On Wednesday, Oct. 23, a group of Tulane University students held a “study-in” in the Howard-Tilton Memorial Library. The “study-in” follows a new trend of pro-Palestine college protests. 

A group fluctuating between 20 and 50 protesters sat at multiple tables on the first floor of the library for most of Wednesday. The students wore keffiyehs and read pro-Palestinian texts. Signs were taped to the back of several protestors’ computers, such as “Israel bombs Tulane pays” and “Our tuition funds genocide.” 

Similar protests have occurred at Ohio State University and Harvard University in the past week.  

“We’re in a space that is ours, because we pay here,” sophomore Millicent Helmka said. “And for the most part, we’re not doing much physical action. We are just sitting and attending to our schoolwork…It’s totally peaceful and there’s no need for conflict to erupt or anything like that.” 

The protest began around 10 a.m. and continued into the night. 

Helmka said the protest was unaffiliated with Tulane Students for a Democratic Society, a student group of pro-Palestinian protestors that was kicked off campus for their involvement in last semester’s encampment.   

“[It is] a very silent but studious way of promoting awareness about what is going on in the Middle East, in Gaza and Lebanon specifically, and hoping that Tulane, because of this, feels it necessary to no longer invest financially so heavily into companies that benefit from war,” Helmka said. 

One table where a protestor sat contained coffee, pro-Palestinian literature, a bag of keffiyehs and a box of masks for the protestors. Most protestors were masked. 

At an adjacent table sat senior Joseph Zebede, a Jewish student and vice president of the Tulane branch of Students Supporting Israel. Zebede sat with an Israeli flag draped around his shoulders.  

Originally, Zebede draped the flag across his table, but he said an unknown Tulane employee told him he could not put the flag on school property.  

“It can move with me, but it cannot be on school property,” he said, so he moved it to cover his shoulders.  

At the beginning of the study-in, a few administrators stood quietly to the side. 

Zebede worked with SSI that morning to pass out flyers to educate people on Islamophobia Awareness Week and already had the flag with him.  

When he came to the library to study and saw the study-in, he decided to sit near the protestors and adorn the Israeli flag. 

“As a Jewish person in New Orleans, I want to do everything I can to spread awareness that there are still people missing,” Zebede said, referring to the dozens of hostages still in Gaza after the terrorist Hamas kidnapped them on Oct. 7, 2023, leading to the still-ongoing Israel-Hamas war. 

A group of around fifteen pro-Israel students sat a table near the middle of the library with signs taped to their computers as well. The signs read “Most of the signs around me are lies” and “Let’s have a dialogue.” 

Freshman Shai Benjamin Haim wore the latter on his back.  

According to Haim, the sign led to two productive conversations between him and pro-Palestinian protestor.  

“[A pro-Palestinian protestor] and I had a really interesting conversation about the history of Israel and the idea of someone’s right to the land. We didn’t necessarily agree, but we agreed to disagree,” Haim said. “I think the second conversation I had, although it was productive, I think we just came to the realization that we don’t agree on a lot of things. I think, if nothing else, I learned to see that that viewpoint a little more. And hopefully he did the same.”  

“We’re here to say our university can do better,” Helmka said. “It can always do better, and it can always put its money to good use.” 

“People want to draw and make a division between us. At the end of the day, it’s not one side or the other. I think everyone here just wants peace,” Haim said.  

Beginning Sunday, the library required student identification to enter at all hours, even though the typical policy is unrestricted access during the day. The administration has not provided a reason for this change. 

Around 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday, eight police officers stood outside the library on the corner. Police presence outside of the library varied throughout the day.  

This is a developing story and will be updated.