More than 100 pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched through downtown Boston Thursday afternoon to protest college campuses for working with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
The protesters, consisting of students from Emerson and Suffolk University, and members of Students for Justice in Palestine, gathered in Boylston Place Alley and near the Granary Burying Ground on Tremont Street at around noon before making their way toward Government Center.
Many wore masks and keffiyehs in addition to carrying Palestinian flags and signs that read “Zionism out of our education” and “Drop the ADL.”
At one point along their route, the group blocked traffic for about 15 minutes before heading back to campus.
Multiple police officers were present with zip ties in hand, but no arrests were made.
Many protesters declined to speak to reporters, while others asked to remain anonymous.
“Just because there was summer break doesn’t mean we will come back lazy and slow,” one SJP protester said. Thursday’s protest was the first protest organized by Emerson and Suffolk students this semester.
The ADL is a New York-based organization founded in 1913 to combat antisemitism. The group has been vocal over their support for Israel.
Students said that the ADL conflates anti-Zionism and antisemitism. At Emerson, college officials are using ADL sources to create programs to combat campus antisemitism, SJP members said.
Additionally, the ADL has partnered with law enforcement to provide resources regarding extremism and hate crimes, the website said. Specifically, the ADL has been bringing senior American law enforcement leaders to Israel since 2004 for a week-long seminar to discuss extreme violence and discrimination.
Protesters were concerned over the ADL’s partnerships with law enforcement and college campuses, specifically how it might inform them on how to respond to pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
“If the ADL is okay training police officers given what happened last semester,” another SJP protester said, referring to campus arrests in the spring, “why should we be okay with them being on our campus?”
