Pro-Palestinian protest, hunger strike at Saint Mary's College in Moraga ends
MORAGA – A pro-Palestinian protest and hunger strike in the chapel at Saint Mary's College of California in Moraga has ended following an agreement, officials at the school announced Friday.
University spokesperson Christine Hutchins told CBS News Bay Area that the group Students for Justice for Palestine ended their one-day occupation of the chapel late Thursday night, following a meeting with the school's leadership. About 10 to 15 students reportedly were inside the chapel.
According to the Bay Area News Group, the protesters were calling for the school to disclose its financial investments and divest from corporations supporting Israel's war in Gaza. Students also called for the school not to remove a vigil dedicated to Palestinian children killed since Oct. 7 at the St. John the Baptist De La Salle statue.
"They agreed that, together, we will find another way to memorialize the student group's public installation honoring and creating awareness of the martyred children of Palestine children in Gaza," said a university statement. "They agreed to work together to create a task force to look into the disclosure of financial investments and address divestment."
The school went on to say that, "we are committed to working together to address this student group's concerns as a shared responsibility, one step at a time, by creating awareness, education, and positive change at Saint Mary's."
Also on Thursday, pro-Palestinian demonstrators who occupied a condemned building owned by the University of California, Berkeley were removed. About a dozen protesters who occupied the Anna Head building on Haste Street near campus were arrested.
The occupation of the building came two days after an encampment in front of Sproul Hall on the Berkeley campus was disbanded following a protest that lasted for more than three weeks.
