Milwaukee, WI – On Wednesday, September 4, the UWM Students for a Democratic Society led a protest of 70 students endorsed by the UWM Popular University for Palestine Coalition. The student organizations rallied defiantly in the face of their wrongful suspensions in front of the library named for Israeli war criminal Golda Meir.

The protest set the tone for the year on the second day of classes by relaunching the SDS campaign to change the name of the library and cut all ties with Israel. Instead of welcoming students, UWM administration sent multiple emails in the days before the start of school to the entire student body, attempting to intimidate students away from attending the protest. The UWM administration sent an email titled “Free Speech and its limits”, but in reality, they listed nothing but repressive anti-protest policies targeted at progressive students, shown with three SDSers facing suspension on top of all five UWM4Pali Coalition organizations having been suspended on July 31.

Cedar Lehman, a member of UWM Young Democratic Socialists of America, pointed out the University administration’s hypocrisy, stating, “Where was this response when, in 2019, an admitted Nazi was promoting antisemitic statements? Do you know who was punished as a result of this? The student who ripped up this Nazi’s sign.”

After over 330 days of the intensified genocide in Palestine, UWM administration had continued to repress pro-Palestine students, allowing for its corporate shareholders to hold sway. Still, the UWM4Pali Coalition hasn’t backed down. Calling out the heads of the university, Allux Arellano-Metoxen, member of UWM SDS, said, “Who should have the biggest say in how our tuition dollars are spent and how our education is handled? Not racist rich white board members and sponsors. Not soulless corporate shareholders. The students! Because what is a university with no students?”

To close out the protest, amidst echoes of “Long live the intifada!”, members of SDS spoke about the National SDS Walkout for Palestine to take place on October 7, commemorating a year of genocide, but more importantly, a year of struggle and resistance.

The walkout will be part of the Anti-War Action Network call for protests from October 5 to 7. UW -Milwaukee's impending walkout to protest the university’s refusal to cut ties with Israel will give the administration a taste of what’s to come if they don’t concede to the student’s demands.

A day after the September 4 protest, the UWM administration rescinded the interim suspension of all five student organizations stemming from a pro-Palestine Instagram story in July. This was due to the UWM4Pali Coalition waging a vigorous fightback. This included protests and the successful self-defense by all five organizations in two bogus, misguided investigations by the UW-Milwaukee Dean of Students Office and the Office of Civil Rights.

Eventually, after five weeks, the student organizations got the suspensions overturned. However, despite the sanctions being lessened by a year as a result of this case, UWM SDS is still suspended until September 2025, in addition to probation until December 2026.

The campus response to this deliberate targeting of SDS after a year of militant struggle is evidence that the student movement at UWM is landing blows and showing no signs of slowing down. Keep up with the student movement in Milwaukee on Instagram: @uwm4palicoalition, @sds_uwm, @sjpmilwaukee, @msauwm, and @uwmydsa.

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