Harvard graduates had their degrees revoked due to a Palestine protest
A group of graduates withdrew from the graduation ceremony at Harvard University, chanting, “Free, free Palestine,” after weeks of protests on campus against the backdrop of the war on Gaza.
University officials announced on Wednesday, the day before Thursday’s commencement day, that 13 Harvard students who participated in a protest camp would not be able to receive diplomas like their classmates. Some students chanted during the graduation ceremony on Thursday, saying: “Let them pass, let them pass, let them pass,” about allowing the 13 students to receive their diplomas with their fellow graduates.
Harvard students stand in solidarity with Palestine:
This semester, our freedom of expression and solidarity has become punishable,” said student spokeswoman Shruthi Kumar, to cheers and applause. She added that she should be referring to “the 13 undergraduates in the Class of 2024 who will not graduate today.” She continued, “I am extremely disappointed by the lack of tolerance for freedom of expression and the right to civil disobedience on campus.”
Yesterday, Bloomberg newspaper reported that the Board of Directors of Harvard University refused to grant degrees to 13 students due to their participation in a pro-Palestine camp on campus, as part of a wave of protests that recently swept American universities denouncing the Israeli war on Gaza.
On May 14, Harvard students ended their protest in support of Gaza. They denounced the genocide committed by Israel against the Palestinians in the besieged Strip for more than seven months after the administration of this American university agreed to dialogue with them about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
As a result, the university students dismantled the tents that they had set up about three weeks ago. The American police had resorted to violence in breaking up protest movements of this kind in other American universities.
The spark of uprising of university students around the world was sparked by, on April 18, one of the well-known universities of Columbia stating that its administration would stop its academic cooperation with Israeli universities as well as would break its investments in companies that are involved in companies who are supporting the occupation of Palestinian territories.
After that, the non-stop student movement in support of Palestine in the United States spread all over the universities in countries such as France, Britain, Germany, Canada, and India, all of which are in support of American universities and urging the war on Gaza and boycott their connection with all those companies that provide weapons to Israel.
The Palestinian issue was strongly present in graduation ceremonies at some American universities, where several students at Columbia Law School wore the keffiyeh, and a student tore up her graduation certificate in protest against the university’s continued investments in companies that support Israel.
Another group of students also raised banners on the platform honoring graduates bearing the phrase “Ceasefire Now” in Gaza. On the other hand, other students refused to shake hands with their professors while receiving their graduation documents in a silent protest against police violence.
