joe Biden.” A video posted by Maven Navarro, the editor-in-chief of University of Alabama's student-run publication The Crimson White, shows the two groups chanting together even as they are separated by roped barriers.
Protest at University of Alabama
On Wednesday, May 1, a group of students at the University of Alabama gathered on campus to protest in solidarity with the people of Palestine. The protest was led by student organisers and the UA Leftist Collective. They reportedly protested the University's relationship with the Department of Defense and defense contractor Lockheed Martin.
"As students of the University of Alabama, we can no longer stand by in silent complicity as our institution funds a state-sponsored massacre of Palestinians," organisers said in a news release, according to WVTM 13.
"A 2022 audit revealed that the Board of the University of Alabama received $10.4 million that year in funding from the Department of Defense," the release added. "UA also has a very close relationship with Lockheed Martin, a defense contractor that has supplied Israel with fighter jets, Hellfire missiles, and other weapons that are currently being used to slaughter Palestinians. In 2018, UA received $15 million in stock from Marillyn Hewson, the then-CEO of Lockheed. UA is listed as a partner university of the company, and it allows Lockheed to hold recruiting events on campus."
Several students gathered at the university's Student Center Plaza, holding signs and chanting. "Both sides should be able to agree on a ceasefire," student Connor Todd said. "The killing needs to stop. Right now, there's not room for that type of dialogue between these two sides. They're partitioned and they're yelling at each other so I would say there is room but it's not exactly going to happen right here."