CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Protesters opposing the war between Israel and Hamas voluntarily removed their tents from Harvard University Yard on Tuesday after university officials agreed to discuss questions about donations. , peacefully ended the type of demonstrations that were dispersed. by other campus police.
The student protest group Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine said in a statement that the encampment “has outgrown its usefulness for our demands.” Meanwhile, Harvard University interim president Alan Garber agreed to facilitate a meeting between protesters and university officials regarding the students’ questions.
This spring, students on many college campuses set up similar camps, calling on schools to cut ties with Israel and companies that support Israel.
The latest Israeli-Hamas war began when Hamas and other militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking another 250 hostages. Israeli forces have killed more than 35,000 people in Gaza, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which says Palestinian militants still hold about 100 prisoners and does not distinguish between civilians and fighters. did.
Harvard University announced that its president and Hopi Hoekstra, dean of the College of Humanities and Sciences, will meet with protesters to discuss the Middle East conflict.
Protesters said they had struck an agreement to meet with university officials, including Harvard Management Company, which manages the world’s largest academic endowment, worth about $50 billion.
According to a statement from the protesters, the students will set an agenda that will include discussions on disclosure, divestment and reinvestment, and the creation of a center for Palestinian studies. The students also said Harvard offered to reverse suspensions against more than 20 students and student employees and to reverse disciplinary actions against 60 more.
“Since the camp was set up three weeks ago, it has broadened and deepened the solidarity of Palestinian organizing on campus,” a spokesperson for the protesters said. “We made a big difference in disclosure and divestment at Harvard.”
Rotem Spiegler, a Harvard graduate, said he was glad to see the protests die down, but thought it was inappropriate to reward students for their role in the disruptive behavior. .
“It should have happened a while ago. They should have suffered the consequences of invading everyone’s space here and not respecting the university rules that were also adjusted during their study abroad,” Spiegler said. .
Faculty members who supported the Harvard Yard demonstration said the students achieved “an important step toward divestment from Israel and the liberation of Palestine.”
“We honor the courage of these students who put themselves at risk to amplify the global voice for Palestine’s liberation at a time when world leaders have sought to suppress it,” Harvard University’s Palestine Justice Department officials said in a statement. Ta.
At the University of California, Berkeley, students demanding the school’s divestment from companies with operations in Israel began clearing an encampment on campus Tuesday afternoon as protest leaders held talks with university administrators. .
UC Berkeley President Carol Crist sent a letter to protesters Tuesday night agreeing to “support a comprehensive and rigorous examination of our investments and socially responsible investing strategies.”
Chloe Gambol, a student at Harvard University, said the biggest outcome of the Cambridge protests was shining a spotlight on the situation in Gaza.
“The purpose of protests is to get attention, to make noise, to take a stand, and from what we see in the news, I think that’s definitely been achieved. A lot of people are talking about it.” she said.
But Howard Smith, a senior research fellow at Harvard University, said he was happy to see the encampment cleared.
“I think the students were very misguided, fundamentally historically wrong and morally out of line,” he said. “But I’m glad the situation at Harvard wasn’t as crazy as it was in other places.”
Protesters also voluntarily removed their tents at Williams College in Massachusetts on Monday night after the board agreed to meet later this month. Williams President Maud Mandel said dialogue is the answer.
“In a year that has tested our personal, political and moral commitments, members of our diverse community, including those in our camps and those who question or oppose them, are making a difference. “I’ve seen people engage with each other across the board and look for what they’re looking for: a way to exchange ideas without exchanging insults,” Mandel said in a statement.
At the University of New Mexico, President Garnet Stokes warned that encampments along the Albuquerque campus’ downtown must be cleared by Tuesday evening and that those who do not comply will be subject to “systematic coercion.” .
A collection of tents and tarps was set up for three weeks and housed activists, some students, and homeless people.
In a message to all students and staff, Stokes acknowledged the demands of protesters who have been calling for a ceasefire along with disclosure of the university’s investment portfolio. She said the school is committed to being transparent.
In Western New York, the University of Rochester cleared its encampment ahead of Friday’s graduation ceremony. Most of the protesters dispersed voluntarily, but two people not affiliated with the university were arrested on suspicion of damaging the graduation tent, school spokeswoman Sarah Miller said.
