The demonstration was staged at the Whitmore Administration Building, where students demanded Chancellor Javier Reyes condemn the Israel Defense Forces' attacks on Gaza and cut the university’s ties with defense contractor Raytheon Technology.
Students rallied in front of the student union at 2 p.m. before marching to the Whitmore building to meet with administrators to present their demands. They remained inside the building after hours, in spite of “multiple verbal warnings” that the building was closing at 6 p.m., the university said in a statement. UMass Police arrested 56 UMass Amherst students and one UMass Amherst employee, the university said.
Protestors were responding to a statement Reyes made to the campus on Oct. 10 condemning the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks against Israel. The UMass Dissenters group demanded Reyes condemn the Israel Defense Forces’ retaliation against Hamas in Gaza, and acknowledge Israel has been occupying Palestinian land for decades.
“The protestors’ specific demands do not align with the university’s publicly stated positions and policies,” a university spokesperson wrote in a statement.
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