Harvard students, faculty protest school leaders for ‘complying with fascism’ amid Trump review of university grants
Approximately 300 anti-Israel activists protested the administration “complying with fascism” in response to the Trump administration’s review of almost $9 billion in federal funds granted to the university.
On Tuesday, approximately 300 anti-Israel activists marched on Harvard’s campus to protest the administration “complying with fascism” in response to the Trump administration’s review of almost $9 billion in federal funds granted to the university.
According to The Crimson, the radicals marched to University Hall, where speakers slammed Harvard President Alan M. Garber’s statement in response to the review in which he pledged to work with the Trump administration’s task force to combat antisemitism.
Activists chanted for an end to the Jewish state outside the monthly Faculty of Arts and Sciences faculty meeting and handed leaflets with demands to professors entering the building.
Faculty, students, and editors of the Crimson protested the dismissal of History Professor Rosie Bsheer and Professor of Turkish Studies Cemal Kafadar following allegations that their Center for Middle Eastern Studies’ (CMES) programming has been antisemitic and failed to represent Israeli perspectives.
Activist students threatened to withhold their labor from CMES until Harvard met their demand to reinstate Bsheer and Kafadar.
The protesters also demanded that the administration refuse to share “student names, disciplinary records, personal information, and registrar data with the Trump administration or other third parties” and deny access to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on campus.
Some counter-protesters blasted the American National Anthem from loudspeakers across the plaza as the crowd chanted antisemitic slogans. They also played audio alleging that activists at Harvard didn’t begin protesting Trump until the government “started limiting Hamas influence on college campuses.”
The anti-Israel activists also condemned ICE arrests of international students and Trump’s decision to dismantle the Department of Education.
Khalil, who received his master’s degree from Columbia University in December, and Ozturk, a graduate student at Tufts University, are both being held in ICE detention centers in Louisiana.
University officials reportedly asked reporters and photographers to leave Harvard Yard during the protest.
