Thirteen people arrested and charged with disorderly conduct while protesting a Cornell University panel on Israel and Palestine last month, went to court Wednesday.
Some had their charges dismissed, others had their cases adjourned and are on the path to dismissal. However, five people refused similar offers and are going to continue to fight the charges in court.
Demonstrators were protesting the presence of former Israeli Vice Prime Minister Tzipi Livni at the event. In 2009, a British court issued an arrest warrant for Livni over war crimes charges in relation to a military offensive in Gaza, but later withdrew the warrant.
Video posted on social media by the Coalition of Mutual Liberation, a group involved in pro-Palestinian activism at Cornell, shows protesters standing up and shouting at the event, which also featured former U.S. ambassadors and a former prime minister of the Palestinian Authority. The video shows police restraining and removing some protesters.
In a statement, Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff called the protest an “unacceptable disruption.”
“Cornell must be a place where all voices can be heard and none are silenced,” he wrote.
Four additional students were referred to the university’s Office of Student Conduct.
Those who were charged include Cornell students, staff, alumni and Ithaca community members. Three people had their charges dismissed at Wednesday’s arraignments.
Ten others were offered adjournments in contemplation of dismissal, or ACDs. That means as long as they are not arrested again within a specified time frame, their cases will be sealed and dismissed.
Students were offered ACDs that would end in May on the last day of Cornell's spring semester. Others were offered ACDs that would end in October.
Half of the defendants who had the option of taking the ACD did so, while five chose to continue fighting the charges in court.
Attorney Sujata Gibson, who represents some of the defendants, said this is a free speech issue.
“Whether you support the message that any of these protesters have, or whether you like the people, or even whether you find their speech comfortable or uncomfortable or distasteful, the Constitution still protects it,” she said.
Gibson added that "the charges are insufficient to meet the definition of disorderly conduct under New York statutory standards" and are being used to chill speech that is critical of Israel.
During a speech after the hearings, Gibson referenced an incident where an unidentified man threw a backpack at a student protester participating in a walkout, reported by the student newspaper the Cornell Sun. The man was not approached by event staff or Cornell police, according to the report.
“These issues of selective enforcement are not just unfair, but they are a direct assault on the First Amendment and they are violently illegal,” she said.
One student who did not take an ACD, Delphi Lyra, said she intends to fight her case.
“We're in a period where people are trying very hard to make us afraid,” she said.
Lyra added that she and other defendants are motivated by their desire to see an end to suffering in Gaza.
“I think that that reflection is something to carry with us through every single time that we see these new news articles or these court cases happen.”
