Harvard Paper Reports Palestine ‘Encampment’ Not Disruptive; Videos Disagree

The Harvard Crimson, the student newspaper at the Ivy League college, reported Thursday that some freshmen living in Harvard Yard were not disturbed by the chanting, praying, and other noises of the pro-Palestinian “encampment.”

But video of the encampment suggests that such claims might, to some extent, be colored by political persuation.

Breitbart News obtained video of protests in Harvard Yard this week that leave no doubt that the noise was very loud.

All Harvard freshmen live in Harvard Yard, except for a small number assigned to dormitories just outside of it. Students are currently studying for final exams — a particularly stressful period at any undergraduate institution.

In one set of videos, protesters shout and chant outside Massachusetts Hall and Matthews Hall, two of the most prominent freshman dorms. (Massachusetts Hall, built in the early 18th century, is also the second-oldest college building in the United States.) The first floor of Massachusetts Hall also houses the university president.

In another video, students chant using a bullhorn or amplifier in front of University Hall, the central administration building, which is situated on the eastern side of a quadrangle that includes the largest freshman dormitories.

The Crimson reported, in an article titled “Freshmen Say Noise From Harvard Yard Encampment Not Disruptive, Despite [Dean of Students’ Office] Email”:

Harvard College Dean of Students Thomas Dunne warned in a Saturday email that noise from the pro-Palestine encampment has “disrupted” freshmen living spaces, but many students who live in adjacent dorm buildings said the weeklong protest in Harvard Yard has not been a disturbance.

In more than 4o interviews and conversations with freshmen, nearly all said the encampment has not significantly changed their daily lives or prevented them from studying during reading period, a week when undergraduates submit final projects and prepare for exams.

Jewish students report feeling differently, according to the Harvard Chabad, a Jewish center near campus. Chabad noted that freshmen “are finding it difficult to study and nap due to the disruptions and hateful chants outside their homes — their dorm rooms in Harvard Yard.”

Those “hateful chants” are said to include calls for Israel to be destroyed (“From the river to the sea/Palestine will be free”) and for “intifada,” a reference to a bloody campaign of suicide and bombings and shootings against Israelis.

The university has relocated some final exams outside of the Yard because protesters are using an academic hall.

The Crimson called for a boycott of Israel in 2022, long before Hamas terrorists entered Israel and murdered 1200 people on October 7, 2023. It reflects the prevailing left-liberal view of many — though certainly not all — students.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.