Activists Bring Palestinian Evictions to Harvard Dorms
Pro-Palestinian campus activism is stirring debate at Harvard College as students mark the ninth annual international ‘Israeli Apartheid Week’. Members of the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee posted more than 1,000 mock eviction notices on some dormitories, notifying residents their rooms were “scheduled for demolition in the next three days”. The notices also provided information about the thousands of home demolitions that take place in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
The US-based Anti-Defamation League expressed outrage over the tactic and called it “designed to silence and intimidate pro-Israel advocates at Harvard and campuses around the country”. Several news sites in Israel and the US erroneously reported that the notices targeted Jewish students on campus.
The Stream spoke to Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee member Eliza Nguyen about the controversy.
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Many on social media reacted to reports posted with false allegations that the notices targeted Jewish students.
Others discussed whether the tactics of Israeli Apartheid Week at Harvard were “effective” in promoting dialogue.
One of the campaign organisers, Alexander Shams, responded:
<blockquote>thecrimson.com
“We weren’t too worried [about offending people] because the kind of events we’re hosting are the reality in Palestine,” Shams said. “If you’re going to be offended by it, be offended by the policies, not paper notices we use for advertising.”</blockquote>
The media coverage of the events has seen controversy as well. Harvard’s student newspaper, The Crimson, published the mock eviction notice as well as an editorial criticising the tactic.
Palestine Solidarity Committee members say The Crimson has not allowed them to respond to articles comparing campus activism with anti-Semitism, or to publish a response justifying the use of the term “apartheid”.
Al Jazeera