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Harvard Students End Pro-Palestinian Protest As University Agrees To Discuss Middle East Conflict

FILE - Students protesting against the war in Gaza, and passersby walking through Harvard Yard, are seen at an encampment at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., on April 25, 2024. Participants at the Harvard encampment protesting the war between Israel and Hamas announced they were voluntarily ending their occupation of Harvard Yard. The student protest group said in a statement that the encampment “outlasted its utility with respect to our demands,” and interim Harvard University President Alan Garber agreed to pursue a meeting between those involved in the protest and university officials. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)

Protesters against the war between Israel and Hamas were voluntarily taking down their tents in Harvard Yard on Tuesday after university officials agreed to discuss their questions about the endowment, bringing a peaceful end to the kinds of demonstrations that were broken up by police on other campuses.

The student protest group Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine said in a statement that the encampment “outlasted its utility with respect to our demands.” Meanwhile, Harvard University interim President Alan Garber agreed to pursue a meeting between protesters and university officials regarding the students’ questions.

Students at many college campuses this spring set up similar encampments, calling for their schools to cut ties with Israel and businesses that support it.

The latest Israel-Hamas war began when Hamas and other terrorists stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking an additional 250 hostage. Palestinian terrorists still hold about 100 captives.

Harvard said its president and the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Hopi Hoekstra, will meet with the protesters to discuss the conflict in the Middle East.

The protesters said they worked out an agreement to meet with university officials including the Harvard Management Company, which oversees the world’s largest academic endowment, valued at about $50 billion.

The protesters’ statement said the students will set an agenda including discussions on disclosure, divestment, and reinvestment, and the creation of a Center for Palestine Studies. The students also said that Harvard has offered to retract suspensions of more than 20 students and student workers and back down on disciplinary measures faced by 60 more.

“Since its establishment three weeks ago, the encampment has both broadened and deepened Palestine solidarity organizing on campus,” a spokesperson for the protesters said. “It has moved the needle on disclosure and divestment at Harvard.”

(AP)



One Response

  1. One should ask if 90 years ago they would have given into similar protests by agreeing to discuss a solution to the “Jewish problem”.

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