Foreword by Alistar Fruehstorfer & Henry Fernandez

Caleb Kaufman is no stranger to covering protests. The Ithaca College student and freelance photojournalist has built his portfolio covering Pro-Palestinian demonstrations and their subsequent counter-protests across New York in the wake of October 7th.

Kaufman found himself within the tarped borders of the Cornell Liberated Zone, capturing tense internal meetings, protests, and exchanges with the administration. Reflecting on his work, with the encampment now six months gone, Kaufman discovered moments often overlooked. His photo-essay tells the story of young people navigating resistance and routine. Kaufman’s lens captured students completing homework under the lights of police cars, gazing at rainbows, drunkenly counterprotesting, and playing soccer.

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On April 25th, 2024, Cornell’s Coalition for Mutual Liberation (CML), an umbrella organization for Cornell groups supporting Palestine, constructed the Liberated Zone, an encampment in solidarity with Palestinians and other student protesters around the world. This will not be a full recount of what happened at the encampment. This photo essay, rather, will show the mostly unseen side of the encampment and the people who participated in it. In contrast to the demonization of the protest, this piece aims to present a visual counter-narrative that is more accurate. 

The student activists were disruptive but they acted with care at every step. From what I observed, they engaged in good faith with anyone who wanted to learn more about the encampment or about Palestine. They presented facts and statistics to back up their arguments with the Cornell administration. They engaged with the Haudenosaunee Confederacy to include Land Back policies in their demands. In short, the encampment members’ tactics were carefully planned and similar to many non-violent movements of the past.

As I write, the Israeli assault on Gaza has been declared a genocide by Amnesty International. The International Court of Justice has also ruled it’s “plausible” that Israel has committed crimes in violation of the Genocide Convention. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant both have been issued arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity due to their actions in Gaza. With an incoming Trump presidency, the U.S. will likely continue to fund Israel’s military apparatus, presumably to a greater extent than the Biden administration. 

Mainstream media coverage of encampments emphasized their threat to Jewish safety, but Jewish people are not a monolith. Zionism is not Judaism. And I have yet to hear of any university encampment from last Spring where Jewish student activists did not participate. Of course, some Jewish students perceived an encampment at Cornell as threatening, but the encampment did not endanger anyone except for the students participating in it, who risked suspension and arrest. 

Cornell Jewish Voice for Peace (CJVP) organized a Shabbat service within the encampment that took place during sunset one April evening. Both Jewish and non-Jewish community members were invited to participate. The Shabbat was led by Michael Margolin, the service leader from Tikkun v’Or Temple. Margolin and members of CJVP spoke to the participants about the long Jewish tradition of fighting for the rights of oppressed peoples and standing with other persecuted religious and ethnic groups. Then, the Shabbat service began. 
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Electric candles were turned on and prayers were said. The participants were served Welch’s kosher grape juice (the only kosher grape juice that CJVP found without direct ties to Israel) and matzah. After the service, community members discussed viewing Judaism and the state of Israel separately. They explained that even though Israel invokes Jewish safety as a pretext for their use of force, the group understood that real Jewish safety would be realized in solidarity with others, especially Palestinians. 

As much as they were radicals, leftists, and anti-imperialists, the protesters were also just college kids. For every discussion about Frantz Fanon and Edward Said, there were also plenty about Chappell Roan and the beef between Drake and Kendrick. They weren’t trained activists, revolutionaries, or “outside agitators,” they were kids in their twenties with their typical interests and hobbies. They put their lives on hold and their academic future on the line to protest on behalf of people halfway around the world.

Higher education is supposed to introduce us to ideas that we have not learned before, ones that push us and make us uncomfortable. The encampment gave students—for, against, or apprehensive about the cause—the opportunity to experience unfiltered civil disobedience.

The Cornell Liberated Zone encampment ended without achieving any of its demands from the university administration, but the protesters did accomplish something that few do: they spoke loudly for what they believed was right. Administration has continued to deny the possibility of divestment, while also rolling out suspensions for continued campus protests. Despite this, their fight continues.