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Cambridge, Massachusetts, US
Student protesters raise Palestinian flags at Harvard Yard, sparking campus controversy. (Screengrab)
The nationwide campus protests began in response to Israel’s offensive in Gaza
Pro-Palestine student protesters at Harvard Yard sparked a controversy this week after Palestinian flags were raised over the iconic John Harvard statue. The act was seen as a provocative display of support for Palestine amid Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
Saturday’s incident unfolded when a group of protesters hoisted the flags over the John Harvard statue, a site typically reserved for the American flag or flags of visiting foreign dignitaries. As the flags fluttered in the breeze, chants of “Free, free Palestine” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” echoed across the Yard, according to The Harvard Crimson.
Harvard spokesperson Jonathan L. Swain condemned the action as “a violation of University policy,” saying that those involved would face disciplinary action. Despite the removal of the flags by Harvard staff, tensions escalated as protesters voiced their dissent, leading to a standoff with administrators.
The threat of disciplinary action, including the withholding of degrees, looms large over the protesters, particularly as Harvard’s commencement ceremonies draw near. The encampment, which began earlier in the week, has become a focal point of dissent, with hundreds of students among those facing potential repercussions for the continued protest.
READ MORE: US Govt Asks For ‘Peaceful’ Campus Protests After Hundreds Of Pro-Palestinians Held Over The Weekend
The wave of demonstrations began at Columbia University in New York but they have since spread rapidly across the country. While peace has prevailed in many campuses, the number of protesters detained is rising fast. They include 100 at Northeastern University in Boston, 80 at Washington University in St Louis, 72 at Arizona State University and 23 at Indiana University.
As demonstrations continued across the college campuses, the US federal government on Sunday insisted that pro-Palestinian protests that have rocked universities must remain peaceful after police arrested around 275 people on four separate campuses over the weekend.
“We certainly respect the right of peaceful protests,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told ABC.” But, he added, “we absolutely condemn the anti-Semitism language that we’ve heard of late and certainly condemn all the hate speech and the threats of violence out there.”
(With agency inputs)
