Pro-Palestinian messages flown over IU graduation ceremony

Small planes carrying anti-war and pro-Palestinian messages circled over IU’s undergraduate commencement ceremony Saturday.

The first plane’s banner — which read, “LET GAZA LIVE!” — included a Palestinian flag. 

Read more: Day 10 of protests on IU campus

The second plane’s message read, “DIVEST NOW-WHITTEN RESIGN,” referring to calls for IU to cut ties with Israel as well as President Pamela Whitten. 

The two flights started less than an hour before Whitten and other academic leaders took the stage at IU’s Memorial Stadium in Bloomington. 

An Indiana State Police helicopter also circled the stadium Saturday.

The pro-Palestinian flights defied new security regulations that IU instituted in an attempt to prevent disruptions to the ceremonies.

The regulations, announced last week, included a new ban on bringing signs, flags, placards, and banners into Memorial Stadium.

It wasn’t immediately clear who was behind the flights, although leaders of a Gaza solidarity encampment at Dunn Meadow celebrated their arrival.

“If you’re at commencement, look up. Free Palestine. Let Gaza Live!” a message posted to the IU Divestment Coalition’s social media accounts read.

Read more:  Protester charged after biting state trooper, court doc says

The coalition organized an ongoing tent protest in Dunn Meadow, one of dozens on campuses across the United States.

State police have arrested more than 50 protesters in two raids on the IU “Liberated Zone” since its construction 10 days ago.

The protesters are calling for IU to sever ties with the Crane naval facility and to divest from companies doing business with Israel. They also want senior IU officials including President Whitten and Provost Rahul Shrivastav to resign. 

Small groups of soon-to-be IU graduates walked out of Saturday’s commencement ceremony after President Whitten began to speak.

Some of those walking out chanted pro-Palestinian slogans.

Other participants in the audience chanted “USA! USA!” in response. 

Whitten’s opening remarks were initially inaudible due to the boos and shouting that began shortly after she took the stage. 

Read more: Protesters host 'alternative commencement' in Dunn Meadow

Protesters later said more than 50 people walked out of the ceremony.

Some in the audience shouted in support of Whitten ahead of her remarks. .

After the walkouts, the ceremony proceeded without major disruptions.

Earlier Saturday, the coalition held an alternative commencement ceremony for participants at the Dunn Meadow encampment.

Four members of the IU-Bloomington faculty and a graduating senior spoke at the event in the encampment, which now features around two-dozen tents.

A silent faculty protest also took place ahead of the official IU ceremony.

Faculty resolutions calling for Whitten’s dismissal have passed by huge margins since she invited state troopers to break up the protest site.

They’re angry over several decisions including an 11th-hour change to a decades-old event policy, which placed protesters in violation and led to their arrests. 

They also want IU to lift bans on entering campus that disrupted schedules for students and faculty members amid final exams and other deadlines.

IU police are letting some protesters return after they initiated appeals.

Read more: Indiana ACLU sues IU, alleging free speech violations

On Friday, the ACLU of Indiana filed a lawsuit against the university claiming the bans violate the First Amendment rights of three plaintiffs.

The plaintiffs are Bloomington resident Jasper Wirtshafter, tenured professor Ben Robinson and graduate student Madeleine Meldrum.

An IU spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Patrick Beane and Devan Ridgeway contributed to this report.