On the anniversary of the May 4 Kent State shooting, university students held a pro-Palestinian rally in the same location where the Ohio National Guard fired into a crowd of students 54 years earlier.
In 1970, after several days of campus demonstrations at Kent State University following the expansion of the Vietnam War, then-Gov. James Rhodes called in the National Guard. Members of the guard fired into a crowd, killing four students and wounding nine.
Saturday’s rally took place immediately after the university hosted a May 4 commemoration event on the school’s Commons, a large field outside of Taylor and Prentice halls, where the 1970 protests took place.
The Kent State chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine organized Saturday’s demonstration to draw what they said are parallels between the demonstrations in 1970 and today. In both cases, protesters object to U.S. involvement in war.
“We cannot let their legacy die simply through lip service. We have to make sure we continue what they stood for,” said Yassen Shaikh, of KSUSJP, who led most of the rally chants. “These movements are not disjoint. They are connected. They are a continuation of one another.”
During the commemoration, pro-Palestinian activists moved closer to the stage as Kent State President Todd Diacon spoke.
“Comparing today’s situation with Kent State makes total sense,” Diacon said. “I honor the presence of our protesters… just as I would honor those who disagree with you.”
A counter-protest of about a dozen people — with two large Israeli flags and one United States flag — stood up the hill from the rally of a few hundred pro-Palestinian activists.
The rally at KSU comes after a week of protests on university campuses nationwide, including at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.
“The Palestinian movement is not just for Palestinians. It’s a human movement," said Yezan Issawi, vice president of KSUSJP. “You just have to be a person of conscious, really. You can’t keep denying that there’s a genocide unfolding.”
In January, a top United Nations court found it "plausible" that Israel had committed acts that violated the Genocide Convention. Israel denies accusations of genocide and has said the war in Gaza is self-defense.
Several Kent State alumni joined the rally to support the cause, including Ken Hammond, who protested the Vietnam War on campus on May 4, 1970, and came in from New Mexico for the rally.
“The idea that these young people are coming out to protest against American imperialism and the genocide in Gaza and the occupied territory — it’s beautiful,” Hammond said. “This is the real commemoration to what we did in 1970.”
KSUSJP made a list of demands for Diacon and student government that includes statements condemning genocide committed by Israel in Gaza and demanding an immediate cease-fire. But organizers also said they wanted the school to stop investing university dollars in weapons manufacturers and military contractors involved with Israel.
In April, an ad hoc group of eight Kent State organizations sent a letter to the president demanding the university divest from five companies it said manufacture military weapons being used in Israel's attacks on Gaza, the Washington Post reported.
“The university is being directly complicit with that genocide with their investments with these different weapon manufacturers that are being used to kill men, women and children in Gaza,” Issawi said.
Rally organizer Camille Tinnin said these organizations have tried to set up meetings with Diacon and the school’s board of trustees, but haven’t received responses.
“We would love to meet with our President Todd. He talked a lot about how dialogue should happen. He won’t meet with us,” Tinnin said.
A university spokesperson released a statement ahead of the rally Saturday morning.
“Kent State University upholds the First Amendment rights of free speech and peaceful assembly for all. Consistent with our core values, we encourage open dialogue and respectful civil discourse in an inclusive environment,” the statement read.
