An MIT student disrupted a math lecture by shouting “free, free Palestine” and accusing the prestigious university, Israel and the United States of “perpetuating the genocide.”
Lecture recordings captured the dramatic moment a Massachusetts Institute of Technology student stood up in front of an audience of classmates to express his support for Palestine.
Wednesday morning’s exhibition was in response to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in which more than 10,000 people were killed in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel. As of Friday, Israel estimated the number of citizens killed at 1,200 and the number of abductees at over 200.
Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, 57, shared the video and criticized MIT for “failures of leadership.”
The student stood up to interrupt the math instructor – who politely asked if the interruption could wait until he had finished explaining a math problem and said, “Can I just finish this line?”
An MIT student disrupted a math lecture, shouting “free, free Palestine” and accusing the prestigious university, Israel and the US of “perpetuating the genocide.”
Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, 57, shared the video and accused MIT of “leadership failure.”
When the teacher finished – the student protester said: “As the MIT silence witnesses an ongoing genocide in Gaza – I join hundreds of students across the city walking out of class.”
“We stand for the liberation of Palestine against the active genocide carried out by MIT, Israel and the United States.”
The student then grabbed a Palestinian flag and joined his fellow demonstrators in chanting “Free, Free Palestine.”
Ackman – CEO of Pershing Square – shared the recording on This wouldn’t be possible without a failed leadership at MIT.
“Imagine you are a student who borrowed $250,000 to attend MIT, or a professor trying to do research in this environment.”
When Ackman shared the post, an MIT student responded to the tweet and asked if it was about MIT — because they supposedly didn’t have classes on Friday — but he corrected himself and explained that the video was from Wednesday.
user up and another said: “He waited patiently for the teacher to finish and gave him an OK. ‘Not like they’re storming the classroom.’
The MIT disruption comes amid a spate of campus protests on both sides in response to the war between Israel and Hamas.
The student protester said: “As you witness an ongoing genocide in Gaza in the silence of MIT, I join hundreds of students across the city walking out of class.”
The MIT disruption comes amid a spate of campus protests on both sides in response to the war between Israel and Hamas
On Friday, Columbia University in New York City suspended student groups Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) after unauthorized protests on campus led to threats and threats from college students felt intimidated.
The two student organizations are suspended as official student groups until the end of the fall semester.
Gerald Rosberg, senior executive vice president and chair of Columbia University’s Special Committee on Campus Safety, announced the news in a statement Friday afternoon.
“This decision was made after the two groups repeatedly violated university policies regarding the holding of campus events, culminating in an unsanctioned event on Thursday afternoon that took place despite warnings and included threatening rhetoric and intimidation,” said Rosberg, who also chairs Columbia’s special committee on campus safety.
SJP is a network of pro-Palestinian student groups in the United States that spread anti-Israel propaganda, often mixed with anti-emetic, provocative and sometimes violent messages.
JVP is an anti-Zionist group that supports the international boycott movement against Israel.
18 BrownU Jews for Ceasefire Now protesters were arrested for trespassing Wednesday evening
About 20 students entered University Hall around 12:15 p.m. to call on Brown President Christina Paxson to approve the divestment of companies that profited from the war
On Wednesday, police arrested at least 18 Brown University students who staged a sit-in outside the school president’s office, demanding that the institution divest from companies that profited from the war in Israel.
The students were arrested Wednesday evening for trespassing at the school’s main administrative building, University Hall, Brown University said in a statement.
Video showed handcuffed students being led to Providence police prisoner transport vans as dozens of protesters chanted outside the building in support of the group.
“Brown issued multiple trespassing warnings and ultimately proceeded to arrest 18 individuals who refused to leave a campus building where their presence during off-hours raised safety concerns,” the university said.
The group BrownU Jews for Ceasefire Now said 20 students were arrested during the sit-in in which they called on their school to call for a ceasefire in Israel’s Hamas war.