Article

2024-05-09 Fifth Column

[Cleveland.com] Contractors spray-painted over pro-Palestinian protesters at Case Western Reserve University.

Students are accusing contractors hired by Case Western Reserve University of assault after they were spray-painted while protesting for Palestine.

Students painted the Advocacy and Spirit walls on Monday night with the Palestinian flag and messages that included “I dream of breaking the siege,” “Come together in peace” and the number of Palestinian children killed in Gaza since war between Israel and Hamas broke out in October.

Early Tuesday morning, contractors hired by the college were ordered to paint over the walls because the administration said the messaging was “threatening, intimidating and antisemitic,” according to an email from Eric Kaler, Case’s president.

To stop the contractors, several students stood in front of the Spirit Wall as workers directly sprayed white paint over them. One student, wearing a face shield, was seen completely covered in the paint in a video shared with The Plain Dealer and Cleveland.com by Case’s Students for Justice in Palestine group.

Kaler released a statement that said he was “disturbed” by what occurred and apologized to the college community Tuesday evening for the incident.

“Let me be clear: No students — or any individuals — should ever be treated this way, especially on a campus where our core values center on providing a safe, welcoming environment. This is not who we are as an institution, and I am deeply sorry this ever occurred,” he said.

Ameer Alkayali, 18, is seen in the video being spray-painted on early Tuesday morning. Alkayali, a Palestinian-American, just finished his freshman year at the University of Cincinnati. He has been protesting with Case students since the first day of their encampment last week when he was also detained and released.

“I stood against the wall, and the painters asked ‘Should we continue?’ The cops showed general confusion and didn’t tell them to stop,” he said. “So, as seen in the video, they continue to just paint right over us.

“They told us to not put our hands in front of the machine because it’s dangerous. And we put our hands up, and they still continued to paint on our hands and sprayed us with it?”

He said he plans to take legal action against Case’s administration and its public safety department.

“We were coughing, and it didn’t come out of my skin for hours,” he said. “Like it’s still in my hair. I can see it under my nails, and there was no sort of medical or any assistance with the situation after from Case or local police.”

The poor, suffering darlings.

Posted by Gromble+Dribble4342 2024-05-09 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11147 views ] Top
File under: Hamas

#1 Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. FAFO.

Posted by Whiskey Mike 2024-05-09 04:26|| 2024-05-09 04:26|| Front Page Top

#2 My alma mater. When muzz students marched in solidarity with iran in 1979 we threw beer bottles at them (while the cops laughed) and the office for campus life segregated them to a special dorm "for their own safety."

Posted by M. Murcek 2024-05-09 06:54|| 2024-05-09 06:54|| Front Page Top

#3 Ohio AG defends letter warning 'woke' masked anti-Israel protesters they face prison time: 'We have a society'

Posted by Skidmark 2024-05-09 07:19|| 2024-05-09 07:19|| Front Page Top

#4 #2 My alma mater. When muzz students marched in solidarity with iran in 1979 we threw beer bottles at them (while the cops laughed) and the office for campus life segregated them to a special dorm "for their own safety."
Posted by: M. Murcek 2024-05-09 06:54

M. Murcek,

I didn't realize you came out of CWRU - my compliments! I grew up just a few miles down I77 from there.

And this reminded me of an event in Public Square in the early 90s. A Maoist group decided to have a public rally, and were met (and heavily outnumbered) by local residents who had fled Communism; a pretty good sized subset of the Cleveland area population.

The Maoists got beaten and beaten hard, while the cops watched. And when the fun was over, the Maoists were arrested...for inciting a riot.

Mike

Posted by MikeKozlowski 2024-05-09 07:41|| 2024-05-09 07:41|| Front Page Top

#5 /\ I love stories with happy endings.

Posted by Whiskey Mike 2024-05-09 08:36|| 2024-05-09 08:36|| Front Page Top

#6 I graduated from Case Institute of Technology in 1969. Case merged into Western Reserve University to become CWRU. At that time, the Viet Nam war was raging. Case had very few protests - we were getting jobs with defense contractors. Since the merger, things have gone down hill. I read somewhere that FIRE rated CWRU one of the worst for free speech.

Posted by Rambler in Virginia 2024-05-09 09:44|| 2024-05-09 09:44|| Front Page Top

#7 What is a U Cincinnati student doing a a Cleveland encampment? They need to get their own encampment. Didn’t the kid understand what Sam Winchester warned him?

Posted by Super Hose 2024-05-09 13:47|| 2024-05-09 13:47|| Front Page Top

#8 What is a U Cincinnati student doing a a Cleveland encampment?

Lots of commuters at the University of Cincinnati, many improving themselves part time via programs supported by their employer — 20% of undergrads and almost half of grad students are part time, so they’re more serious. As are the many students in co-op programs alternating semesters of classes and work at companies in their chosen field. UC invented formal co-op programs over a century ago — it’s part of the reason the school’s students carry considerably less debt than elsewhere.

There were protests at UC early on, but I think they’ve given up. Between the letter from Ohio State Attorney General David Yost to all the university presidents in the state reminding them that he will prosecute as a felony protesters who cover their faces, and the public reminder announced by his office that it is illegal in the state of Ohio for public colleges and universities to contract with businesses or groups involved in boycotting or divesting from Israel, the atmosphere is decidedly against the small number of protesting idiots.

But there might be legal hurdles about divesting. After similar protests at Ohio State last week, The Columbus Dispatch reported that Ohio Revised Code Section 9.76, signed into law by then-Gov. John Kasich in 2016 and amended in 2022, prohibits state agencies like universities from contracting with companies boycot or disinvest from Israel. The law doesn't explicitly prohibit universities from divesting from Israel, but Ohio Attorney General's Office spokesperson Bethany McCorkle told The Dispatch that the state law has that effect anyway.

Posted by trailing wife 2024-05-09 17:58|| 2024-05-09 17:58|| Front Page Top

#9 I read Yost’s letter the other day. I will support Yost if he does it.

Posted by Super Hose 2024-05-09 20:12|| 2024-05-09 20:12|| Front Page Top

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