In a startling incident at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), pro-Palestinian student protesters were spray-painted by contractors hired by the university, sparking outrage and allegations of assault. The incident has led to a wave of criticism against the university administration, with students and local authorities calling for accountability.
The students had painted the Advocacy and Spirit walls on the university campus with the Palestinian flag and messages advocating for peace and highlighting the number of Palestinian children killed in the recent conflict between Israel and Hamas. However, the university administration deemed the messages "threatening, intimidating and antisemitic," leading to the decision to paint over the walls.
In an attempt to prevent the erasure of their messages, several students stood in front of the Spirit Wall, resulting in them being directly sprayed with white paint by the contractors. A video of the incident, shared by Case’s Students for Justice in Palestine group, shows a student completely covered in paint.
The university president, Eric Kaler, expressed his disturbance over the incident and apologized to the college community. "No students — or any individuals — should ever be treated this way, especially on a campus where our core values center on providing a safe, welcoming environment. This is not who we are as an institution, and I am deeply sorry this ever occurred," Kaler stated.
One of the students, Ameer Alkayali, a Palestinian-American, plans to take legal action against the university administration and its public safety department. Alkayali, who was seen in the video being spray-painted, described the incident as a violation of their rights. "They continue to just paint right over us. They told us to not put our hands in front of the machine because it’s dangerous. And we put our hands up, and they still continued to paint on our hands and sprayed us with it?” he said.
Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb and the city’s police chief, Annie Todd, issued a statement urging the university leadership to consider the students' rights. "We support 1st Amendment rights and implore CWRU leadership to think about how the decisions they make and the actions they take – especially against those who are abiding by the law – will influence some of the progress we have collectively made as a city," they said.
More for you:
