Pro-Palestine Protest: Harvard University students oppose suspension of 5 students

Students urge that Harvard University must overturn its decision to suspend five students and place other 20 students on probation for participating in the pro-Palestine encampment.

Study in USA: Harvard University decided to suspend five students and place over 20 other students on probation for participating in the 20-day pro-Palestine encampment in Harvard Yard.

To oppose this decision, more than 1,100 undergraduates inked a petition urging the college to not take such actions against the protestors.

Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine (HOOP), the coalition of pro-Palestine student groups, organised the petition which was reportedly accessible exclusively to students with Harvard College email addresses.

As per The Harvard Crimson report, the number of signatures reported by HOOP is 15% of the College's student body.

History professor Walter Johnson said in an email, "The disciplinary action is “an ethical, procedural, and institutional catastrophe” and that the charges brought against students are “based upon non-specific allegations, some of them presented in the passive voice, and undemonstrated insinuations of unspecified dangers and disruptions.” The Professor previously served as a faculty adviser to the Palestine Solidarity Committee.

“By the end of the encampment, representatives of the administration were IDing people at random in the Yard, and neither the University nor its various ad boards have ever bothered to actually sort out an account of what, exactly, any given student is being accused of doing,” Johnson added.

Harvard University Commencement Week to start on May 21

The speaker will be Maria Ressa, Nobel Peace Prize winner, journalist, media entrepreneur, and leading advocate for freedom of the press. He will be the principal speaker at Harvard’s 373rd Commencement on May 23.

"Please note that while a ticket grants you access to Harvard Yard, it does not guarantee a seat. General Admission seats in Tercentenary Theatre – the main event location for the Morning Exercises – are often claimed early, shortly after Gates open at approximately 6:45 AM. We encourage all guests desiring a seat in the Theatre to arrive early," reads the official statement.

Commencement will not proceed as normal

Harvard Law School student Lea H. Kayali said, “If Harvard wanted a peaceful Commencement, they should not have threatened us and our most vulnerable student organizers."

HOOP said on an Instagram post that the rally was intended to “send Harvard a message: commencement will not proceed as normal while Harvard penalizes the students that speak against genocide.”

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