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MIT protesters reenter encampment after university tries to clear tents
Protesters continued to occupy a pro-Palestinian encampment at MIT on Monday evening, after the school gave students an afternoon deadline to vacate.
Protesters continued to occupy a pro-Palestinian encampment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Monday evening, after the school gave students an afternoon deadline to vacate the demonstration.
MIT President Sally Kornbluth told the protesters in a message to the MIT community Monday that they needed to leave by 2:30 p.m. The university required students leaving to swipe their IDs, and those who chose to stay were threatened with an academic or full suspension.
The encampment was erected about two weeks ago on the university’s Kresge Lawn near Massachusetts Avenue. Protesters have said they are specifically protesting the $11 million in research funding the school receives from Israel, which creates underwater surveillance and robotic technology, Scientists Against Genocide said at the time.
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In her message, Kornbluth said the “threat of outside interference and potential violence is not theoretical” and the use of school property for what she described as a disruptive protest on a highly contentious issue is “no longer safely sustainable.”
Around 4 p.m. on Monday, a handful of people remained inside the encampments — three faculty members and five undergraduate and graduate students, according to MIT professor Erica James.
“For faculty, it’s a question of supporting students’ rights to protest, even when sometimes it means to go against certain rules for the sake of what they view as a larger moral and ethical issue,” James said.
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For most of the afternoon, police stayed behind metal barriers, and about a dozen pro-Israel counter protesters stood behind them.
State Reps. Erika Uyterhoeven and Mike Connolly, who represent Somerville and Cambridge, were both on scene Monday afternoon. Both representatives praised the students for their organization, bravery, and focus.
“I’m here really in solidarity with these protesters, and I’m hoping that the MIT administration will honor free speech and will honor the tradition of dissents in this country, in particular dissents to war, which is what really calls us here today,” Connolly told Boston.com at the protest.
Protesters reenter encampment
Around 5:30 p.m., some protesters began tearing down the green tarp that hid the tents from the gathering crowd. That quickly turned into forcing down the barriers. Students then trickled into the camp before fully reclaiming the Kresge Lawn.
By 5:30 p.m., protesters had pushed down metal barricades. Hundreds of protesters encircled the camp and linked arms.
David Berkinsky, a graduate student in chemistry at MIT participating in the protest, said MIT didn’t conduct negotiations in good faith Monday around noon before they sent out the notice to vacate the encampment.
“Today was the culmination, I think, of a lot of frustration,” Berkinsky told Boston.com. “In the last couple of days, they put up these massive walls, and then today, they put up an ID checkpoint, and it is becoming more and more and more like how we see Palestinians live in the West Bank under occupation.”
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He said the protesters planned to continue to occupy Kresge Lawn on Monday night after they pushed down the barriers.
“When students brought the walls down today, I think it was very symbolic,” Berkinsky said. “Anytime anyone tries to put people in walls, those walls are inevitably going to come down.”
Police were on scene Monday evening, including Cambridge police, Massachusetts State Police troopers, officers from the state’s Special Emergency Response Team, and at least one uniformed MIT police officer.
In a statement at 9 p.m., Kornbluth said about 150 people remained near the tents.
“While no arrests have been made on campus, police officers from MIT, Cambridge, and the state remain on the scene to preserve public safety,” she wrote. “We have much work still to do to resolve this situation, and will continue to communicate as needed.”
High school students protest nearby
On nearby Massachusetts Avenue, a coalition of high school students sat on the street to block traffic Monday afternoon. Students from around 12 high schools symbolically renamed the street to honor Sidra Hassouna, a child reportedly killed by the Israeli Defense Forces in Gaza.
At its peak, more than 100 high schoolers sat on Mass. Ave., with State Police troopers stationed nearby. Cambridge police blocked off the street around 4 p.m., and Route 1 buses were rerouted around the block.
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By 6:30 p.m., the crowd had thinned to 30 who continued to block the street.
Sixteen-year-old Alma Shawer, a student at Lexington High School, said students at the protest represented Arlington, Boston Latin Academy, Boston Latin School, Cambridge Rindge and Latin, John O’Bryant School of Math and Science, Lexington, Melrose, Pioneer Charter School of Science 1 and 2, Saugus, Somerville, and Walden high schools.
The group was inspired to walk out of their school days by students at colleges and universities across the country, Shawer said. They wanted to cause “civil disobedience.”
“We’re taking this upon ourselves to enact the change that we see our government lacking,” Shawer said. “[We want] to get the adults in the world that otherwise don’t seem to care what’s happening all the way in Palestine to force them to care.”
Police asked the remaining high school students to leave at 8 p.m. to allow Mass. Ave. to reopen. The protesters peacefully gathered their belongings and cheered “Free Palestine” as they walked past the MIT encampment.
Counter protesters wave American and Israeli flags
Counter protesters left the scene by 7 p.m., but beforehand, around a dozen people were waving large Israeli and American flags. Some used megaphones to blare sirens or comment on what protesters were cheering. At one point, “Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus was played.
Someone placed dozens of “kidnapped” flyers representing Israelis kidnapped by Hamas in a display near Kresge Lawn.
One protester asked Reps. Connolly and Uyterhoeven to hold an American flag. They both did not engage and did not take the flag.
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“I’m proud to be an American,” Connolly said.
Harvard also says students must leave encampment
Earlier on Monday, Harvard said students who continue to demonstrate at a pro-Palestinian encampment in Harvard Yard could face consequences including being barred from campus. In a letter to the Harvard community, interim President Alan Garber said students who remained at the protest would be referred for “involuntary leave.” This would mean that they may not continue to reside in Harvard buildings, may not be able to sit for exams, and must leave campus until they are reinstated.
Students at Tufts University dismantled their pro-Palestine encampment voluntarily on Friday.
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