Protesters Remove American Flag, Raise Palestinian Flag in Harvard Yard

 Protesters at an anti-Israel “encampment” in Harvard Yard removed an American flag from University Hall, the central administration building, and flew a Palestinian flag in its place Saturday before university staff intervened.

The Harvard Crimson reported:

Pro-Palestine student protesters at the Harvard Yard encampment flew three Palestinian flags from University Hall on Saturday evening.

A group of three protesters hoisted the flags over the John Harvard statue in the Yard, where the University sometimes flies the American flag or flags of the countries of visiting foreign dignitaries. As of 6:34 p.m., Harvard University Police officers were calling Harvard Yard Operations to remove the flag.

As the staff removed the flags, protesters yelled “Shame!” and chanted “Free, free Palestine” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”

“From the river to the sea” is considered by many critics to be an antisemitic chant, since it implies the destruction of Israel and the removal or murder of its Jewish inhabitants.

Ironically, it was a pro-Israel, Jewish professor, Alan Dershowitz, who once advocated for Palestinian students to have the right to fly the Palestinian flag on campus — with permission — despite the fact that Palestine is not a state.

As Dershowitz recalled in 2007:

I, and many other genuine civil libertarians, have long histories of defending the free speech rights of those we most despise. I supported the right of Nazis to march in Skokie, Ill forty years ago. I opposed the cancellation of a speech by Tom Paulin, who advocated the murder of Israelis. I defended, pro bono, a virulently anti-Israel Stanford professor who was fired for inciting violence. I opposed Harvard’s attempt to prevent students from flying the Palestinian flag to commemorate the death of mass-murderer Yasser Arafat.

Don’t expect the defense of those with whom they disagree from the Israel-bashers at Columbia, Harvard, and MIT. For them, it is “free speech for me, but not for thee!”

Many pro-Palestinian “encampments” — at Harvard, Yale, Columbia, UCLA, and elsewhere — have used starkly anti-American imagery, including the removal of the American flag and the condemnation of the United States.