Israel

Officials have announced lightning caused the devastating South Fork Fire still burning outside Ruidoso and the Mescalero Apache Reservation.

Protesters rallied outside a University of New Mexico Board of Regents' meeting Thursday, before joining in public comment to condemn the clearing of a pro-Palestinian encampment by police on Wednesday.

Protesters say that while they celebrate having won a commitment from the university to investigate its financial connections to Israel, the police action was unjustified and they plan to keep up the pressure on university leaders.

Twelve hours after the deadline to either pack up and leave or face more police raids, the Gaza Solidarity Encampment at the University of New Mexico stayed in place. By 7 a.m. Wednesday, police had moved the group from the encampment.

The University of New Mexico issued an ultimatum to protesters at a pro-Palestinian encampment at the campus Duck Pond Tuesday afternoon, warning them to dismantle the camp by 5 p.m.

Some opponents of student pro-Palestinian protests calling for divestment from Israel have labeled those actions as antisemitic. At the same time, many protesters on and off campuses across the country are, in fact, Jewish.Jeff Proctor with New Mexico in Focus sat down with Sophie Leah, who is with a local chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace and a University of New Mexico alumna. She says that the organization has pushed back on violence against Palestinians for a long time and supports current student protests.

Pro-Palestinian protestors on college campuses have taken up “Disclose and divest” as a rallying cry.The ask is for universities to stop sending money to entities that stand to profit from the war in Gaza, and to make more information about their finances public so it’s clear what those investments are.KUNM’s Megan Myscofski spoke with Ernesto Longa, a University of New Mexico law librarian who is helping to organize faculty and students calling for divestment. He says that there’s precedent at UNM for this.

Faculty and staff and the University of New Mexico sent University of New Mexico President Garnett Stokes a letter Thursday rebuking the school administration’s response to student protests.The letter has over 200 signatures, with about 40 withheld names. It calls for the university administration to support free speech and urges the university to include encampments in its definition.

The pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of New Mexico has been holding space day and night at the campus’s duck pond for the last week following similar protests across the country. Last night, organizers moved into the Student Union Building. New Mexico State Police forcibly removed the protestors around 3:30 a.m., detaining several.

The University of New Mexico is one of many schools around the country where students have set up pro-Palestinian encampments as a form of protest against the ongoing war in Gaza. Campus police had them clear their encampment, but did not send them home Monday night.