By Mary Greene
Students across the country are standing in support of the Palestinian people’s liberation struggle and against the US-led genocide perpetrated by the Israeli state despite arrests, threats of expulsion from university administrations, and bans of their student groups.
Students at Harvard University were among some of the first to experience the wave of repression and harassment following a statement released by 30 students groups in support of the Palestinian cause in early October. Some donors to the over $50 billion Harvard endowment demanded that the school admonish the students for their anti-imperialist stance, and law firms have revoked job offers for Harvard students affiliated with the statement, or have blacklisted them. NYU law students also had job offers rescinded and lost positions within student government for their support of Palestinian liberation. Some donors even vowed to sever ties with the university such as Leslie Wexner, CEO of Victoria’s Secret and former friend and business partner to Jeffrey Epstein.
Shortly after the statement was post to social media, the right-wing organization Accuracy in Media (AIM) paid to have billboard trucks display the names and faces of those believed to be involved in the student organizations for commuters, faculty and students near campus to see. The billboard read “Harvard’s leading Anti-Semites” despite the letter having said nothing about Jews or the Jewish faith and instead focused on the actions of the Israeli government. AIM is largely funded by Exxon, which has a history of supporting the Vietnam War and pushing right-wing conspiracy theories including denying the well-documented effects of the chemical war herbicide Agent Orange.
In October, Florida ordered its state schools to disband all chapters of SJP for supporting the Palestinian people’s resistance struggle. Columbia University in New York City likewise has suspended its SJP and Jewish Voices for Peace chapters. This comes after reactionaries with the Accuracy in Media group—the same reactionaries who purchased the Harvard billboards—displayed the names and faces of allegedly pro-Palestinian Columbia students and professors on trucks around the university campus.
Earlier this month, Brandeis University banned the school’s chapter of SJP for “hate speech” for opposing the genocide. The ban was enforced on November 10 when police violently arrested seven people at a rally in support of the Palestinian struggle. In spite of the ban and violent arrests, dozens of students walked out of class and rallied on November 13 to protest the arrests and suppression of the students’ democratic rights.
