A new pro-Palestinian encampment springs up at Clark Park in West Philly
Fewer than a dozen people appeared involved in the encampment by the midafternoon, and it was not clear whether more people would join the outdoor protest.
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A cluster of seven tents sprung up in the center of Clark Park in West Philadelphia on Wednesday, marking the first pro-Palestinian protest encampment in the city to appear outside a college campus.
The small Clark Park outpost follows a multiweek encampment at the University of Pennsylvania that police dismantled last week, and emerges days after Drexel University’s president ordered the disbandment of another protest group that formed Saturday on the college quad.
The latest Gaza solidarity action could present a challenge for Mayor Cherelle L. Parker. City ordinances ban camping, tents, or shelters of any kind on public parks, and unlike the campus protests, the response now falls squarely on City Hall. Fewer than a dozen people appeared involved in the encampment by midafternoon, and it was not clear whether more people would join the outdoor protest.
Joe Grace, a spokesperson for the mayor, said Parks and Recreation officials are “looking into the issue” at the park and did not provide further information.
Near 43rd Street and Chester Avenue, a row of signs were strung between two trees: “Resistance is justified,” “Free Palestine,” “Free Congo.” Another sign by a tent said “All eyes on Rafah Free Palestine.”
Within hours of the encampment’s formation Wednesday, someone at the camp had set up a table offering Dottie’s Donuts and coffee. Residents came by throughout the morning to ask about the new encampment — with one offering a tarp.
Student protesters have produced lists of demands for university leaders, from disclosing investments tied to Israel to pardoning activists facing disciplinary action, but it was not immediately clear whether the Clark Park enclave had similar objectives.
All five people at the site declined to speak on the record to The Inquirer. Someone from the Department of Parks and Recreation had stopped by to ask the group to leave, saying they were violating a rule by having tents in the park, according to a member of the encampment who declined to give their name after speaking to the city official.
West Philadelphia has been a hub for pro-Palestinian protests since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks. In Clark Park specifically, the city postponed the removal of a pop-up vigil site for Palestinians killed in the ongoing conflict in November. Neighborhood stewards ultimately took down the memorial after reports of vandalism.
The new encampment is next to a fenced-off area set up for the city’s Parks on Tap traveling beer garden, which was set to begin Wednesday at Clark Park. A representative for the pop-up event did not immediately return a request for comment.