Palestinian flag raised at Harvard University: US college campuses gripped by pro-Palestine protests

US universities protests: Pro-Palestine protesters at Harvard University raised three Palestinian flags over the John Harvard statue in Harvard Yard – a spot reserved for the US flag or for flags of countries of visiting foreign dignitaries. Harvard Police officers called the Harvard Yard Operations to subsequently take down the flag. As the authorities removed the Palestinian flags, chants of ‘shame’ and ‘free Palestine’ reverberated in the yard. 

According to The Harvard Crimson, a student protester also tried to snatch the flag away from the authorities who had taken the Palestinian flag down. 

Harvard spokesperson told the student newspaper of the university that raising the flags was “a violation of University policy and the individuals involved will be subject to disciplinary action.” 

After the flag incident, pro-Palestine protesters held a vigil for Palestinians killed in the Israel-Palestine war. Administrators subsequently entered the yard to check IDs, noted their ID numbers and handed them a slip of paper warning of disciplinary action. Graduating students were warned that their degrees could be withheld. 

ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTS AT HARVARD

Anti-Israel protests have gripped American universities. The number of arrests nationwide has increased to 900 since the April 18 mass arrest of over 100 people at New York’s Columbia University. Similarly, in Harvard, pro-Palestine protesters have refused to end the ongoing agitation. 

This comes as 275 people were arrested at various campuses in the US, including Indiana University at Bloomington, Arizona State University and Washington University in St. Louis.

Skirmishes were reported in the University of California, Los Angeles on Sunday between groups of pro-Israel and pro-Palestine protesters, who had even broken down the barrier erected to separate the two groups. The protesters shoved one another, shouted slogans and insults and some even traded punches. The two factions had to be separated by campus police who were armed with batons. 

STUDENTS DEMAND CEASEFIRE

The protesters are demanding a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas. They are also asking for divestment of university assets in companies involved with the Israeli military, and an end to the US military’s assistance to Israel. 

Students, while acknowledging isolated incidents of antisemitism, have blamed outsiders for attempting to hijack their movement. 

White House national security spokesman John Kirby told ABC News that President Joe Biden has acknowledged that many Americans have “strong feelings” about the war in Gaza. "He respects that and as he has said many times, we certainly respect the right of peaceful protest…People should have the ability to air their views and to share their perspectives publicly, but it has to be peaceful," said Kirby, adding that Biden has condemned the hate speeches and antisemitism.