AMES, Iowa — Students across America have taken to their college and university campuses this week protesting their schools’ ties with Israel.
On Wednesday, students at Iowa State University held a demonstration in support of Palestine, calling for a permanent ceasefire.
Alumni like Kimberly Glenn also gathered to call for an end to the United States’ political and financial support of Israel.
"I’m just out here lending my body and my voice to the awareness of what's happening to those civilians and Palestinian children that have been killed and that are missing and have lost their families and their homes," she said. "The fact that we're supplying a lot of the funding for these atrocities is just incredibly painful. And you feel so far removed you don't know what to do from here and so this is about what we can do here that's legal."
As an alumnus, Glenn said she is proud to stand by current ISU students putting their own safety at risk to demonstrate.
"For some of them, it can mean a lot. For me, I can show my face and whatnot,” Glenn said. “But some people, they have a lot riding on it, they have government jobs, or they, you know, don't want to get kicked out of the university for things. So, I understand that."
Across from the demonstration, a small group of people stood in counter-protest, holding up Israel’s flag.
One man, Michael, who chose not to disclose his last name, is a graduate student at ISU.
"I’m out here to just show that these people are not going to be the dominant voice,” he said. “They're not completely one sided. I'm not going to allow advocates for Hamas, which is a terrorist organization, to just steamroll over the campus without any opposition."
He said he was concerned about hatred against Jewish people.
"There's been rampant antisemitism in multiple countries over multiple centuries,” he said. “And I think a lot of people are just truly ignorant of what it is they're saying."
However, protesters like Glenn said their demonstration is not against Jewish people, but rather the government of Israel.
University staff, including members of the Department of Public Safety, were present at the demonstration.
In a statement, an Iowa State University spokesperson said, “Iowa State University supports the First Amendment rights of students to peacefully protest on campus. The university’s demonstration safety team serves as a resource for students and members of the ISU community to plan a safe event.”