Binghamton University student activists and some local residents staged pro-Palestinian protests at several local defense and weapons-manufacturing companies Tuesday.
Activists from Binghamton Solidarity for Palestine and Veterans for Peace gathered in front of Lockheed Martin in Owego, and at BAE Systems in Endicott. They delivered letters to both companies, as well as to Binghamton University leadership, calling on the university to cut ties with companies that manufacture weapons used in the war in Gaza.
The group’s demands include a boycott of Israeli universities and institutions. They are also calling on the university to ban weapons manufacturers, including Lockheed Martin, Boeing and BAE Systems, from recruiting on campus.
“There's no reason that half of our tax dollars need to go to weapons manufacturing,” Binghamton undergraduate Jacob Wisnock said. “And there's no reason that we should continue to be complicit and ignore this brutal system, which the United States heads.”
The group of student protesters were joined by Veterans for Peace, a national anti-war group.
“If Binghamton University would have some pride in themselves, they would encourage their students not to work for companies that teach you how to destroy, bomb and kill,” Jack Gilroy from Veterans for Peace said. “But for companies that can design and produce and make items that enhance life, not destroy life.”
The group’s demands also call on the university to terminate any disciplinary actions against students for past protests, and to outline in its policy the right for students to protest peacefully.
The protest comes after news that five international students at Binghamton University had their visas revoked by the federal government.
It is not clear why the students had their visa statuses changed. Recently, there has been a federal crackdown on international students who participated in pro-Palestinian activism on college campuses.
Several protesters at Tuesday’s demonstration said the news has caused fear among some international students.
“We have friends, we have people close to us who are tremendously at risk right now,” Wisnock, the undergraduate student, said. “We're doing what we can to understand what their plans are, to support them in all the ways that we can. But what matters is that we don't succumb to this pressure.”
Kalieb DeShaw helped organize the event, though he himself is not a student. He said some international students have stepped back from actively demonstrating because they’re afraid of risking their immigration status.
“We have seen quite a few people that are Muslim take a step back, quite a few people who are foreign born and here on visas take a step back,” DeShaw said. “They're afraid of having their chance at citizenship revoked and they'll have to be deported back to their home countries.”
Ryan Yarosh, a spokesperson for Binghamton University, said in a statement that the university is helping students who had their visas cancelled access legal support.
In response to the protest, Yarosh said the university recognizes students’ right to “express their views, including those critical of the institution.”
“We remain committed to upholding the principles of free speech, academic freedom, and peaceful protest. These rights are central to our mission and as a public institution,” Yarosh wrote. “However, these freedoms come with responsibilities. Protests must be conducted in a manner that does not threaten the safety, operations, or well-being of our campus community.”