Student protesters at Harvard University tore down the American flag and replaced it with a Palestinian one last week amid the growing anti-Israel protests on college campuses. The action came as protesters have taken actions widely seen as antisemitic and highly critical of the United States.
Video footage showed the protesters removing the Stars and Stripes hanging from one of the academic buildings and hoisting the Palestinian flag. The university later removed the Palestinian flag amid shouts of “Shame!” from the protesters.
The protesters also added the phrase “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” signifying the destruction of the state of Israel.
Harvard has been one of the centers of the student pro-Palestinian protests. The demonstrations have grown over the last several weeks, especially since the clearing out of an occupation of an academic building at Columbia University which resulted in more than 100 arrests, including that of the daughter of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN).
Harvard capitulation to those advocating actions that are antisemitic in effect if not intent continues.
President Garber is obviously right about a high bar to police action. I would say a very high bar is appropriate. In my view protests so far fall short of warranting any…
— Lawrence H. Summers (@LHSummers) April 27, 2024
Harvard also saw sprinklers go off around 2:30 a.m. last week while the student protesters slept in the encampment. The tent city at Harvard is one of a series of such encampments that have grown on college campuses since earlier this month.
The sprinklers to water the lawn went off while it was about 36 degrees outside, soaking the tents.
At least four sprinklers went off before students covered them with buckets and had to sit on them to stop the water from spreading. The protesters would eventually move their tents away from the areas affected by the sprinklers.
Meanwhile, other protests have been broken up by police after significant disruptions. Dozens of students were arrested on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin.
The students have chanted a number of pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli slogans, including at least one protester carrying the flag of the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah. This was followed by chants and calls for the removal of ‘Zionists’ from Columbia’s campus.
