Police broke up a pro-Palestinian encampment at a Detroit university and arrested at least 12 people Thursday while more than 100 graduates walked out of commencement at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on the East Coast, the latest campus stress related to the Israel-Hamas war.
“No individual or group is permitted to claim campus property for their own use and deny others access to that property,” Espy said. “There is going to be no business as usual as long as MIT holds research projects with the Israeli Ministry of Defense,” said David Berkinsky, 27, who earned a doctorate degree in chemistry and walked out. “There are no graduates in Gaza. There are no universities left in Gaza left because Israeli has bombed every single one.”
Some people at the event were upset by the disruption, swore at the protesters and yelled, “Good riddance to Hamas terror fans.” A pro-Palestinian encampment at MIT was cleared by the school on May 10.