As of today, the Israeli Defense Force has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians in its war on Gaza, about 52% of which were women and children, according to the United Nations. Just today, an Israeli air strike on a refugee camp killed 35 people, including seven children, according to CNN. A famine is becoming dire, with the Rafah border crossing now closed. The Israeli government continues to block aid to Gaza, without dissent from President Biden, as reported by CNN.

It started on a cloudy Monday morning. As some Syracuse University students walked around the Quad to class, others were on the grass hitching tents, preparing to join an international movement of students calling for their universities’ divestment in companies that profit from Israel’s bombardment of Palestine. By 11 AM, about 30 encampment members had set up tents and begun to make posters.

Encampment organizers and members say the community outpouring of support was immediate. “We set up our first tarps and tents at like 10 AM, and by noon, we had someone bringing us hot food like, ‘do you guys need lunch?,’” said organizer Cai Cafiero, a graduate student in Syracuse University's School of Education.

Organizers and members say no one needed for anything, even as the encampment grew. And they say it grew quickly. By the time the sun set on April 29th, more than 100 people were on the quad–some seeing the encampment news on social media and joining in, and others simply walking in after seeing it while walking to class.

With other universities’ responses to encampments in mind, they set up a legal team, among other working groups. Members say they directed newcomers to the onboarding tent, where they’d be warned about the possibility of arrest. “In that moment, it was very scary because we were so used to seeing how other schools were being brutalized, especially Columbia and Emory,” one student protestor said.

But, to the protestors’ surprise, they were not arrested that day. Many say they believe the reason was the university’s effort to stay away from a public relations scandal. They say image is very important to the administration. One encampment member says most participants were not Palestinian, but of diverse backgrounds. “So what would it say if all of the people they were inviting as scholarship students, a lot of people who were getting great amounts of aid there, what would it be said if they came and took us all? They’d have to say ‘okay, these tokens that we brought to the campus, we made a mistake, and we actually don’t want to hear them to talk anymore, we have to throw them away now,’” she said.

Instead, encampment organizers and members say Student Experience Division staff introduced themselves in a friendly way. But after some conversations, it became clear to the encampment the staff would be there to stay, keeping a watchful eye. “SU decided to take a…not preventative, but different approach of meeting us, handing out these ‘know your rights’ papers, and trying to be like “okay, we’re kind of letting you protest right now,’” Cafiero said.

As the numbers grew, as did the need for planning. Encampment organizers say they posted a paper schedule every day, featuring events like breakfast, ‘morning circle’, teach-ins, workshops, ‘evening circle,’ and more. After those who were awake had gotten coffee and breakfast from the food tent, members say everyone would gather to discuss the current events unfolding in Palestine and the day’s plans, among more mundane topics, like who would organize the art tent. Organizers say the movement was decentralized, with new people stepping up to contribute in different ways every day. But they say the feeling of community came with a shared sense of tension.

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When the sun begins to set behind the hill and the alcohol starts to flow off campus, encampment members say student Zionists are emboldened.

Encampment members say the harassment they experienced only got worse from there. According to an organizer, a group of students threw a basketball towards the tents, nearly hitting one. They say the group used it to play soccer the next day.

In order to avoid escalation during these incidents, the encampment had a policy of non-engagement: stand back and film. In most instances, those working overnight security for the encampment would ask agitators to return in the daylight when people were awake if they wanted to have a conversation. They say some did, but most did not.

As the moon sinks behind the SU hill, the visitors retreat with it. But the tents stand, the birds chirp, and it’s time for yoga.

On most days, students and parents approached protestors, sometimes speaking with them, sometimes yelling pro-Israel remarks as they walked by the Quad. Encampment members say in most cases, those yelling would leave after not receiving a response. But one man was escorted away in handcuffs: Ronn Torossian.

Ronn Torossian is the CEO of 5W Public Relations, which was involved in attempting to rescue Sinclair Broadcasting's reputation from accusations of forcing its affiliates to air pro-Trump content, according to Politico. In 2008, Jeffrey Goldber, the Atlantic’s editor-in-chief and, according to Politico, a veteran of the Israeli Defense Force, wrote about an interaction he had with Torossian.

“It's said of Ronn Torossian that he represents "right-wing" Israeli politicians, but this description does not do his clients justice. "Right-wing" is Bibi Netanyahu. Torossian represents the lunatic fringe. Several years ago, in one of my only encounters with him, he introduced me to Benny Elon, a rabbi and settler leader who was then Israel's tourism minister, and who, at various points in his career, has more or less advocated the ethnic cleansing of Israel of its Arab citizens. At one point, when Elon had gone to take a telephone call, Torossian and I started talking about Israel's right to reprisal for terrorist attacks. I was arguing in favor of some sort of proportionality (this was after Jenin, in which the Israeli army chose to root out terrorism block by block rather than bomb the city from the air) but Torossian interrupted: "I think we should kill a hundred Arabs or a thousand Arabs for every one Jew they kill." I was somewhat taken aback, of course, because this is a Nazi idea, rather than a Jewish idea. I asked him to explicate: "If someone from a town blows himself up and kills Jews, we should wipe out the town he's from, kill them all. The Israelis are suckers. They should have destroyed Jenin." He went on like this for some time. I would only note that Torossian, to the best of my knowledge, never volunteered for the Israeli army, so he seemed to me by definition a chickenhawk.” --Jeffrey Goldber, 2008

On Sunday May fifth, multiple videos show Torossian entering the encampment and speaking aggressively to students. Torossian is heard repeatedly confronting the protestors about an incident at the previous day’s rally, where he says someone said “Heil Hitler” and punched a Jewish student. Organizers and members of the encampment say they do not know the person accused of doing this. “None of our encampment members claim him or ever saw him at the encampment,” one organizer said.

Torossian remained at the encampment for nearly an hour. He is seen approaching the food tent as he yells at protestors and throwing food on the ground. Multiple DPS officers stood by the encampment, watching. Torossian is seen engaging with them, demanding to speak to the chief of DPS. A yelling match ensued, and DPS arrested Torossian for trespassing.

Just days later, another man was removed via arrest, only this time, he was an encampment member. The university had released a statement the previous day saying non-students were no longer allowed on campus for the encampment. When officers saw Eural Warren, witnesses say they issued him a trespassing citation. He decided to stay. Protesters say about five minutes later, police arrested Warren for trespassing.

Eural Warren was convicted of manslaughter in 1996. He says he spent half his adult life in prison, learning and growing. Encampment members and organizers say he left prison with a newfound sense of social consciousness, joining the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020. One organizer says he was nothing but peaceful. “He was very very protective of the students and he really did make us feel safer, and he never antagonized anyone even when they were harassing us,” one organizer said.

In a statement addressing his arrest, Warren said the believes the arrest was performative, saying in part, “I only was arrested because a few days earlier a parent Ronn Torossian was arrested for trespassing as well as being antagonistic…I will remain being myself and that is diligent, driven and determined to stand on the right side of history.”

Organizers and members who witnessed the arrest say Warren was doing nothing of note when he was approached by police. They say other non-students were allowed to walk on and off the encampment without harassment. Some encampment members say they believe Warren’s previous criminal record and his race are the real reasons he was arrested.

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As tension built, so did the DPS presence. Encampment members say more officers began monitoring the Quad from different angles, ready to step in. They say they believe plainclothes officers were also monitoring them from nearby benches and taking videos. They say, at times, they could see the officers’ badges under their jackets.

With graduation itching closer, protestors say they were ready for the worst case scenario: arrest or brutality. Brian Tamjidi, a community member who joined the movement, says the DPS presence substantially increased on May 7th, one day before protestors received a letter from the university, asking them to move to a different campus location, which they did not do. “It seemed like they were intentionally increasing presence at that moment so that they could gauge what the encampent’s reaction was, so that they would know exactly how we would react when they decided to come in and make a move,” Tamjidi said.

This video shows one officer walking towards the encampment with plastic handcuffs and zipties, more apparent when the officer drops them and picks them up.

Tamjidi says he saw and heard a lot of commotion that day. He says he saw some DPS officers in riot gear, stationed in a building opposite the rest of the officers. Tamjidi and others say they also saw an increased presence of university administrators, talking amongst themselves.

“And then, right after that, we heard officially the administration closed the campus off to media, and they kicked all media out of the campus. And what that tells you is they’re going to do something, and they don’t want official media capturing what’s happening. They don’t want people reporting on it,” Tamjidi said.

As the encampment began to notice the changes, organizers say those with legal observer training put their uniforms on, and lined up around the encampment. According to the National Lawyers Guild, legal observers are trained to monitor and record law enforcement behavior towards activists. The legal observer program was established in 1968 in response to anti-war and civil rights protests at Columbia University.

“For one, two hours or so, everything just sat there. Legal observers were standing there, police officers, campus security just sitting in their buildings. It was literally like a standoff,” Tamjidi said.

As protestors grew more restless, some decided to confront the administrators present at the encampment, asking what exactly their plan was. Tamjidi says at that point, they said they don’t plan to do anything. Slowly, they say they saw the extra law enforcement retreat, bringing the temperature back down for the night.

Organizers say this was expected, and they were prepared. “I think having trained legal service out there with the hats on on the day we felt like we were all about to be arrested, because they started bringing out zip ties and everything, I do think that that definitely acted as a deterrent that prevented those arrests from happening,” an organizer said.

That day was not the first time protestors and security forces had interacted.

Encampment members say finding open bathrooms was a struggle. They say the university began closing buildings earlier than expected. I spoke with two of the five people stopped by police in Carnegie Hall.

The encampment members say they went into the library through a side door that was unlocked. Upon exiting the restrooms and trying to leave, Cafiero says DPS officers approached them, asking how they got in, and demanding to see student IDs. Cafiero says one person showed an OCC student ID and was let go. But when another encampment member decided not to show their ID, Cafiero says a DPS officer told them they would not let them leave. At that point, Cafiero began to film on their phone. Another member ran out to the encampment to inform them of the situation. Cafiero says when the student decided to show his student ID, they were all let go.

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Because protestors did not move from the original encampment spot like the university had asked, the university had a fence installed between protestors and the graduation reception. When the encampment saw the fence, organizers say they decided to put some of the posters and signs on the fence, in the line of sight of graduates and families.

Protestors say they had been thinking about graduation from the very beginning. It would be the day with the biggest audience. Protestors began chanting as soon as graduates were seen exiting the Dome and walking towards the Quad for the reception. Some simply ignored the protestors. Others yelled profanities and walked off. Some tried to tear down the posters protestors had put on the fence.