KENT, Ohio — As pro-Palestine protests are happening across the country, students at Kent State University are planning for a demonstration this weekend.
It’s happening on what is a somber day in the school’s history: May 4.
Kent State University student Yaseen Shaikh says he is planning a demonstration on campus Saturday in opposition to Israel’s actions in Gaza.
“We have a job to fight against injustice in Palestine and in the Congo and Sudan and here in the United States,” Shaikh tells 3News’ Candice Hare.
A move he says is in solidarity with protests at universities nationwide.
“It’s become an amazing movement that really sends a strong message to the people of America. It’s no longer a foreign issue. It’s become very much domestic.”
The Saturday timing lands on May 4, a day that shaped Kent State University forever in 1970 when four students were shot and killed by members of the Ohio National Guard during a protest.
Shaikh says he believes his demonstration will tap into the legacy of May 4 at KSU -- a sentiment with which not everyone agrees.
“The protests for My 4 were about the Vietnam War and the draft,” says Kent State student Andrew Aronoff. “This is really, strictly, they’re trying to bring in all of these different atrocities that they’re saying Israel is committing. It’s not really talking about the United States. May 4 was about the United States joining the Vietnam War and starting the draft. … It really doesn’t correlate together, truthfully.”
Aronoff says he hasn’t seen much anti-Israel sentiment during protests on campus, but he believes the same cannot be said across the nation.
“Peaceful protesting is really super important,” he says. “It’s a First Amendment right. Right now, what we’re seeing across the country is that hate -- specifically at Columbia, UCLA where university administrators have not taken action immediately.”
Moving forward, Aronoff says he hopes we can instead see more peaceful dialogue at colleges and universities.
“We want to have that dialogue where we can talk to these other students who obviously don’t agree with us and don’t see our side, because that’s what America was built on.”
A Kent State University spokesperson says the school upholds the First Amendment rights of free speech and peaceful assembly for all. They say the university’s police services are aware of the planned demonstration, and will monitor the event and respond accordingly if they deem that’s necessary.