Pro-Palestinian protesters arrested after six-hour occupation of University of Washington building

Dozens of protesters were arrested at the University of Washington (UW) on Monday night after occupying a building in a protest over Israel’s military actions in Gaza.

The pro-Palestinian activists targeted the Interdisciplinary Engineering Building (IEB), partially funded with a $10m donation from U.S. aerospace giant Boeing, with the students demanding the university sever its ties with the aircraft manufacturer.

In November, the Israeli defence ministry signed an agreement to acquire 25 next generation F-15 fighter jets from Boeing.

The groups behind the action, named Students United for Palestinian Equality and Return (SUPER) UW, called on the university to rename the IEB after Shaban al-Dalou, who was a student killed in airstrikes on Gaza.

Eric Horford, a spokesman for the group, told KOMO News: “We’re hoping to remove the influence of Boeing and other manufacturing companies from our educational space, period.

“We are here to negotiate with the university, and we are hoping they’ll hear us and speak with us.”

The occupation duly began at around 5pm on Monday, according to CNN, with students refusing to leave the facility at closing time and hanging a banner from a second storey window honoring Al-Dalou.

A group wearing black clothing blockaded the entrance with stacked chairs, according to KOMO, while others overturned and set alight dumpsters to block off nearby Jefferson Road as the organizers delivered water, coolers and chairs to support the participants.

The protesters were removed at around 11pm.

“Individuals who mostly covered their faces blocked access to two streets outside the building, blocked entrances and exits to the building and ignited fires in two dumpsters on a street outside,” UW spokesman Victor Balta said in a statement.

After officers from Washington State Patrol’s Rapid Deployment Teams entered the building along with campus police and Seattle police at approximately 11pm, around 30 individuals were arrested, according to Balta.

People gathered outside listening to music and chanting were also ordered to disperse by law enforcement.

Ensuing charges such as trespassing, property destruction, disorderly conduct and conspiracy would be referred to county prosecutors, as well as the Student Conduct Office, Balta said.

SUPER UW is a “suspended student group” at the university, he added, denouncing its statement about the occupation as “antisemitic” and declaring: “The university will not be intimidated by this sort of offensive and destructive behavior and will continue to oppose antisemitism in all its forms.”