Montana students protest at public Israeli research event, turned away at the door

Bozeman, MT – On Friday, October 17, students and community members gathered with signs reading, “Blood money off campus” and “Pro-science anti-genocide” to protest against the presence of a U.S.-Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development (BARD) Fund info session on campus, aimed at finding university researchers to do agricultural research for BARD.

The rally was organized jointly by Students for a Democratic Society at Montana State and Montana 4 Palestine. In a pamphlet distributed at the event, Students for a Democratic Society and Montana 4 Palestine critiqued the presence of BARD on campus, writing, “BARD pours U.S. money into Israeli research partnerships with institutions linked to occupation and genocide.”

Julian Staggs, a member of Students for a Democratic Society, called out the hypocrisy of Israeli agricultural research on campus while its genocide of the Palestinian people is ongoing saying, “Israel has waged a two-year intentional starvation campaign against the people of Gaza, which has included cutting off their access to fresh water making agriculture and food sovereignty impossible within the Gaza strip.”

A number of students attempted to enter the public BARD event held in the Montana State University library but were told they had to be on the registration list in order to get in. When students were able to show that they had properly registered for the event, the event organizer suddenly declared that students were not welcome at the event, and that no students were allowed to enter, deeming the event for faculty and community members only, despite no public advertising of it stating so.

In a public statement released online, Students for a Democratic Society and Montana 4 Palestine said that the University “seemingly decided on the spot that students had no place in knowing what research MSU participates in,” and that, “Students have a right to know who MSU is associating with! Students have a right to attend public events!”

Students turned away from the event rejoined the protest outside, leading chants such as “BARD, blood money!” and “Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest.” A march was then led around the library building. Organizers also used the rally as a time to hand out fliers exposing Montana State’s other connections to Israel and the genocide in Gaza, making it clear that wherever genocide rears its head, students would come out.

#BozemanMT #MT #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #StudentMovement #SDS #M4P