Around 20 students stood outside the Silver Center in a picket on Tuesday, demanding that NYU disclose and end any investments tied to Israel and close its Tel Aviv program. Campus Safety officers closed the exit on the Washington Place side of the building, where students were protesting, directing foot traffic to its other side.
“Given the presence of the demonstrators, Campus Safety adjusted the flow of pedestrian traffic into and out of the building in order to ensure smooth and safe access to and egress from the building,” university spokesperson John Beckman wrote to WSN. “The university remains fully committed to sustaining an educational environment that supports learning and research and is free from discrimination and harassment; to our rejection of academic boycotts as antithetical to academic freedom; and to maintaining our program in Tel Aviv.”
The protesters, which included members of Students for Justice in Palestine and Shut It Down NYU, held signs and chanted “money for jobs and education, not for bombs and occupation” and “we’re opposing genocide, we know you hear us come outside.” Demonstrators declined to comment, instead referring WSN to a written statement being handed out at the picket.
“We are here to call on students to reject complacency and normalcy and to take a stand against NYU’s funding of genocide,” the statement read. “Disruptions of school operations have proven effective in achieving students’ goals.”
Approximately five Campus Safety officers and three New York City Police Department officers were stationed near the Silver Center, but did not interfere with the demonstrators.
In the statement, the student groups alleged that NYU has invested in multiple arms manufacturers — including Northrop Grumman, Caterpillar Inc., Lockheed Martin and Boeing — they say are supplying Israel with weapons.
Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin and Boeing have sponsored events and research at the Tandon School of Engineering in the past. NYU has also advertised the three companies as being among the university’s top post-grad employers.
“Lockheed Martin’s core values are to do what’s right, respect others and perform with excellence,” a Lockheed Martin spokesperson wrote in a statement to WSN. “We respect the right to peaceful protest and we are honored to partner with the U.S. military and our international partners to deliver strategic deterrence and security solutions.”
The students’ statement also included a QR code to a Student Government Assembly resolution to “Reaffirm Protection of Pro-Palestine Speech and Civic Activity” on campus. NYU leadership delayed the resolution, saying it lacked “wide student body support” and was “not ready.” The decision came after the student government passed the resolution about two months earlier.
The picket comes only a few days after a nationwide day of action in which thousands gathered in Washington Square Park to protest for a cease-fire in Gaza. NYU SJP and the university’s chapter of the Young Democratic Socialists of America have held multiple on-campus demonstrations calling for NYU to shut down the Tel Aviv site since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October.
Northrop Gumman, Caterpillar Inc. and Boeing did not reply to immediate requests for comment. NYU SJP and Shut It Down NYU also did not respond to immediate requests for comment.
Bruna Horvath contributed reporting.
Contact Dharma Niles at [email protected].
