>> STUDENT PROTESTS ON CAMPUSES AROUND THE NATION HAVE LED TO
VIOLENTLY POLICE CRACK-DOWNS, SO WHEN PRO PALESTINE ENCAMPMENTS
SPRUNG UP- TO MILWAUKEE AND MADISON CAMPUSES, ORGANIZERS AND
OFFICIALS WEREN'T SURE WHAT TO EXPECT.
STUDENTS AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE ISSUE AND
HAS THIS REPORT. >> WE HAVE SEEN THAT HE
UNIVERSITY HAS REFUSED TO TAKE US SERIOUSLY AFTER MONTHS OF
PROTESTS, AND SO WE ARE HERE TO STAY.
>> THIS WEEK, PROTESTERS LIKE PALESTINIAN AMERICANS DALIA SABA
AT UW-MADISON AND AMIN AT TA AT UW MILWAUKEE JOINED THE BROADER
CAMPUS MOVEMENT TO SUPPORT PALESTINIANS UNDER SIEGE IN
GAZA. >> MY PEOPLE ARE SUFFERING FROM
A BRUTAL BOMBARDMENT THAT HAS LASTED OVER 200 DAYS AND THEY
HAVE FULL SUPPORT FROM THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT.
OUR JOB IS TO FOCUS ON EVERY SPACE THAT WE ENTER AND PRESSURE
TO DIVEST FROM ISRAEL AND CUT ALL TIES TO ISRAEL.
>> STUDENTS AT OUR UNIVERSITY ARE EXTREMELY EXHAUST BY THE WAR
AND THEY DO NOT WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN THE WAR, AND THEY
ALSO WANT THE ADMINISTRATION TO OPENLY ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR
RELATIONSHIP TO THAT WAR, AND I THINK THAT'S COMPLETELY
REASONABLE. THE UNIVERSITY TO DIVEST FROM
COMPANIES THAT PROFIT FROM SELLING WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT TO
ISRAEL. OUR MONEY IS GOING, THE MONEY
THAT WE GIVE THIS SCHOOL, THAT THE SCHOOL MAKES OFF OF US.
>> ON MONDAY, THE STUDENTS PUT UP TENTS IN CONCURRENCE WITH
CAMPUSES IN OTHER STATES AND OTHER COUNTRIES.
THERE ARE PEOPLE IN GAZA WHO HAVE LOST THEIR ENTIRE
BELONGINGS, THEIR HOMES, THEIR LIVELIHOODS, THEY'RE LIVING IN
TENTS AND NOW THEY ARE BEING BOMBED IN TENTS.
>> THE TENTS ALSO REPRESENT A BREAKING POINT FOR STUDENTS.
>> IT'S INTERESTING THAT WE'VE ONLY HAD THE EAR OF THE
CHANCELLOR SINCE THE TENTS HAVE BEEN PUT UP.
>> THE ENCAMPMENT VIOLATES UNIVERSITY POLICY, A STICKING
POINT FOR UW-MADISON CHANCELLOR JENNIFER MINUKIN, WHO INITIALLY
REFUSED TO MEET WITH STUDENTS UNTIL THE TENTS WERE TAKEN DOWN.
>> IT'S IMPORTANT TO US THAT THE FOCUS IS NOT ON OUR RIGHT TO
PROTEST OR BE HERE, BUT THE FOCUS SHOULD BE ON OUR MESSAGE,
WHICH IS TO DISCLOSE THE UNIVERSITY'S FUNDS, TO DIVEST
FROM COMPANIES THAT ARE FUNDING THE GENOCIDE AND FOR THE
CHANCELLOR TO FULLY MEET WHAT OUR DEMANDS ARE, AND WE WILL NOT
LEAVE UNTIL WE DO THAT. >> ON WEDNESDAY MORNING, THE
CHANCELLOR AUTHORIZED THREE LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES TO
DISMANTLE THE ENCAMPMENT AT UW-MADISON, AND PROTESTERS
RESISTED. [SCREAMING]
AND FACULTY WERE ARRESTED, POPPING MADISON INTO NATIONAL
HEADLINES. SO FAR, UW MILWAUKEE HAS NOT MET
THE SAME FATE. >> WITH THE RISING TENSIONS IN
COMBINATION WITH FINALS SEASON AND ALL OF THAT, IT'S REALLY,
YOU KNOW, HAD OUR MINDS COMPLETELY SCRAMBLED.
>> STUDENTS AT THE UW HALAL FOUNDATION, TAKE ISSUE WITH THE
PROTESTERS' MESSAGE AND MESSAGE. >> THESE ARE PEOPLE WHO HAVE
TAKEN THE ADMINISTRATION HOSTAGE TO A SET OF DEMANDS THAT ARE
UNREASONABLE AND UNMEETABLE BY ANY STRETCH OF THE IMAGINATION.
AND SO I UNDERSTAND WHY THE CHANCELLOR MIGHT NOT WANT TO
MEET THEM. >> THEY HAVE BEEN SCREAMING HER
NAME, SAYING CHANCELLOR, YOU CAN'T HIDE, WE CHARGE YOU WITH
GENOCIDE. FROM HER PERSPECTIVE, I WOULD
SEE THAT AS A THREAT. SHE'S A JEWISH WOMAN.
ALL OF THESE CHANTS, ANTI-SEMITIC CHANTS, THEY'RE
ALSO THREATS. >> HEARING THE WORD "GENOCIDE,"
KNOWING HOW IT CORRELATES BACK TO THE HOLOCAUST IS VERY
UPSETTING. STUDENTS, FACULTY AND COMMUNITY
MEMBERS WHO STAND WITH THE PROTESTERS.
I AM VERY, VERY DISTURBED BY THE FACT THAT BOTH OF MY GOVERNMENTS
SUPPORTING WHAT IS UNQUESTIONABLY A GENOCIDE
CURRENTLY AGAINST THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE.
>> FOR S.D., TENS OF THOUSANDS GAZANS KILLED IN THE WAR IS
HISTORY REPEATING. HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR WHO WAS ALSO
A HOLOCAUST HISTORIAN, AND AS I WAS GROWING UP, AMONG PEOPLE
WITH NUMBERS TATTOOED ON THEIR ARMS, THE BIG QUESTION WAS HOW
COULD THAT HAPPEN WITH THE WHOLE WORLD WATCHING?
>> A CORE ISSUE FOR MANY, NO MATTER THEIR BACKGROUND, IS THE
QUESTION OF WHETHER ANTIZIONISM EQUATES ANTISEMITISM.
>> THAT CONFLATION OF ANTIZIONISM OR CRITICISM OF
ISRAEL WITH ANTISEMITISM IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS.
>> I'M JEWISH, I GREW UP IN A ZIONIST FAMILY, AND I TOOK TIME
UNLEARNING A LOT OF WHAT I LEARNED GROWING UP AND
RECONCILING WHAT I HAD BEEN TOLD AND I TRULY BELIEVE THAT WHAT IS
HAPPENING HERE, WHAT'S HAPPENING ACROSS THE NATION, ACROSS THE
WORLD IN TERMS OF STANDING IN SOLIDARITY WITH PALESTINIANS IS
NOT ANTI-SEMITIC. IN FACT, IT IS HOLDING SO FIRM
TO OUR JEWISH FAITH TO LEAVE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE, TO CARE
FOR OTHERS. >> IT FEELS LIKE IN ORDER TO BE
WHAT THEY CONSIDER A GOOD JEW, YOU HAVE TO GIVE UP YOUR BELIEFS
OF ISRAEL AND ZIONISM AND SUPPORT THEIR CAUSE FULLY AND
IT'S HARD TO DO THAT WHEN WE'RE HEARING THEM CHANT THESE WORDS
THAT, AGAIN, MAY NOT MEANT TO BE HARMFUL BUT ARE.
>> I MEAN, I DON'T NECESSARILY AGREE WITH EVERY SLOGAN THAT IS
BEING CHANTED HERE, BUT WHEN YOU MAKE CORRELATIONS WITH OTHER
ORGANIZATIONS, YOU HAVE TO ACCEPT THAT YOU WILL NOT AGREE
WITH EVERYONE. >> HOURS AFTER POLICE CLEARED
THE MADISON ENCAMPMENT, NEW TENTS WENT UP.
BY THURSDAY, A GROUP OF PROTESTERS MET WITH UW-MADISON
OFFICIALS. HORIZON, NO ONE CAN YET SAY WHAT
WILL COME OUT OF THE CONVERSATIONS.
PEOPLE WHO ARE OUT THERE IN THE ENCAMPMENT ARE -- REPRESENT
SMALL SECTION OF THE POPULATION OF 44,000 UNDERGRAD HERE.
I BELIEVE THAT MOST PEOPLE ACTUALLY DON'T CARE THAT MUCH.
>> IF THE UNIVERSITY IS DISSATISFIED WITH THOSE DEMANDS,
THEY CAN TAKE IT UP WITH THE VALUES THAT THEY INSTILLED IN