A group of more than 50 people marched through the streets of downtown State College on Monday evening protesting Israeli military actions in Gaza. The event lasted about 90 minutes and featured frequent verbal clashes with counter-protesters.
Organized by the People’s Defense Front, Student Committee for Defense and Solidarity and Students for Justice in Palestine at Penn State, the protest marked the the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack in Israel that killed 1,200 people and triggered the war in Gaza. Israel’s subsequent military actions have killed, according to the Gaza health ministry, an estimated 42,000 Palestinians, which protest organizers called “one year of genocide.”
Penn State Hillel, meanwhile, held a student-led vigil on Monday evening in front of Old Main.
The pro-Palestine protest was scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. at the Allen Street Gates, though a separate group made up of clergy people from around State College was already at the location before 5:30 p.m. advocating for world peace in an unattached demonstration. Another man, Jason Maas, held a pro-Israel sign with United States and Israel flags and arrived at Allen Street before 5 p.m.
Protestors began arriving to set up at the Allen Street gates just before 5:20 p.m. They brought signs bearing several phrases, including “admin enable hate,” “free Palestine,” “Zionism is racism,” “divest from death” and more.
As students arrived, several surrounded Maas with their own signs and attempted to block view of Maas’ sign.
Just after 5:30 p.m., the protest kicked off. Students with megaphones led the group in chants, lectured on the war in the Middle East and led the group in prayer.
State College police officers arrived at the scene around 5:45 p.m., at which point at least 40 people had amassed at the demonstration. One man, wearing a Donald Trump campaign hat, stood across the street holding a sign with an Israeli flag on it.
Just before 6 p.m., that man walked across College Avenue and stood in the front row of protesters behind a row of bicyclists. One person, who was not a student, took the man’s sign and threw it into the street. In response, the man grabbed and ripped a different protester’s sign. Someone grabbed the man’s Trump hat, and he walked away from the scuffle and later was given his hat.
At 6:05 p.m. protesters moved to block College Avenue, starting with the several people who brought bicycles.
A police officer at the scene told Onward State that the group did not have permits to enter the street. However, State College police cars blocked off College Avenue at Pugh Street in what the officer said was for the protesters’ safety.
The protesters marched westbound down College Avenue as the bicyclists and police blocked off the streets ahead of time. The group turned left onto Fraser Street as one police officer attempted to move his vehicle to adjust to the group’s route. The group turned left onto Beaver Avenue, which was blocked off by police at South Burrowes Street.
Throughout the march, the group was accompanied by Maas. At times, protesters attempted to block Maas’ signs with their own, with one protester standing behind Maas as he did a TV interview.
The protest turned left down Allen Street, at which point interactions with counter-protesters became more frequent. Many students filmed the protest while showing protesters their middle fingers. As the group reached the intersection of College Avenue and Allen Street, several protesters and counter-protesters got into shouting matches.
The protest crossed College Avenue and finished at the Allen Street Gates after several more minutes of chanting. Final remarks for the protest came just before 7 p.m.
As the event wore down and protesters began to leave, several went behind the Allen Street Gates to pray on the lawn.
Between the end of the protest and the time protesters dispersed, several students across College Avenue, many of whom wore Israeli flags, began shouting at protesters, several of whom got into verbal arguments on both sides of the street. While debates were heated, they never turned violent. Some of those students told Onward State they arrived at the protest from a vigil led by Penn State Hillel, though they were unaffiliated with any group and were there independently.
The protesters fully dispered around 7:30 p.m. in groups. They did not interact with counter-protesters as they left the Allen Street Gates.
Protesters have three events planned for later in the week. At 6 p.m. on Wednesday, a lesson about Palestine will be held in Sackett Building. A memorial for Gaza will take place Thursday on HUB Lawn. At 6:30 p.m. Friday, demonstrators will hold a vigil for Palestine at Old Main.
Penn State Hillel, meanwhile, wrote after its vigil on Monday that many Jewish students at Penn State “have been greatly affected, and continue to be impacted on a day-to-day basis,” in the year since the attack on Israel.
“Tonight, our Jewish community came together to commemorate the one year anniversary of October 7th,” Hillel wrote in a social media post. “By coming together, our students, families, and friends were reminded of the beauty in having a community when facing adversity. An enormous thank you to the hundreds of people who attended—whether in person or online—and to the student leaders who created such a meaningful experience.”
Earlier in the day, Hillel held a “Let HERE by Light 10/7 commemoration” in the HUB-Robeson Center in partnership with Chabad and the Center for Spiritual and Ethical Development. Therapy dogs were also available during the day at Hillel’s Gutterman Family Center.
Geoff Rushton contributed to this report.
