Northwestern University reaches deal with pro-Palestinian protesters to end encampment on campus

As pro-Palestinian protests continue to rage on university campuses across the United States, demonstrators and university leadership of Northwestern University in the US state of Illinois announced, late Monday (Apr 29) that they have reached an agreement to end the encampment set up on campus.

Protests to continue

The Daily Northwestern, a student-led newspaper of the university said that after five days of demonstrations, pro-Palestinian student protesters wrapped up negotiations with the officials and struck a deal which would allow protests and gatherings in support of Palestine at the Deering Meadow in exchange for an end to the encampment set up there.

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In line with the agreement, students would have to end the encampment set up on Deering Meadow since Thursday (Apr 25), while university leadership said they would ensure more transparency in its investments.

This comes as protesters not only at Northwestern but across several campuses have demanded that their universities divest from Israel while calling for an end to the war in Gaza.

The deal also allows only NU students, faculty and staff to protest at the Deering Meadow in support of Palestine till June 1.

About the deal

Northwestern Divestment Coalition which set up the encampment praised the demonstrators’ efforts for successfully growing the encampment over the days while avoiding suspensions or arrests.

The group, in its statement, had called on the university to end its partnerships with Israel, including Northwestern University’s Israel Innovation Project, which, according to the student-led newspaper, facilitates academic collaborations with Israeli institutions.

It also called on the university to disclose its investments and divest from “institutions and companies that support and maintain apartheid, occupation and the oppression of the Palestinian people.”

The university for its part said it would “answer questions from any internal stakeholder about holdings, held currently or within the last quarter, to the best of its knowledge and to the extent legally possible”.

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It will also reestablish an Advisory Committee on Investment Responsibility which will include representatives from students, faculty and staff.

Northwestern University, as per ABC News, also pledged more inclusivity, funding two Palestinian faculty members and the full cost of attendance for five Palestinian undergraduate students every year.

As a part of the agreement, the university said that the encampment would be dismantled immediately, except for one aid tent and students are required to stop the “non-approved use of amplified sound.”

(With inputs from agencies)