By Iclal Turan
WASHINGTON (AA) - Hundreds of students walked out of Harvard University's commencement ceremony chanting: “Free Palestine,” one day after the school announced that 13 students will not get degrees for participating in a pro-Palestine encampment.
Hundreds of students wearing keffiyehs and waving Palestinian flags, shouted: “Let them walk,” among other messages, and held signs “for the martyrs” and “for Gaza,” according to the Boston Globe.
“Welcome to the People's commencement,” said Lea Kayali, an organizer and Harvard Law student, the Boston Globe reported.
University interim President Alan Garber said at the start of the ceremony that “some among us may choose to take the liberty of expressing themselves to draw attention to events unfolding in the wider world,” according to the New York Times.
“This moment of joy coincides with moments of fear and dread, grief and anger, suffering and pain,” he was quoted. “Elsewhere, people are experiencing the worst days of their lives.”
Garber later asked participants to observe a minute of silence.
Harvard University announced Wednesday that 13 students were barred from receiving their degrees as a result of their involvement in a pro-Palestine encampment concerning Israel's onslaught on the Gaza Strip.
The school did not provide details about the 13 students but accused them of violating the university’s policies with their conduct during their participation in an encampment in Harvard's Yard – the older part of the school.
“We will consider conferral of degrees promptly if, following the completion of all FAS (Faculty of Arts and Sciences) processes, a student becomes eligible to receive a degree,” said the university.