University of Mississippi campus entrance sign and logo. Credit – Getty Images
PPalestinian demonstrations at the University of Mississippi turned sour on Thursday when at least 200 counter-protesters taunted their fellow students with renditions of The Star-Spangled Banner and other songs, eventually leading to the evacuation of students on campus.
A group of about 50 to 60 pro-Palestine protesters gathered in the school’s Quad to demand the school’s divestment from Israel and protest the nation’s actions in Gaza following the October 7 attack by Hamas that resulted in the deaths of 1,139 Israelis and 240 taken hostage. . Around 35,000 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-controlled group. Palestinian Ministry of Health.
An hour after the protest began, protesters were met by a crowd of 200 counter-protesters who approached them and began throwing objects and shouting at them. Clarion-Ledger reports.
Video of the confrontation posted on Twitter shows the large group of counter-protesters singing the National Anthem, drowning out the chants made by pro-Palestine and anti-war protesters. Additional images online show a group, believed to be members of a fraternity, waving an American flag and a Trump flag while chanting “We want Trump,” while anti-war protesters can be heard chanting “Free, free Palestine.”
As tensions rose between the two groups, the police invaded the place and dispersed the crowd in front of the university’s Faculty of Applied Sciences. Pro-Palestine protesters were then herded into the building by police, according to local reports.
Ole Miss has not released an official statement on the protests, but Jacob Battle, the university’s director of media relations, confirmed that the protesters were evacuated by bus and did not elaborate on whether they were students, according to the Clarion-Ledger. The initial protest was organized by a group called UMiss for Palestine. (The university said it has no direct investment with Israel, Mississippi today reports.
The protests at Ole Miss are the latest at dozens of universities across the country as students express their discontent with the country’s involvement in the Israel-Hamas war.
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves took to Facebook on Thursday to share his awareness of the university demonstrations, adding that local authorities were also aware of the protest.
“Campus police, city, county and state resources are being mobilized and coordinated,” Reeves said in the Thursday morning post. “We will offer a unified response with one mission: peaceful protests are permitted and protected – no matter how outrageous the views of these protesters may seem to some of us. But illegal behavior will not be tolerated. It will be treated accordingly. Law and order will be maintained!”
The Republican governor later posted a video of counterprotesters on campus, saying the footage “warms my heart.”
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