On Tuesday, Feb. 4, at 10:30 a.m., around 10 protesters gathered outside Egan Research Center, where Northeastern was holding a speaker event called “The Future of the Middle East Peace Process” with Ghaith al-Omari, a former member of the Palestinian Authority (PA), and Dennis Ross, a U.S. diplomat who took part in the Oslo Accords.

In an unnecessary show of force, NUPD scattered five cars around Forsyth Street and Centennial Common. Four or five officers, including one directing foot traffic, surrounded the protest. Around 12 p.m., when protesters marched from Egan to the end of the street, four officers followed and then watched them from Stetson West.

A statement on Huskies for a Free Palestine’s instagram story — an anonymous student group whose goal is Northeastern’s divestment from its endowments that contribute to Israel’s violent oppression and occupation of Palestinians — said the protest was meant to “disrupt NEU's normalization and liquidation of the Palestinian cause.” One such endowment is Raytheon, a defense contractor that Northeastern has collaborated with for over half a century, according to leaflets that protesters were handing out.

Despite police presence, protesters were loud and clear, and their shouts carried all the way to West Village F and Willis Hall. “Resistance will set us free, no more PA treachery!” they chanted, nodding to how the Palestinian Authority is complicit in Israel’s genocide against Palestinians.

Since the ceasefire in Gaza took effect on Jan. 20, Israeli settler violence and IDF raids and bombing in the West Bank has increased greatly. This year, Israeli forces have already killed 70 Palestinians in the West Bank, and according to anti-settlement group Peace Now, authorities approved a construction plan for building 2,749 settlement units within the next month.

On Jan. 21, settlers launched an attack on Palestinian villages, setting multiple homes and other buildings — including a nursery — on fire. They are now protected by three main bodies: the IDF, which protects them physically; Donald Trump, who signed an executive order on Jan. 20 lifting sanctions against them; and the Palestinian Authority, which ordered a 4-month shutdown of Al Jazeera’s broadcasts and digital platforms on Jan. 6, contributing to a lack of coverage on their violent attacks and land grabs.

Outside of Egan and while marching, protesters handed out their leaflets, which also detailed the PA’s complicity in Israel’s ethnic cleansing and genocide against Palestinians. “No more collaboration, what we want is liberation,” they chorused, referencing the historical injustice against Palestinians that has only worsened since Oslo. They also distributed versions of The New York War Crimes, a rendition of NYT with full and accurate coverage of Israel’s oppression of Palestinians.

“Not another nickel, not another dime, no more money for Israel’s crimes,” protesters continued. 

Egan is home to an auditorium named after Raytheon, which is where the event was held. While Northeastern continues refusing “to be transparent about [its] endowment investments in war profiteers,” as the leaflet says, while simultaneously claiming that its $1.68 billion endowment does not “serve specific political agendas,” it hosts Palestinian speakers in rooms named after the companies manufacturing their genocide instead. And, in lieu of listening to the demands of the student body, it sends NUPD.