Students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) celebrated Israel’s upcoming Independence Day next to an anti-Israel encampment on campus.
In a video posted to X, students were seen listening to a speaker who remained hopeful that the encampment would be taken down “in the very near future.” Several people in the crowd could be seen draping the Israeli flag around their bodies.
“Hopefully, in the very near future, you’re going to see this encampment go down,” the speaker said. “That’s our goal.”
The speaker then invited students in the encampment to “celebrate” with the group, adding that they were “about to be suspended.”
“Everybody in the encampment is welcome here to celebrate with us, the State of Israel,” the speaker said. “Although they’re about to be suspended, some of them are in the process of being suspended and expelled. So, but, for now, you can come and celebrate with us if you still want to.”
There’s an Israeli Independence Day celebration taking place next to the MIT anti-Israel encampment right now. pic.twitter.com/XtYGPDDdiL
— Kassy Akiva (@KassyDillon) May 7, 2024
On Monday, MIT Chancellor Melissa Nobles sent a letter to students threatening to place students on “interim academic suspension” if they did not leave the encampment by 2:30 p.m. on Monday.
In her letter, Nobles said the encampment, which was established on April 21, was “in violation of MIT policies.”
Despite most of the tents from the encampment being removed, protesters reclaimed their encampment later that evening.
In a statement issued on Monday, MIT President Sally Kornbluth, MIT Executive Vice President and Treasurer Glen Shor, and Nobles wrote:
At midday, Student Life staff handed a written advisory to students making clear that if they didn’t leave the encampment by 2:30 p.m., they would face discipline. By 2:30, most students had left the enclosed tent area. Five remained, and many students gathered right outside the encampment.
Around that time, a large number of outside demonstrators arrived, in part because of a call on social media to students in the area to join our students, and in part because of a planned public protest. Cambridge police and state police were present to assist MIT police in managing the crowd. At around 6:00 p.m., an individual jumped over the fencing surrounding the remaining tents, causing a surge, and soon the area was breached.
In response to the protesters reoccupying their encampment, Nobles issued a letter informing them that “dozens of interim suspensions and referrals to the Committee on Discipline,” had been made.
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