MEDFORD, Mass. — At Tufts University, and at colleges in and around Boston, encampments of pro-Palestinian protesters inhabit the grounds. And while the school has asked them to clear out, they don’t plan on leaving any time soon. 

Video showing the protest from above shows the group camping out on the Tufts University campus. Those protesting are often seen wearing masks or scarves to cover their faces for fear of repercussions. It’s also why a spokesperson for the group in charge of the rally wished to remain anonymous when explaining their position. 

They’ve asked the university to meet a list of demands, including publicly condemning the siege of Gaza. 

“We are very willing to negotiate with the university, and we have been asking to meet with administration for weeks,” said a spokesperson for Students for Justice in Palestine. “We're hopeful that we can reach some sort of consensus where both we're both happy and the university is able to continue with their programing and in the way that they had imagined and also acknowledge the genocide in Palestine.”

Just a few miles away, MIT’s president has asked for the encampment there to end. Many groups like Students for Justice in Palestine say young people are going from campus to campus to join protests. 

Rose Herman, a Jewish student at Tufts, works to avoid the area of campus where the protests are happening.

“We have a lot of close connections to people in Israel, and, I'm like one degree separated by tons of people who are currently held hostage, which is really sad,” explains Herman. “We're just trying to do what we can stay focused on getting them, you know, out of this hostage situation while also leaving space for other people to be feeling the way they feel about how the IDF is addressing the situation and how Netanyahu is addressing the situation as well.”

Many seniors, including Herman, are hoping for a normal college graduation ceremony devoid of protest. This class graduated high school in the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, many never having walked across a stage. 

“At the end of the day, Tufts is a pretty small community and we kind of need to support each other as well as the community's outside,” said Zach Luna, Tufts University student. “I feel like at this point it's kind of like we understand you, but like, you also need to respect the people in your grade, your peers and kind of everybody else in the community.”

The university has not set a date for when the encampment needs to be gone from the grounds, but they do hope that it is done both peacefully and voluntarily.