Members of the American University administration deconstructed a Gaza Solidarity Sukkah erected by students between Hurst Hall and the East Quad Building on Oct. 23.
AU Hillel and Chabad AU hosted their own Sukkot celebrations in their sukkahs throughout the week of Oct. 20-26. The Gaza Solidarity Sukkah was built by an unaffiliated group of students.
A sukkah is a walled structure covered with organic material used to celebrate the Jewish holiday Sukkot. A weeklong observance, Sukkot commemorates the 40-year journey through the Sinai desert and refers to the Jewish festival of giving thanks for the fall harvest. Sukkahs are built as a place to eat, sleep and celebrate during this time.
At 9:01 a.m., students began unloading supplies to build the solidarity sukkah. The frame of the structure was constructed by polyvinyl chloride piping and enforced with duct tape and remained untethered to the ground.
By 9:12 a.m., the structure was completed and students began hanging cardboard signs and flags on the exterior of the sukkah. Demonstrators also hung a Palestinian flag facing Nebraska Avenue and a blue banner reading “Gaza Solidarity Encampment.” Smaller signs said “Jews for intifada,” “never again means now” and “70 percent of Gaza’s farmland has been razed” next to pictures of crops painted on cardboard.
The sukkah’s walls were mostly complete around 9:30 a.m., though paint bottles and blank cardboard remained outside the structure’s entrance.
At 9:35 a.m., demonstrators began to recite blessings and shake the Lulav and Etrog, a practice considered essential to the celebration of Sukkot.
Demonstrators continued to furnish the sukkah, bringing a collapsible table to the structure at 10:22 a.m. A minute later, an AU Police Department vehicle arrived on the quad. Demonstrators continued to add roofing and decorate the structure.
At 10:31 a.m., Assistant Vice President of University Police Services and Emergency Management Phillip Morse approached the sukkah and spoke with a designated student demonstrator about the sukkah and University policy.
After Morse and the student discussed, a speaker addressed demonstrators and raised concerns about ecoterrorism committed in Gaza and against the Palestinian people. The speaker also announced more programming and additional speakers throughout the day.
At 10:48 a.m., Assistant Vice President for Student Engagement & Success Dayne Hutchinson approached the sukkah to speak with the designated student. Hutchinson told the student the sukkah violated the University’s Freedom of Expression and Facilities Use policies and then departed from the sukkah.
At 11:09 a.m., an unidentified University professor spoke to demonstrators, saying the only way to practice the ethics of the holiday while still celebrating its religious tradition was to remember those who have been displaced.
Human Rights Watch reports that 1.9 million of Gaza’s 2.2 million Palestinian population has been displaced. HRW additionally reports all of Gaza’s universities have been destroyed and 87 percent of its housing units have been damaged or destroyed.
At 11:33 a.m., Morse approached the sukkah with Vice President of Student Affairs Raymond Ou and told the designated student the structure had to be removed. While the student informed Morse the structure could not be taken down for religious purposes, Morse said the sukkah violated University policies.
“You’ve had your event. You have to stop now, you have to dismantle,” Morse said.
Morse told the student and other demonstrators if they were interested in establishing their own sukkah, it needed to be approved by the Division of Student Affairs.
As the student and Morse discussed, demonstrators recited the Hoshana prayer around the sukkah and remained at the structure despite Morse’s instruction to dismantle it.
At 11:47 a.m., Morse and Ou approached the sukkah again. In discussion with the designated student and the unidentified professor, a conversation about the sukkah’s accordance with University policy continued. Morse informed demonstrators he understood “the religious pieces of this, the compassion, the losses.”
Morse reiterated the University wanted to abide by its policies and the sukkah needed to be dismantled. The student told Morse the structure could not be removed in accordance with religious practices, but students could disperse.
“At this point, if we don’t end it, conduct will be imposed to everyone who is participating, including yourself,” Morse told the designated student.
Morse told demonstrators his position was not to act as AUPD but to enforce policy. Ou said students were violating the University’s Facilities Use policy but said he would not comment on what portion of the policy was in violation when asked by The Eagle.
While the designated student and unidentified professor discussed with Morse and Ou, demonstrators reinforced the structure with duct tape.
At 12:10 p.m., demonstrators began to remove “political education material” from the sukkah to reach a compromise with University administration.
Despite their efforts, Morse approached the sukkah again at 12:21 p.m. and told demonstrators it was time to leave.
“Take whatever you’re going to take,” Morse said. “You’re going to lose the structure. If you want to take it, take it now.”
Morse informed demonstrators that the administration would begin to hand out conduct charges if they did not leave the area. Demonstrators left the sukkah with the remaining posters, blankets, tarps and crops still inside.
At 12:30 p.m., a University flatbed truck arrived next to the sukkah. Demonstrators watched from the quad as Morse and another University affiliate deconstructed the sukkah with a pocket knife. The structure of the sukkah and the materials inside were disposed of in the back of the truck.
By 12:40 p.m., the sukkah was entirely deconstructed and removed from campus.
Following the sukkah’s deconstruction, the Palestine Solidarity Coalition at American University posted on Instagram condemning the administration’s actions and said the University was repressing peaceful practice.
“Though AU has robbed us of our right to worship, our solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Palestine is stronger than ever,” the post read. “We will not allow our Jewish identity to be weaponized as a tool of Zionist ethnic cleansing.”
Demonstrators on the quad utilized the posters they had taken from the sukkah as they began to chant in protest. The Palestine Solidarity Coalition at AU posted a call to action informing students to join the protest on the quad.
AU Student Government senator-at-large Asher Heisten said he believed it was the right of any student at the University to practice their religion as they choose.
“If the only way that's available for them to practice their religion is through a Zionist organization here on campus, then I believe that they should have the ability to really craft their own way of practicing their religion,” Heisten said.
This article was edited by Payton Anderson, Maya Cederlund, Tyler Davis and Abigail Turner. Copy editing done by Luna Jinks, Sabine Kanter-Huchting, Ariana Kavoossi and Ella Rousseau.
