Police arrested over 100 pro-Palestine demonstrators at Northeastern university in Boston on 27 April. Students are protesting Israel’s occupation, apartheid and genocide against the Palestinians across US universities.
The key reason Northeastern university gave for shutting down the encampment and having pro-Palestine protestors arrested was someone shouting “kill the jews”. A university statement reads:
The use of virulent antisemitic slurs, including ‘Kill the Jews,’ crossed the line… We cannot tolerate this kind of hate on our campus. Earlier this morning the Northeastern University Police Department (NUPD) — in cooperation with local law enforcement partners — began clearing an unauthorized encampment on the university’s Boston campus
But it turns out it was a pro-Israel agitator who shouted “kill the jews, anybody on board?”, as video footage shows. The Palestine solidarity protestors booed in response:
this is a video of the incident I mentioned, provided by an organizer with Huskies For A Free Palestine/HFP.NEU
The student in the greenish blue sweatshirt holding the Israeli flag is a counter-protester pic.twitter.com/2KnUuFAkam
— Tori Bedford (@Tori_Bedford) April 27, 2024
Elsewhere and at Northeastern, universities are citing allegations of antisemitism to shut down pro-Palestine protests. President Joe Biden has also called the protests “antisemitic”.
But Israel’s apologists have long weaponised antisemitism to silence criticism of Israel.
Former Israeli government minister Shulamit Aloni has admitted:
Well, it’s a trick we always use it… It’s very easy to blame people who criticise certain acts of the Israeli government as antisemitic and to bring up the Holocaust and the suffering of the Jewish people and that justifies everything we do to the Palestinians
So people must identify real antisemitism before restricting the right to freedom of expression.
Northeastern Jewish students condemned the arrests and one said:
It was the closest I’ve felt to any community. It was really sad to see what was such a beautiful liberation zone completely destroyed
Police, meanwhile, assured the pro-Israel counter protestors they wouldn’t be arrested.
In response to challenges on the arrests, Vice President for Communications Renata Nyul said:
The fact that the phrase ‘Kill the Jews’ was shouted on our campus is not in dispute. The Boston Globe, a trusted news organization, reported it as fact. There is also substantial video evidence. Any suggestion that repulsive antisemitic comments are sometimes acceptable depending on the context is reprehensible. That language has no place on any university campus.
But the Boston Globe has now issued corrections and reported that it was a pro-Israel agitator who shouted the vile slur.
Northeastern activists Huskies for a Free Paletine called out the university in a statement:
After deploying campus police, city police, and state police on peaceful activist students, Northeastern Administration published an entirely false and fabricated narrative that members of our encampment engaged in hate speech early this morning
The conduct of Northeastern administration has been deplorable as they continue to defame their students and take away from the main cause of Huskies for a Free Palestine: to divest from Israeli Apartheid and call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire.
Professor Mathew Noah Smith had joined the encampment on 25 April. He said:
I hope Northeastern is not weaponising anti-semitism to justify arresting the protesting students… the students there… were clear in standing against all forms of hate and violence.
Genocide and apartheid
It’s not just the ongoing genocide where Israel has killed or injured one in fifty Gazan children. Israeli apartheid is also part of why students are protesting. As Amnesty International summarises:
Israel imposes a system of oppression and domination against Palestinians across all areas under its control: in Israel and the (Occupied Palestinian Territories), and against Palestinian refugees, in order to benefit Jewish Israelis. This amounts to apartheid as prohibited in international law.
Laws, policies and practices which are intended to maintain a cruel system of control over Palestinians, have left them fragmented geographically and politically, frequently impoverished, and in a constant state of fear and insecurity.
Amnesty’s report shows how Israel uses military rule and a system of discrimination to oppress Palestinians.
With such injustices in mind, there must be solidarity with the students and others protesting. We should opt for a constructive approach to peace in the Middle East.
Featured image via Tori Bedford – X
