‘You must leave campus immediately’
MIt suspends student protesters as tensions at encampment escalate
cambridGe — the massachusetts institute of technology began suspending pro-Palestinian student protesters Wednesday, as their unauthorized encampment on the school’s lawn dragged into a third week.
the suspension notices came as heavy rains soaked the makeshift campsite and tense confrontations played out with pro-israel counterprotesters who, at one point, jumped the encampment’s fence, hauled in a speaker, and began to dance.
the suspensions followed a police raid tuesday night on a similar encampment at the university of massachusetts’s amherst campus, which resulted in more than 130 arrests. it was the third mass arrest on local campuses in recent weeks, following similar actions at emerson college and northeastern university. meanwhile, harvard university’s gate remained locked Wednesday and security guards scanned ids for entry, as an encampment in harvard yard persisted despite orders from university leaders to disband.
the local encampments are part of a national protest movement against israel’s war in the Gaza strip. Protesters at mit set up their tents on the kresge oval shortly after more than 100 protesters were arrested at columbia university last month, when the new york Police department cleared an encampment there. since then, more than 2,600 protesters have been arrested at 50 campuses, in scenes that echo the confrontations between police and antiwar student demonstrators during the vietnam War.
universities now find themselves in an ever-tightening vise, squeezed between the quickly approaching dates of their graduation ceremonies — some of which are scheduled to take place on the same lawns now filled with tents — and emboldened students who have vowed not to leave until their demands are met. among other things, they have asked their universities to call for a ceasefire in the war and to cut all ties with israel, including investments, research funding, or partnerships with companies that do business in israel.
mit protesters said they received the suspension notices by email Wednesday. according to one notice, posted online by a pro-Palestinian mit group, the suspensions were effective immediately and will last through graduation, if not longer.
Graduation is planned for the last week of May.
“You will also not be permitted to reside in your assigned residence hall or use Mit dining halls. You must leave campus immediately,” said the notice, signed by two senior administrators.
Protesters said all the suspended students — more than 25 in total — received similar letters. Safiyyah ogundipe, a 21-year-old chemical engineering student, was among them. As a student living in on-campus housing, she said, she has been “effectively evicted.”
the suspensions follow recent attempts by the Mit administration to ratchet up pressure on the protesters, including multiple threats that any students remaining in the encampment would be disciplined. on Monday, Mit police officers encircled the encampment and blocked protesters from re-entering. but just hours later, protesters crashed through barricades set up by the police and reoccupied the encampment, where they have remained since. the power sources the encampment was using have been cut off, organizers said.
An Mit spokesperson said “dozens of interim suspensions and referrals to the Committee on Discipline are in process.”
the protesters see themselves as human rights campaigners decrying a war with an unjustifiable civilian toll. the israeli campaign has killed more than 34,000 people in the Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian authorities, and leveled broad swaths of the territory. More than a million people are now crammed into Rafah, a city on Gaza’s southern edge, which israel has begun to invade. the United nations warns of worsening famine if the war continues.
the students also say their universities are complicit. At Mit, the protesters have demanded the school cut any research ties with the government of israel. “this is not a morally ambiguous issue,” said Quinn Perian, a sophomore who has participated in the encampment and is a member of Jews for Ceasefire, an Mit group.
the protesters’ critics have alleged that the movement contains antisemitic and extremist elements that organizers have not done enough to root out. At the Mit encampment, protesters have chanted in Arabic, “from the water to the water, death to Zionism,” a slogan, echoing language from the Hamas charter, that many understand as a call for israel’s violent destruction. Hamas led the oct. 7 attack on israel last year that killed more than 1,200 people, according to israel, and included the taking of about 250 hostages. israel launched its war in Gaza in response, saying the goal is to eradicate Hamas.
on Wednesday, these heated disputes played out on Mit’s kresge oval.
Around 3 p.m., pro-israel counterprotesters jumped over the encampment’s fence, set up a large speaker, and danced to israeli music. Some of the proPalestinian protesters cried.
“What they are laughing and celebrating is the sheer, visceral massacre of tens of thouUnited sands of people,” said kate Pearce, an Mit freshman, who has participated in the encampment.
When the counterprotesters tried to leave, pro-Palestinian protesters blocked the way. “You can get out the same way you came in,” one protester said.
that scene played out amid other ugly confrontations.
two student protesters squared off on campus with an israeli professor, their chests only inches apart.
“You’re being childish,” one protester said. “You’re not so tough. Stay away from me,” professor Retsef levi responded. then an Mit police officer stepped in and gently pushed them apart.
in recent days, the protesters had made thousands of red tally marks on pieces of cardboard draped from the fence around the encampment. each one represented one of the dead in Gaza, protesters said. on Wednesday, pro-israel counterprotesters draped israeli and American flags over the cardboard. then people from inside the encampment dipped their hands in red paint and left handprints on the israeli flags.
lior Alon, a postdoctoral associate, objected. “People violated our flag and you want us to be calm,” he said to pro-Palestinian protesters. “i swore to this flag. i served my country.”
Perian criticized Alon’s remarks. “to go into the encampment, and where you draw your line is something about a flag, is horrifying,” they said.
Mati Yablon, a freshman who is Jewish, said he and others had come to the encampment to “show the presence” of Jews and israelis on campus. He questioned whether the movement truly sought peace. “the rhetoric they’ve been using is offensive and basically almost violent at times,” he said.
Standing on the lawn, levi, the professor, took a microphone connected to the counterprotesters’ speaker.
“Shame on all of you,” he said. “You are a disgrace.”
Mike Damiano can be reached at mike.damiano@globe.com. Lila Hempel-Edgers can be reached at lila.hempeledgers@globe.com. Follow her on X @hempeledgers and on Instagram @lila_hempel_edgers.
Ava Berger can be reached at ava.berger@globe.com. Follow her @Ava_Berger_.