It Was The Turn Of Hundreds Of Students To Shout 'Free Palestine' When Graduation After Holding 13 Of Their Colleagues Not Given Harvard

Illustration - DOC Unsplash/Vasily Kolode

JAKARTA - Hundreds of students left the Harvard University graduation ceremony shouting 'Free Palestine' one day after the school announced its 13 students would not receive the title for participating in pro-Palestinian rallies. Hundreds of students wearing keffiyeh, cloth that became a symbol of the struggle of the Palestinian people, and waving the Palestinian flag read, "Free them," and other messages. Some of them held posters that read "for the martyrs" and "for Gaza", the Boston Globe reported, quoted via Antara, Friday, May 24. Harvard University interim Chancellor Alan Garber said at the start of the ceremony that "some of us may choose to take the freedom to express themselves to draw attention to events that occur in a wider world." "This moment of joy coincides with the moment of fear and horror, sadness and anger, suffering and pain," Garber was quoted as saying by the New York Times. "Ada tempat lain, orang-orang sedang mengalami hari-hari terburuk dalam kehidupan mereka." Garber then asked the graduation participants to have a moment of silence for one minute. Harvard University, Wednesday (22.5), announced that 13 students were barred from accepting their titles for engaging in pro-Palestinian groups protesting against Israeli genocide attacks in the Gaza Strip. The university did not specify who the 13 students were, but accused them of violating university policies with their behavior during their participation in the camping at Harvard's Yard - the oldest part of the well-known US university campus.

"We will immediately consider awarding the title if, after the entire FAS (Fulty of Art and Science) process, a student meets the requirements to receive the title," the university said in a statement.