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 on Twitter, students were seen listening to a speaker who expressed hope that the encampment would soon be taken down. Some individuals in the crowd draped themselves in the Israeli flag. The speaker invited students from the encampment to join in the celebration, despite the threat of suspension and expulsion.
MIT Chancellor Melissa Nobles issued a letter threatening students with interim academic suspension if they did not vacate the encampment by a certain deadline. The encampment, established on April 21, was deemed to be in violation of MIT policies. Despite efforts to remove most of the tents, protesters returned to reclaim their space later that evening.
In response to the protesters reoccupying the encampment, Nobles announced that numerous interim suspensions and referrals to the Committee on Discipline had been issued. The situation escalated with outside demonstrators joining the protest, leading to a breach of the area’s boundaries.
