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Vanderbilt University Suspends Anti-Zionist Protesters After Building Takeover, Multiple Arrests Made
Vanderbilt University students occupying an administrative building. All have been suspended and four were arrested for assault and vandalism. Photo: Screenshot/Instagram
Vanderbilt University in Tennessee has suspended over a dozen students belonging to an anti-Zionist group that occupied an administrative building and refused to leave, according to the school’s official newspaper, The Vanderbilt Hustler.
On Tuesday, the group “Divest Coalition” amassed inside Kirkland Hall, where its members clamored for administrators to reverse its cancellation of a referendum that, if passed, would have allowed the Vanderbilt Student Government to boycott companies linked to Israel. According to The Hustler, administrators made the decision based on the measure’s potential to jeopardize the school’s eligibility for being awarded state contracts, which nonprofits and businesses participating in the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel are, per state law, barred from receiving.
The day saw bitter exchanges of words between the students and campus officials. Video footage of their demonstration shows them verbally abusing a Black officer, whom they accused of betraying his racial identity. “Shame on you!” they shouted at him. Someone else said, “You are Black in America, and you’re not standing with the marginalized people of the world. What does that make you?” Another student told the officer that he should take their side because America is committing a genocide of Black Americans, insinuating that Israel is committing a genocide of Palestinians.
Vanderbilt has suspended at least 7 students for occupying the lobby of the chancellor’s office today.
They’re there because the admin cancelled a student BDS referendum. pic.twitter.com/NreEXR3JI9
— Steve McGuire (@sfmcguire79) March 26, 2024
Vanderbilt University commented on the matter to The Hustler, explaining that several students “assaulted a Community Service Officer to gain entrance” into Kirkland Hall and “pushed” officials who suggested having a meeting to discuss their concerns. The school paper also reported other disturbing conduct that took place inside the building, including that students relieved themselves in plastic bottles and a young woman removed a sanitary product from her undergarments after claiming that she had exhibited “early symptoms of toxic shock syndrome.” The students have alleged that they are victims of “inhumane treatment.”
At least 16 students have been suspended from school over the incident, a disciplinary sanction which proscribes their being on campus — in residence halls or class — for any reason. Failure to comply with the punishment may result in being trespassed and arrested.
“Student Affairs took a gradual approach to de-escalate the situation,” Vanderbilt University said in a statement shared with The Algemeiner on Wednesday. “After the students refused to leave, staff made them aware their actions violated university policy and that they would be subject to disciplinary action. After several hours, the university began issuing interim suspensions. Students on interim suspension must leave campus immediately and may not return until further notice, pending the Student Affairs review process.”
The university added that “free expression is a core value at Vanderbilt, as is civil discourse.” It continued: “Dozens of peaceful demonstrations have occurred over the past several months. In consideration of safety and the university’s normal operations, we, as a matter of policy, define time, place, and manner limitations. The safety and well-being of our community is a top priority. The university will take action when our policies are violated, the safety of our campus is jeopardized, and when people intimidate or injure members of our community.”
Vanderbilt University has sent The Algemeiner an additional statement describing the disciplinary sanctions it has levied against the demonstrators. It said that all who participated in the “sit in” are suspended and that three others have been charged with misdemeanor assault for shoving building officials. A fourth who shattered a window was charged with vandalism.
In a statement posted to Instagram, Divest Coalition accused the university of abuse and violating their rights.
“Vanderbilt University has arrested 4 students and suspended over 16 students after harassing, assaulting, abusing them for trying to exercise their free speech rights to advocate for Palestine,” the group said on Wednesday. “Two students have been released, two more are still in jail waiting to be released — all 4 have unjust charges that they will be fighting in court.”
In the statement, Divest Coalition admitted that students relieved themselves in public and attached a photograph of their excretions and other waste.
Vanderbilt University is not the first school to be forced to arrest anti-Zionist protesters for breaking school rules.
In December, dozens of anti-Zionist protesters at Brown University were arrested by campus police for staging an unauthorized protest inside the University Hall administrative building. While being removed from the building, they shouted, “Shame on Brown! Shame on Brown!”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
Israel has decided to send a delegation to Qatar for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, an Israeli official said, reviving hopes of a breakthrough in negotiations to end the almost 21-month war.
Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a “positive spirit,” a few days after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalize” a 60-day truce.
The Israeli negotiation delegation will fly to Qatar on Sunday, the Israeli official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.
But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, has yet to comment on Trump’s announcement, and in their public statements Hamas and Israel remain far apart.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the terrorist group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.
Israeli media said on Friday that Israel had received and was reviewing Hamas’ response to the ceasefire proposal.
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Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran
Tucker Carlson speaks on July 18, 2024 during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect
US conservative talk show host Tucker Carlson said in an online post on Saturday that he had conducted an interview with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, which would air in the next day or two.
Carlson said the interview was conducted remotely through a translator, and would be published as soon as it was edited, which “should be in a day or two.”
Carlson said he had stuck to simple questions in the interview, such as, “What is your goal? Do you seek war with the United States? Do you seek war with Israel?”
“There are all kinds of questions that I didn’t ask the president of Iran, particularly questions to which I knew I could get an not get an honest answer, such as, ‘was your nuclear program totally disabled by the bombing campaign by the US government a week and a half ago?’” he said.
Carlson also said he had made a third request in the past several months to interview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will be visiting Washington next week for talks with US President Donald Trump.
Trump said on Friday he would discuss Iran with Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.
Trump said he believed Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back permanently by recent US strikes that followed Israel’s attacks on the country last month, although Iran could restart it at a different location.
Trump also said Iran had not agreed to inspections of its nuclear program or to give up enriching uranium. He said he would not allow Tehran to resume its nuclear program, adding that Iran did want to meet with him.
Pezeshkian said last month Iran does not intend to develop nuclear weapons but will pursue its right to nuclear energy and research.
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Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – As Israeli leaders weigh the contours of a possible partial ceasefire deal with Hamas, the families of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza issued an impassioned public statement this weekend, condemning any agreement that would return only some of the abductees.
In a powerful message released Saturday, the Families Forum for the Return of Hostages denounced what they call the “beating system” and “cruel selection process,” which, they say, has left families trapped in unbearable uncertainty for 638 days—not knowing whether to hope for reunion or prepare for mourning.
The group warned that a phased or selective deal—rumored to be under discussion—would deepen their suffering and perpetuate injustice. Among the 50 hostages, 22 are believed to be alive, and 28 are presumed dead.
“Every family deserves answers and closure,” the Forum said. “Whether it is a return to embrace or a grave to mourn over—each is sacred.”
They accused the Israeli government of allowing political considerations to prevent a full agreement that could have brought all hostages—living and fallen—home long ago. “It is forbidden to conform to the dictates of Schindler-style lists,” the statement read, invoking a painful historical parallel.
“All of the abductees could have returned for rehabilitation or burial months ago, had the government chosen to act with courage.”
The call for a comprehensive deal comes just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares for high-stakes talks in Washington and as indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are expected to resume in Doha within the next 24 hours, according to regional media reports.
Hamas, for its part, issued a statement Friday confirming its readiness to begin immediate negotiations on the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage release framework.
The Forum emphasized that every day in captivity poses a mortal risk to the living hostages, and for the deceased, a danger of being lost forever. “The horror of selection does not spare any of us,” the statement said. “Enough with the separation and categories that deepen the pain of the families.”
In a planned public address near Begin Gate in Tel Aviv, families are gathering Saturday evening to demand that the Israeli government accept a full-release deal—what they describe as the only “moral and Zionist” path forward.
“We will return. We will avenge,” the Forum concluded. “This is the time to complete the mission.”
As of now, the Israeli government has not formally responded to Hamas’s latest statement.
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