As college students across the country protest the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, a coalition of student groups at MIT set up an encampment on their campus in Cambridge.
Dozens of students with the MIT Coalition for Palestine slept in tents Sunday night on Kresge Lawn. The protesters made cardboard signs bearing the names of Palestinian cities, towns and neighborhoods affected by the war.
“We receive research funding from the Israeli Ministry of Defense. … And so we are calling on MIT to cut those ties, and to stop doing sponsored research for the Israeli military,” said Saffiyah, an undergrad spokesperson at the encampment Monday who didn’t want to give her last name.
Graduate student Baltasar Dinis, another spokesperson for the encampment, said the MIT Coalition for Palestine is made up of 10 student organizations.
The MIT protest is part of a larger wave of encampments on college campuses across the country, including similar actions at Emerson College in Boston and Tufts University in Medford.
At Columbia, students occupied the campus to urge the university to divest from companies tied to Israel. The university proceeded to suspend and arrest dozens of students. On Monday morning, Yale similarly arrested student protesters.
MIT’s response, so far, has been measured.
In an emailed statement, an MIT spokesperson said on Monday that, “MIT officials are aware of the tents, and are determining next steps with a focus on ensuring campus is physically safe and fully functioning. MIT Police were on scene throughout the night and will continue to be present.”
At Harvard on Monday, school officials reportedly closed Harvard Yard to non-ID holders. Posted signs said that “structures, including tents and tables, are not permitted in the Yard without prior permission.”
