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BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Pro-Palestinian students at Emerson College and MIT set up encampments in Boston and Cambridge on Sunday night, following Columbia University's lead in protesting the war in Gaza.
Emerson students gathered at the camps set up off Boylston Street on Monday, just hours before the start of Passover. The Hillel building is located adjacent to the anti-Israel encampment, where many Jewish students planned to visit during the Jewish holiday.
At MIT, the encampments are set up on the Kresge Lawn. On X, the account MIT Jews For Ceasefire encouraged MIT students to join them at the encampment during Passover Seder.
In Medford, a group of Tufts University students set up several tents on campus.
Students at MIT and Emerson have vowed to stay until their demands are met. They are calling for college officials to support a ceasefire in Gaza and put an end to institutions that support Israel.
Francesca Riccio-Ackerman, one MIT PhD student, referred to the protest on X as the Scientists Against Genocide Encampment.
“MIT has received over $11 million in research funding from the Ministry of Defense of Israel since 2015…. We will not rest until MIT cuts research ties with the Israeli military,” Riccio-Ackerman wrote.
Similar encampment-style protests have been popping up around the country. Schools like Columbia University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Yale University, New York University, and University of Michigan have been protesting the universities' alleged ties to supporting Israel and the Israeli military.
Protesting students said they are standing in solidarity with pro-Palestinian students at Columbia University after several were arrested at the school late last week.
On Sunday, the MIT Israel Alliance issued a letter to MIT President Sally Kornbluth, Chancellor Melissa Nobles, and others demanding alternative remote learning options for students, heightened security, and the encampment to be cleared.
The group wrote the development has caused "significant fear among the Jewish student community" and cited acts of violence happening at Yale and Columbia University during encampment protests there.
"As Passover begins tomorrow, many Jewish students had planned to visit the Hillel building, which is adjacent to the anti-Israel encampment, to celebrate the holiday. However, due to the proximity of the encampment, many students now fear for their safety and have already fled their dorms to stay with relatives or friends off-campus," the MIT Israel Alliance wrote in the letter.
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, and founder of the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, said he will no longer donate to his alma mater Columbia University if the protests continue and the school does not take action.
In a statement on X on the account Stand Up to Jewish Hate, Kraft said he is tremendously grateful for Columbia giving him a full academic scholarship when he attended, but that it is no longer an institution he recognizes.
"I am deeply saddened at the virulent hate that continues to grow on campus and throughout our country. I am no longer confident that Columbia can protect its students and staff and I am not comfortable supporting the university until corrective action is taken," Kraft wrote.
Columbia University's president made classes remote on Monday to "deescalate the rancor" on day six of the protests.
The Harvard Crimson reported that Harvard has restricted access to Harvard Yard until Friday afternoon in an effort to curb protests and camps.
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