Police begin clearing a pro-Palestinian camp on the University of Chicago campus

Police began clearing a pro-Palestinian camp on the University of Chicago campus early Tuesday, dismantling tents and setting up barricades to keep protesters out.

The action began around daybreak when campus police surrounded the main campus of the university. According to live reports from the scene, police prevented students from entering the courtyard.

There were no immediate reports of arrests, but work crews could be seen dismantling tents and loading them onto trucks along with other items.

UChicago United organizers set up the camp a little over a week ago — along with hundreds of other students across the country — to express their support for the Palestinian people and call on the university to disclose its financial investments and move away from “Death “to withdraw into Gaza, the south side and beyond.”

On Monday, a coalition of more than 120 faculty and academic staff at the University of Chicago called on school leaders to resume negotiations with pro-Palestinian camp organizers.

The University of Chicago School of Justice in Palestine said the administration suspended negotiations on Sunday.

Any action to remove the University of Chicago camp or its residents would be “unjustifiable,” said Elham Mireshghi, an assistant professor at the Divinity School.

Over the weekend, nearly 70 protesters were arrested at a pro-Palestinian camp outside the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

At Northwestern University, pro-Palestinian protesters were able to reach an agreement with the administration. The agreement requires the university to disclose information about any investments to people associated with the university within 30 days of a request, re-establish a committee of student representatives to advise on investments, and fully cover tuition fees for five Palestinian students, among other things finance agreements – in exchange for the camp being reduced to a relief tent.

At DePaul University, there is still a camp in the main area of ​​the school’s Lincoln Park campus. University officials say they requested a meeting with the DePaul Divest Coalition on Monday.