College students across Boston are standing in solidarity with Columbia University students who have been protesting Israel's actions in the ongoing war in Gaza.
Members of the MIT, Tufts University and Emerson College communities started protesting Sunday, calling on administrators to take action. The conflict has left thousands dead after the terrorist group Hamas, which governs Gaza, launched a surprise attack on Israel, prompting an Israeli ground invasion.
Elsewhere in New England, dozens of people were arrested in similar protests at Yale University.
The pro-Palestinian protest at Columbia that demands the school divest from companies they claim "profit from Israeli apartheid" has drawn massive attention and blanket antisemitism, threats and outsiders descending on the New York City campus, leading the university's president to move all classes remote on Monday.
On Monday, university alumnus New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft issued a statement saying he was "no longer confident that Columbia can protect its students and staff and I am not comfortable supporting the university until corrective action is taken," urging the school's leadership to end the protests.
Kraft is a former Columbia trustee who founded the Kraft Center for Jewish Student Life at the school. He also started the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, which aired a Super Bowl ad this year featuring the man who helped draft Dr. Martin Luther King’s iconic "I Have a Dream" speech.
On Emerson's campus Monday, a large group of students were gathered Monday in an encampment that blocked Boylston Place alley. They're part of the non-affiliated student organization "Students for Justice in Palestine."
Boston police were on site as well, but there were no arrests as of Monday morning.
There were also student encampments at MIT and Tufts as well. Those protests began at 7 p.m. Sunday and continued throughout the night.
The Emerson students called their protest an act of solidarity with 100 pro-Palestinian protestors arrested at Columbia University in New York last week. These students say they want their school to support all voices, including marginalized ones like theirs.
"We're asking for the school to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, we're asking the school to disclose all financial ties to Zionist organizations and to divest from those organizations and we're asking the school to condemn the arrests at Columbia last week," said Owen Buxton, Emerson student.
"Because it's an ongoing occupation and we will be continuing to hold down this territory. We have folks coming in and out, but this has taken hundreds of people to put together," said Dylan Young, Emerson student.
Police and college officials continue to monitor these encampments and are working to ensure a safe passage through the alley. However, these students say they'll be out until their demands are met.
