This is a movement that started with only 70 students,
As a result, we will not be able to host the main stage ceremony that traditionally brings 65,000 students, families, and friends to our campus,
But instead, what they're doing is completely putting their full weight behind it,
It went from a peaceful protest to mayhem in the matter of a minute,
We are students across multiple Atlanta universities and community members organizing against Cop City and the genocide of Palestinians at the hands of US imperialism. We are demanding total institutional divestment from Israeli apartheid and Cop City at all Atlanta colleges and universities.”
This is Emory University. Those greasing the gears of the war machine think that this predictable rhetoric will erode public support for bold actions at Emory. They are wrong,
Several dozen protesters trespassed into Emory University’s campus early on Thursday morning and set up tents on the Quad. These individuals are not members of our community. They are activists attempting to disrupt our university as our students finish classes and prepare for finals. Emory does not tolerate vandalism or other criminal activity on campus. The Emory police department ordered the group to leave and contacted Atlanta Police and Georgia State Patrol for assistance.”
Students of color were significantly targeted throughout the process. There were Black students that were being tased, there were Black students that were being teargassed. I got teargassed as I was trying to leave the protest,
Hands off our students!”
Students might not know, class is here today,
We are occupying Emory University to demand immediate divestment from Israel and Cop City."
The roots of Cop City can be traced to the Israeli Urban Warfare Training Center (UWTC), nicknamed ‘Mini Gaza,’ funded with $45 million from the U.S. These training centers are more than mere facilities; they are live testing grounds for strategies deployed against marginalized peoples, whether in occupied Palestine or predominantly Black, working-class, and undocumented communities in Atlanta."
We are occupying Emory, not because it is the only institution that is complicit in genocide and police militarization, but because its ties are some of the strongest. Emory University, the Atlanta University Center Consortium, Georgia State University, and Georgia Tech have all intimidated and repressed students and employees who spoke out in support of Palestinians. These institutions have all refused to divest from Cop City and the Zionist occupation,
The fight against Cop City and for Palestinian liberation are both frontiers in the same struggle against the mechanisms of state-sanctioned violence and repression,
As residents of Atlanta and participants in this global community, our challenge is to recognize these connections and mobilize. This involves not only resisting specific projects like Cop City but also advocating for a transformation in how our institutions—be they educational, political, or social—invest in community safety and our humanity,
Because of all the arrests, I think a lot more (demonstrations) are going to happen,
We need the National Guard, law enforcement or someone to come in here and take control,
Both sides of my family were displaced from Palestine, and I'm here using my voice because my grandparents couldn't,
Our rules matter, and they will be enforced. Our University will not be occupied."
These individuals are largely not affiliated with Emory and were disrupting the university as our students finish classes and prepare for finals,