Pro-Palestine students release list of demands ahead of protest at UNL

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — Some University of Nebraska-Lincoln students and community members are joining the nationwide pro-Palestine movement.

The group Lincoln for Palestine is setting up a “Liberation Zone for Palestine” outside of UNL’s downtown student union on Wednesday.

UPDATE: Protesters at UNL call for end to university’s ties to Israel

The protesters are demanding that UNL disclose its investments in Israel. And if there are any investments, they want UNL to divest.

“Currently our issue is that there is no clarity on that,” Anna Synya said. “We don’t know how much they invest. We don’t know where our tuition money is going, and at the end of the day, students should have a say on where that money is going and where it’s being invested.”

Protesters also want the university to cancel future trips to Israel and to stop receiving grants from the Israeli government. 

Channel 8 reached out to UNL for a response to these demands but hasn’t heard back yet.

Both the university and the protesters said they are taking steps to keep the protest peaceful.

Organizers said they are letting protesters know what’s in UNL’s code of conduct and where it allows protesting.

“We have done everything in our power to ensure safety,” Synya said. 

She said there has not been major violence before at UNL, but based on what’s happening at other universities, organizers want to be cautious. 

“We are in contact with the ACLU team,” Synya said. “We are going to have legal observers on site, which are individuals who document police interactions that are not necessarily connected to the protest.”

The protest will take place from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. behind the student union.