Red paint spilled at Gabi Starr's home.
At 11:30 P.M. on Sunday, September 15, a group of approximately 60 demonstrators gathered on Pomona’s Marston Quad. They had been called to the location by a Pomona Divest from Apartheid (PDfA) Instagram post made only a few hours earlier.
The post reads “We remember our enemies” over a video of Pomona President Gabi Starr threatening protesters with suspension during PDfA’s April 5th sit-in at Alexander Hall. “We are still here,” the post continued, “11:30 pm, Marston Quad.”
Many of those gathered at Marston Quad, the site of Pomona’s second encampment last spring, wore keffiyehs and masks. Those who approached the group without masks were asked to leave and told they could join in “next time” with the right precautions.
Around 11:50 p.m., the group began to make its way across the quad towards the nearby house of Pomona President Gabi Starr. All the lights were off except for two lit rooms towards the rear of the house. As the crowd filled the sidewalk in front of the home, two Campus Safety vehicles parked at either end of the street.
At 11:52, with a countdown from three, the group began to shriek loudly. After a few minutes of yelling, they began to chant in an organized call and response. Chants included “Gabi Starr, you can't hide; Stop funding genocide!”, “What do we want? Divestment! When do we want it? Now!”, “If we don’t get it, shut it down!”, “Intifada, Intifada; Long live the Intifada!”, “There is only one solution: Intifada revolution!”, “Gabi Starr we’re at your door; Funding Israel no more!”, “When people are occupied, resistance is justified!”, and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!”
A few minutes after midnight, the crowd went silent and a leader spoke quietly, thanking them for their participation and promising future actions soon. The group then counted down again and let out another collective scream, lasting three and a half minutes. Throughout the demonstration, the house’s lighting did not change, bar a motion-detecting light near the entrance.
The group dissipated around 12:10 A.M., leaving red paint mimicking spilled blood on the front path to the home’s entrance. Protestors also dyed the fountain at Smith Campus Center red, and reportedly vandalized Alexander Hall.
Starr’s home has been targeted by protestors before. Last spring, Starr informed Pomona’s faculty that graffiti reading “bitch” had been found on an exterior wall.
The vandalism of Starr’s house is the second pro-Palestine demonstration to occur at Pomona this semester, following PDfA’s disruption of Pomona’s convocation ceremony.