艾默生、麻省理工学院和塔夫茨大学的学生露营声援哥伦比亚亲巴勒斯坦抗议活动
【中美创新时报2024 年 4 月 23 日编译讯】（记者温友平编译）周一（22日），随着纽约和康涅狄格州校园紧张局势加剧，大学生们占领了麻省理工学院、爱默生学院和塔夫茨大学的帐篷营地，加大了针对以色列在加沙战争的抗议力度。《波士顿环球报》记者Daniel Kool、Maddie Khaw 和 Hilary Burns对此作了下述报道。
波士顿地区三所学校的学生周日晚上开始扎营，并表示他们将留下来，直到大学领导满足他们的要求，包括切断与以色列所谓的经济联系。
据《哈特福德新闻报》报道，在耶鲁大学，数十名学生在周一上午的一场亲巴勒斯坦抗议活动中被捕。当天晚些时候，纽约大学的学生和教师在附近的古尔德广场扎营。
据《纽约时报》报道，周一晚上，纽约大学营地被警方清理，一些抗议者被捕，警察用拉链扣住他们的手腕，然后将他们装进运输车。据《泰晤士报》报道，纽约大学官员表示，一些抗议者冲破路障，表现出“无序、破坏性和对抗性”。
支持巴勒斯坦的示威者还聚集在密歇根大学和加州大学伯克利分校。
学生们表示，他们正在追随哥伦比亚大学抗议者的脚步，上周，当警察清理校园内的一个营地时，该校有 100 多人被捕。
自哈马斯 10 月 7 日袭击以色列以及随后轰炸加沙以来，校园紧张局势升级是大学面临的最新挑战，管理人员努力在支持言论自由和维护校园安全之间取得平衡。随着逾越节第一天的抗议活动愈演愈烈，波士顿地区的一些犹太学生在是否支持以色列方面陷入了困境，他们表达了安全担忧。
大波士顿地区的学生表示，他们正在集会声援加沙地带的学生以及哥伦比亚大学的学生。哥伦比亚大学周一取消了现场授课，新英格兰爱国者队老板、哥伦比亚大学毕业生罗伯特·克拉夫特表示，他将向母校提供支持，“直到采取纠正行动”来打击反犹太主义。
《哈佛深红报》周日报道称，学校张贴了告示，通知学生哈佛庭院已关闭，“不允许搭建包括帐篷和桌子在内的建筑”。哈佛大学发言人证实，哈佛庭院在本周末之前对没有大学身份证的人关闭。
该发言人表示，对访问的限制是“为了提前应对非哈佛认可团体的潜在问题”。
哈佛大学发言人表示，哈佛大学还暂停了一个学生团体巴勒斯坦团结委员会的活动。该组织于 10 月 7 日发表了一份有争议的声明，为该大学引发了一系列连锁危机，世界各地许多人认为该声明为哈马斯领导的对以色列的袭击辩护，该袭击导致 1,200 多人死亡，其中大部分是平民，约 250 人死亡。其他人被绑架。
据加沙卫生部称，自 10 月袭击以来，以色列军队对加沙进行了轰炸，周末死亡人数攀升至 34,000 多人，其中至少三分之二是妇女和儿童。
艾默生和麻省理工学院的学生在抗议中声称他们的学校与以色列有经济联系；艾默生、麻省理工学院和塔夫茨大学拒绝回应这些说法。
上午 9 点 30 分，在麻省理工学院，大约 15 个帐篷坐落在克雷斯吉礼堂的草坪上，十几名学生（其中一些戴着头巾）正在整理桌子、悬挂灯串，并检查一串延长线，这些延长线从附近的斯特拉顿学生中心。一面白色横幅用红字宣布草坪为“解放区”。
到下午 3 点 20 分，人群已增至 100 多名学生，麻省理工学院的工作人员设置了路障，将草坪与周围的一些人行道隔开。扬声器里传出音乐，抗议者像鼓一样敲击家得宝的水桶。
汉娜·迪德巴尼 (Hannah Didehbani) 表示，她和大约 30 名学生一起在帐篷里过夜，她周一早上表示，抗议者没有与警察发生任何负面冲突，也没有被要求离开草坪。她说学生们“在这里和平抗议。就这样。”
麻省理工学院发言人金伯利·艾伦在周一上午的一份声明中表示，管理人员将确定“下一步措施，重点是确保校园的人身安全和功能齐全。”
下午 5 点左右，至少有两打来自哈佛大学的学生——被禁止建立自己的营地——加入了麻省理工学院的抗议者行列。此后不久，当一名组织者开始呼吁晚间祈祷时，人群几乎陷入沉默。
麻省理工学院以色列联盟周日发表声明，呼吁管理人员清理营地，加强校园安全，对参与抗议的学生进行纪律处分，并为因“反犹太帐篷营地”而担心自身安全的学生提供远程学习选择。 已在校园内设立。”但营地一直持续到周一晚上。
以色列联盟联合主席塔利亚·汗(Talia Khan)在一条短信中表示，该组织已收到大学收到这封信的确认，但没有透露有关执行任何请求的细节。
汗在营地附近发表讲话说，该营地位于麻省理工学院教堂另一侧的犹太学生希勒尔中心的中心位置，而且靠近希勒尔中心，这让她和校园里的其他犹太人对自己的安全感到焦虑。
汗指出，周一晚上标志着逾越节的开始，这是一个犹太节日，庆祝希伯来人民从埃及奴隶制中解放出来。汗说，她计划参加周一晚上在校外查巴德中心举行的家宴。她说，她认识的其他犹太人原本计划参加希勒尔的家宴，现在也计划加入她的行列。
“这令人愤怒、令人痛苦、令人悲伤，”在麻省理工学院完成本科学位的研究生汗说。“这已经是我的家八年了，但这不是它应该的样子。”
与此同时，艾默生学院大四学生欧文·巴克斯顿 (Owen Buxton) 表示，周日深夜至周一凌晨，多达 150 名艾默生学生聚集在博伊斯顿广场小巷，高喊口号、唱歌，并支持那些露营的人。
“我们绝对受到了哥伦比亚大学发生的事情的启发，”巴克斯顿站在波士顿公园对面的校园主巷里说道。 “他们向全国各地的大学发出了号召，我们响应了。”
波士顿警察站在博伊斯顿街对面监视局势。艾默生高级官员阿蒙·普菲特 (Amun Prophet) 表示，警方告诉抗议者不要占领主要人行道，但他们尚未与警方进行进一步接触。
艾默生学院发言人米歇尔·加索（Michelle Gaseau）周日晚上在一封电子邮件中说：“艾默生官员正在现场，正在与波士顿警察局合作，密切监视局势，确保安全通过小巷，维持校园运营，并支持艾默生社区的所有成员。”
周一下午，塔夫茨大学学术广场的草坪上搭起了七个帐篷，围成一圈。中间，大约六名学生坐在阿迪朗达克椅子上读书、聊天。
尽管学生们拒绝接受采访，但他们的要求却张贴在帐篷上悬挂的标语上：加沙立即停火、大学披露投资并“结束与以色列机构的所有联系”、校长苏尼尔·库马尔发表“声明”。 谴责巴勒斯坦的种族灭绝。”
塔夫茨大学发言人帕特里克·柯林斯表示，政府正在密切关注周一下午的抗议活动。
柯林斯在一份声明中表示：“虽然学生可以表达自己的观点，包括在校园内示威，但我们将追究任何违反大学政策行为的社区成员的责任。” “对于学生的诉求，多年来我们的立场一直是明确且一致的：我们不支持BDS（抵制、撤资、制裁）运动。”
《波士顿环球报》工作人员尼克·斯托伊科为本报告做出了贡献，并使用了美联社的材料。
题图：周一早上，艾默生学院的学生继续在博伊斯顿街附近的 2B 巷进行周日晚上的露营。PAT GREENHOUSE/GLOBE 工作人员
附原英文报道：
Emerson, MIT, Tufts students camp out in solidarity with Columbia pro-Palestinian protest
By Daniel Kool, Maddie Khaw and Hilary Burns Globe Correspondent and Globe Staff,Updated April 22, 2024, 9:52 p.m.
College students ramped up protests against Israel’s war in Gaza on Monday, occupying tent encampments at MIT, Emerson College, and Tufts University, as tensions mounted at campuses in New York and Connecticut.
Students at the three Boston-area schools started setting up camp Sunday night, and said they would stay until university leaders met their demands, including cutting alleged financial ties with Israel.
At Yale University, dozens of students were arrested during a pro-Palestinian protest Monday morning, according to the Hartford Courant. Later in the day, New York University students and faculty established an encampment at the nearby Gould Plaza.
The NYU encampment was cleared by police Monday evening and some protesters arrested, with officers cuffing their wrists with zip-ties before loading them into transport vans, according to The New York Times. NYU officials said some of the protesters breached barricades and behaved in a “disorderly, disruptive and antagonizing manner,” the Times reported.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators also hunkered down at the University of Michigan and the University of California, Berkeley.
Students said they were following the lead of protesters at Columbia University, where more than 100 people were arrested last week as police cleared an encampment on campus.
The rising tension on campuses is the latest challenge faced by universities since Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the bombardment of Gaza that has followed, as administrators struggle to strike a balance between supporting free speech and maintaining campus safety. Some Jewish students in the Boston area — themselves torn in whether to support Israel — expressed safety concerns as the protests gained momentum on the first day of Passover.
Students in Greater Boston said they were rallying in solidarity with those in Gaza and with students at Columbia University. Columbia cancelled in-person classes Monday, and Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots and a Columbia graduate, said he was pulling support to his alma mater “until corrective action is taken” to combat antisemitism.
The Harvard Crimson reported Sunday that the school posted signs notifying students that Harvard Yard is closed and “structures, including tents and tables, are not permitted.” A Harvard spokesperson confirmed that Harvard Yard is closed to people without a university ID until the end of the week.
The restriction on access was imposed “to stay ahead of potential issues with non-Harvard recognized groups,” the spokesperson said.
Harvard has also suspended a student group, the Palestine Solidarity Committee, a university spokesperson said. The group set off a series of cascading crises for the university when it posted a controversial statement on Oct. 7 that many around the world read as justifying the Hamas-led attack on Israel that left more than 1,200 dead, mostly civilians, while about 250 others were kidnapped.
Since the October attack, Israeli forces have responded with a bombardment of Gaza, where the death toll climbed to more than 34,000 over the weekend, at least two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
In their protests, Emerson and MIT students allege their schools have financial ties with Israel; Emerson, MIT, and Tufts declined to address those claims.
At MIT, about 15 tents sat on the lawn of the Kresge Auditorium at 9:30 a.m., as a little more than a dozen students, some wearing keffiyehs, tidied tables, hung string lights, and inspected a chain of extension cords carrying power from the nearby Stratton Student Center. A white banner proclaimed the lawn a “LIBERATED ZONE” in red lettering.
By 3:20 p.m., the crowd had grown to more than 100 students, and MIT workers had set up barricades separating the lawn from some of the sidewalks that surround it. Music rang from speakers, and protesters banged on Home Depot buckets like drums.
Hannah Didehbani, who said she joined around 30 students who stayed in the tents overnight, said Monday morning that the protesters had not had any negative encounters with police or been asked to leave the lawn. She said the students were “here peacefully protesting. That’s all.”
In a statement Monday morning, MIT spokesperson Kimberly Allen said administrators would determine “the next steps with a focus on ensuring campus is physically safe and fully functioning.”
Around 5 p.m., at least two dozen students from Harvard — barred from establishing their own encampment — joined the MIT protesters. Shortly thereafter, the crowd fell nearly silent as one organizer began calls for evening prayer.
The MIT Israel Alliance issued a statement Sunday calling for administrators to clear the encampment, enhance campus security, discipline students involved in the protest, and offer remote learning options to students who fear for their safety because of the “anti-Jewish tent encampment that has been set up on campus.” But the encampment remained into Monday evening.
Talia Khan, co-president of the Israel Alliance, said in a text message that the group had received confirmation that the university received the letter, but had no details about implementing any of the requests.
Speaking near the encampment, Khan said its centrality and proximity to the Hillel Center for Jewish students, on the other side of the MIT Chapel, makes her and other Jews on campus anxious for their safety.
Khan noted that Monday evening marked the start of Passover, a Jewish holiday that celebrates the Hebrew people’s liberation from Egyptian slavery. Khan said she planned to attend a Monday evening Seder at the Chabad Center, which is off campus. Other Jews she knows, who were originally planning to attend a Seder at Hillel, are now planning to join her, she said.
“It’s infuriating, it’s traumatizing, it’s sad,” said Khan, a graduate student who also completed her undergraduate degree at MIT. “This has been my home for eight years, and this is not what it’s supposed to be.”
Meanwhile, up to 150 Emerson students gathered in the Boylston Place alley late Sunday night into the early hours of Monday morning, chanting, singing, and supporting those camping out, said Owen Buxton, an Emerson College senior.
“We were definitely inspired by what’s going on at Columbia,” Buxton said as he stood in the campus’s main alley across from Boston Common. “They put out the call for universities across the country, and we answered.”
Boston police officers stood across Boylston Street, monitoring the situation. Emerson senior Amun Prophet said police told protesters not to occupy the main sidewalk, but they haven’t had further engagement with police.
“Emerson officials are on site and are working with the Boston Police Department to closely monitor the situation, ensure safe passage through the alley, maintain campus operations, and support all members of the Emerson community,” Emerson College spokesperson Michelle Gaseau said in an email Sunday evening.
On Monday afternoon, seven tents were set up in a circle on the lawn of Tufts University’s academic quad. In the middle, around a half-dozen students sat in Adirondack chairs, reading and chatting.
Though the students declined to be interviewed, their demands were posted on signs hung from tents: an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, that the university disclose investments and “end all ties to Israeli institutions,” and that president Sunil Kumar release a “statement condemning the genocide in Palestine.”
Patrick Collins, a Tufts spokesperson, said administration was closely monitoring the protest Monday afternoon.
”While students are permitted to express their views, including demonstrating on campus, we will hold accountable any community members who engage in conduct that violates university policy,” Collins said in a statement. “Regarding the students’ demands, our position on this has been clear and consistent for several years: We do not support the BDS [Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions] movement.”
Nick Stoico of the Globe staff contributed to this report, and material from the Associated Press was used.
