
Around three dozen pro-Palestine demonstrators gathered outside of the Administration Building on Monday, Jan. 27 to continue pushing Stony Brook University’s administration to sever financial and academic ties with Israel.
The protest began with a group of speeches from organizers, including Rabbi Dovid Feldman, a member of the anti-Zionist group Neturei Karta International.
“I am here to support the students here and the support of students all around the world,” Feldman told the crowd. “We should stand up to do what we believe is right, and we should do everything in our power to stop evil — to stop crimes.”
He also dismissed accusations that anti-Zionism was equivalent to antisemitism.
“It’s not the same,” he told the crowd. “Judaism is a religion, Zionism is a political movement — a country.”
Significant developments have occurred in the Middle East since the last protest took place on Stony Brook’s campus. A ceasefire has taken effect, and some Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners have been released with more exchanges scheduled in the future.
For the protesters, this ceasefire has not led to significant changes of their demands from the administration. A sign held by organizers during the protest listed demands including financial transparency and divestment from Israel, eliminating the division of Enterprise Risk Management and the end of birthright trips for Stony Brook students.
A University spokesperson wrote in an email to The Statesman that the University values free speech and that Stony Brook would uphold a safe environment in compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
“Stony Brook University values the right of students and others in our community to express themselves through peaceful demonstrations, assemblies, and other activities,” the spokesperson wrote. “It is essential that these activities adhere to the University’s policies as described in our guidelines.”
The protest escalated when a small group of pro-Israel counter-protesters positioned themselves roughly 20 feet away from the demonstration, carrying signs that accused the protesters of supporting terrorism. The signs also accused SB4Palestine, the group responsible for organizing nearly all pro-Palestine demonstrations on campus, of being Nazis.
One of the counter-protesters shouted accusations about members of SB4Palestine being terrorists and said they would “burn.” The protesters largely ignored the accusations; some even laughed in response.
Brian Kessler, a sophomore majoring in biology, stood near the counter-protesters but did not shout obscenities or hold accusatory signs. He said that he felt the protesters “demonized” him as a Jewish person and that he was grieving the loss of two cousins he said were killed after a Hamas soldier fired a rocket-powered grenade at their car during the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks.
An Instagram account has since been made with the purpose of remembering the lives of Kessler’s cousins, Gidi and Noa Chiell.
Kessler said he “didn’t want Oct. 7[, 2023] to happen again” but he supported free speech and the right to protest.
After spending time gathered outside of the Administration Building, protesters began to march around the campus and were flanked by University officials and officers from the University Police Department.
Adam, an organizer of the protest who refused to give his last name, said that the main goal of the protest was to make it clear that “even though there is a ceasefire, we shouldn’t stop pushing” for the causes they support.
He said that SB4Palestine was forced to slightly alter their demands after the ceasefire, but that their requests for Stony Brook administration have largely remained unchanged.
After marching around the campus, protesters returned to the outside of the Administration Building. Verbal clashes with the counter-protesters continued after the demonstrators were accused of antisemitism because they held the protest on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Adam denied any deliberate attempt to antagonize or offend Jewish people with the scheduling of the protest.
“We didn’t know it was [International] Holocaust Remembrance Day,” he said. “We don’t want anything to do with Nazi Germany.”
Michelle Grisales contributed reporting.