Liz Mantush & Kaitlyn Hughes | staff writer & news editor

With red and blues flashing around them, protesters marched from Schenley Park, to the University of Pittsburgh Chancellor’s home to express their disagreement with the university’s administration.

Around 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, protestors clad in red and green with Keffiyehs wrapped around their heads and shoulders began chanting and waving signs in the air at Schenley Plaza.

About 100 people gathered to protest against Pitt’s investment in Israeli companies and the recent suspension of the university’s chapter of Student for Justice in Palestine who organized the protest, according to their Instagram account.

Protestors of all ages came to show their support for Gaza waving Palestinian flags and holding signs that read “Let Gaza Live” and “Pittsburgh for Free Palestine.”

Pitt alum Jonas Caballero, who was involved in the SJP during his time at the university, said he came out to the protest because he could not be silent about the matter.

“When Pitt SJP put out the call, I knew I had to be here,” he said.

As a member of the Pittsburgh Palestine Coalition, Caballero also attends weekly protests at Trader Joe’s stores throughout the Pittsburgh area. He said he thinks that protests are working because onlookers will consistently ask how they can join in on the movement.

“It’s clear that people are supportive and want to do more,” he said, “Pittsburgh stands in solidarity with Palestine.”

Mel Packer, who also came out to protest, agreed.

“It’s been really obvious that there’s been a shift in public opinion,” he said. 

Before the protest Packer hosted a yard sale selling olive oil imported from the West Bank, pro-Palestian t-shirts and stickers. 

He raised around $12,000, which he donated to help people in Palestine.

“You protest to involve other people,” he said. “If people see that happening they say ‘you know what I should be doing that,’” he said. 

As the group stood in the plaza they chanted and listened to speakers explain why they were there. 

“Free Free Free palestine…”

“From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free .”

As the crowd repeated the phrases, Matan Rieger stood with an Israeli flag draped around his shoulders and a picture of Omer Neutra, a hostage who was killed fighting Hamas militants on Oct. 7, 2023 according to the Israeli Defense Forces.

Rieger showed up at the protest to remind people that there were still hostages and bodies being held by Hamas. 

“I think it’s important we represent people on both sides,” he said.

At 7:04 p.m. they began to flood onto Forbes Avenue, blocking traffic.

Pittsburgh Police vehicles trailed the protestors as they marched and some rode in front of the group. 

Protestors approached Carnegie Mellon University and turned left onto Morewood Avenue continuing with police motorcycles rushing up and off of sidewalks in order to get ahead of the group. 

CMU students watched from their dorms, reacting to the protestors as they passed by.

At 7:32 p.m. they turned onto Devonshire Street,in Pittsburgh’s Shadyside neighborhood to protest the university’s policies concerning the conflict in Gaza in front of the Chancellor’s Residence.They held up signs with Pitt Chancellor Joan Gabel’s face, who is the Chancellor of Pitt, some labeling her “Genocide Joan.”

Speakers also expressed their anger about the recent suspension of the SJP, which was recently overturned by a federal judge in August.

As they spoke, residents of the community walked through, one man began yelling at the protestors, telling them to go somewhere else. 

Mairin Landis, a former Duquesne student, met the group outside of Gabel’s home. Landis said she believes the impact of standing together as a group makes more of a difference than one person ever could.

She believed in the group’s call to divest money from Israel.

“It’s important to know where your money is going,” she said.

After 50 minutes of chanting and speaking in front of Gabel’s house the protest made its way back down Fifth Avenue.

The protestors arranged themselves in a circle completely covering the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Bigelow Boulevard until 8:49 p.m. The crowd then dispersed peacefully.

The Office of the Chancellor at the University of Pittsburgh was not immediately available for comment by time of publication.

This is a developing story.

Liz Mantush can be reached at mantushe@duq.edu
Kaitlyn Hughes can be reached at hughesk10@duq.edu