Anti-Israeli protesters at Harvard University flew a Palestinian flag at the Ivy League school in a location typically designated for the American flag amid ongoing campus demonstrations, signaling escalating tensions. Videos circulating online captured the moment, adding to the controversy surrounding the ongoing demonstrations.
On Saturday, in a startling turn of events, radical students occupying the campus raised the Palestinian flag over the iconic statue of John Harvard, where the American flag is traditionally flown. According to The Harvard Crimson, student protestors hung the flag along with two others around 6:30 pm at the Ivy League campus, while hundreds of students cheered. However, the Palestinian flag was removed shortly afterward
Playing with the Honor
Protests have broken out on campuses nationwide in response to the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas and the ongoing retaliatory strikes on Gaza.
School administrators have called in police forces to dismantle encampments and disperse protestors at institutions including Harvard, Columbia, Emory, NYU, USC, the University of Texas, UC Berkeley, and Brown.
In other photos, the Palestinian flag was seen adorning John Harvard's lap, accompanied by a keffiyeh wrapped around his neck.
Within just four minutes, by 6:34 PM, Harvard University Police officers had already contacted the school's Yard Operations to remove the flag flying above the statue.
As staff members removed the flags, protestors voiced their discontent by shouting "Shame!" at them, along with chants such as "Free, free, Palestine" and "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!"
A university spokesperson said that the students' actions violated Harvard's policy.
"The flags raised by protesters over University Hall were removed by Harvard facilities staff," the spokesperson told The New York Post. "The actions are a violation of University policy and the individuals involved will be subject to disciplinary action."
Online Fury
However, online users expressed even stronger reactions to the incident.
"These pro-Hamas protesters' sole agenda is to eradicate every western value and every basic human right while establishing an Islamic Sharia law regime," X user Mor Hogeg posted Sunday.
"They are starting with the Jews in Israel as their main objective and will continue with the entire west," he wrote. "It is not a fight of Israel against Hamas – the fight is between a culture of life and a culture of death. WAKE UP!"
According to The Crimson, the flag pole at the Harvard statue usually flies the American flag, but it has also displayed flags of visiting foreign dignitaries on occasion.
The report said that there was no US flag flying at the time of Saturday's incident and the Stars & Stripes is raised at 7 a.m. from Monday through Friday and lowered at 4 p.m. for storage.
Similar occurrences have unfolded at college campuses across the United States, including Columbia University in New York City and other Ivy League institutions.
