Our livestream from inside the barricade ring ran for almost 3 1/2 hours until shortly before midnight Saturday https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtZ2dIJT0Lo

The night before, nearly 20 demonstrators were arrested just blocks away at the UPenn campus which we also streamed live. https://unicornriot.ninja/2024/upenn-students-arrested-at-palestine-demo-after-building-occupation-attempt/

At Drexel on Saturday night, students and other observers we interviewed discussed everything from Philly’s protest culture and law enforcement practices to the Samidoun Prisoner’s Solidarity Network. Full livestream:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtZ2dIJT0Lo

In a tense confrontation at the beginning of the stream, Philly officers in riot gear wearing “Counter-Terrorism Operations” badges briefly assembled inside the perimeter but withdrew.

In interviews on-site students said that they were pushing to get #Drexel to pull its investments from BlackRock, which does business with Israel, as well as other divestments. They also said Drexel administrators have claimed it is illegal to disclose specific investments.

During late Saturday night, police were largely a static presence, dozens of students milled outside the perimeter discussing politics & playing music. A know-your-rights training with Up Against the Law & National Lawyers Guild members also took place w most camp participants.

Camp supporters regularly handed supplies including stacks of pizza, large tent structures & medic supplies over barricades w/o much interest from police. A Unicorn Riot reporter stuck around until morning as a police sweep seemed possible (UPenn’s camp was cleared this way).

While the encampments might seem like a typical exercise in campus politics it should be noted these activities are regarded as a strategic threat to Israel because they could shift the intellectual climate in the United States, which is Israel’s main international patron.

Articles by James Bamford in The Nation showed groups like the Israeli-American Council & Canary Mission are closely coordinating w. Israeli government agencies to crush student protests in the U.S. by harassing protesters.
https://www.thenation.com/article/activism/israeli-american-council/
https://www.thenation.com/article/world/canary-mission-israel-covert-operations/

Plethora of Police Forces in West Philly since 1970s:
After the shocking events at Kent State and Jackson State, in September 1970 President Nixon’s Commission on Campus Unrest, chaired by Pennsylvania Governor William Scranton, dropped its report.
One result was the rise of campus police departments.

As the Penn Disorientation Guide outlines, police forces multiplied during the campus crackdowns of the 1970s, until today:
“If you walk west down Market St. from 30th St. Station, in 1.5 miles you pass through the jurisdictions of 6 police departments." https://penndisorientation.com/2023/08/28/a-brief-and-violent-history-of-campus-policing/

Campus police in this side of the city (Drexel & UPenn) have demarcated “patrol zones” which extend into the city.

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