Penn campus protests war in Gaza with encampment

A pro-Palestinian encampment popped up at the University of Pennsylvania campus on Thursday. Students set up tents, joining dozens of colleges across the country with similar set ups, decrying Israel's war in Gaza. The group at Penn described itself in a news release as a coalition of Penn students, staff, and faculty, along with other Philadelphia community members and students, and called the effort its “Gaza Solidarity Encampment.” Students erected about 10 tents on the College Green. Penn said in a statement Thursday evening that it was “closely monitoring the encampment” and so far had “not received any reports of threatening or violent behavior by the protestors.” More than 40 college campuses nationwide over the last week had encampments or sit-ins as of Thursday, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education, which is tracking the movement. That was up from 30 on Wednesday.