On Tuesday, several local and student activist organizations gathered for two pro-Palestine rallies on the two-year anniversary of the Israel-Hamas war.
At 12:30 p.m., over 100 community members and student protesters from Brown, the Rhode Island School of Design and Johnson and Wales University rallied at the Providence Pedestrian Bridge. The event was organized by a coalition of activist groups, including Brown Divest Coalition, RISD Students for Justice in Palestine and the Revolutionary Student Union of Providence.
“We’re standing out here — united not as JWU students or Brown or RISD students, but as the youth of Rhode Island, the youth of Providence,” said an RSU organizer, who only identified themself as Maria in their public speech.
One organizer from RISD SJP, who did not provide their name when speaking to the crowd, claimed that weapons used by the Israeli military were funded by “corporate relationships and investment, like that between RISD and Textron.”
Textron subsidiaries Bell and Beechcraft manufacture aircrafts used by the Israeli Air Force, The Herald previously reported. In January, the RISD Board of Trustees struck down a divestment proposal that took aim at RISD’s investments in companies affiliated with Israel.
RISD did not respond to a request for comment.
In a speech, Anthony Tinaro, a Providence College graduate and speaker representing RSU, shared his experience participating in a protest at the Warren Alpert Medical School last year.
He criticized President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 and the Brown Corporation, the University’s highest governing body, for rejecting a resolution last October to divest from companies with ties to Israel. Following the vote against divestment, students protested outside Warren Alpert, where the Corporation’s next meeting was held.
Tinaro described the protest as “one of the best days” of his life.
At 12:30 p.m., over 100 protesters, including activists from Brown, Rhode Island School of Design and Johnson and Wales University, joined with community members at the Pedestrian Bridge
Later on Tuesday, over 150 Providence community members gathered for another pro-Palestinian rally at the R.I. State House. Attendees included members of local activism groups, such as the R.I. chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, the BDC, Rhode Island College Students for Justice in Palestine and the R.I. chapter of Jewish Voices for Peace, according to Maya Lehrer MA’23, a PSL organizer.
“We’re here today to mark two years of resistance to what has been a brutal genocide against the people of Gaza,” Lehrer said in an interview with The Herald.
Lehrer specifically criticized the United States’s financial and military support of Israel since Oct. 7, 2023, and claimed U.S. lawmakers failed to accurately represent their constituents by voting to continue arms sales to Israel.
Erik Andrade, one of the speakers at the event, also criticized elected officials and encouraged Providence locals to get involved in community organizing.
“We don’t have the luxury to sit back and be quiet,” Andrade said. “There is no other option but disruption.”
Protesters gathered “not just in remembrance and reflection, but with recommitment to our duty to stand in unwavering solidarity with Palestine,” wrote BDC member Etta Robb ’26 in a statement to The Herald.
In a speech at the State House, one BDC member — who only identified themself as Ash — criticized the University’s treatment of student activists. Ash argued that students engaged in activism have seen “unbridled repression” from the University in the form of suspensions and arrests.
Ash also denounced Paxson, arguing that “she’s taking a stand on the wrong side of history by refusing to divest from one of this century’s greatest atrocities.”
The University did not respond to a request for comment.
During the rally, one pro-Israel counter-protester — who refused to give his name to The Herald — attempted to block the speakers and disrupt the protest. He continuously walked up and down the State House steps while recording videos, and as protesters surrounded him, terse comments were exchanged.
“If you want peace, you don’t start by slaughtering 1,000 people,” he said to one protester. “I’m here to spread love.”
Nimer Eid — who participated in the protest but did not identify with any group — was held back several times from taking violent action against the counter-protester. During these incidents, Eid yelled “death to Israel, death to the (Israel Defense Forces).”
Robb wrote that while the counter-protester “agitated” pro-Palestinian protesters, “the crowd remained resolutely focused on the stories that we know matter the most and need to be heard.”
Counter-protests are “a part of organizing and action,” Lehrer said, adding that they had prepared possible responses to the situation beforehand. “Our goal is always to make sure that we are creating a space for people who want to stand on the side of justice and liberation.”
Denesse Guzman, a RIC graduate, said she hopes “to continue to see these protests.”
“I hope more and more people start to wake up and start seeing what’s going on, and hopefully we can all band together,” she added.
Ian Ritter is a senior staff writer for university news. A junior studying chemistry, he covers the graduate schools & students and admissions & financial aid beats. When he isn’t at The Herald or exploding lab experiments, you can find him playing the clarinet, watching the Mets or eating Ratty carrot cake.
