The Harvard 'die-in' that set off a debate over protest and punishment

"Hundreds of pro-Palestinian students had arranged themselves in the grass in front of Harvard Business School, pretending to be dead. An Israeli American student appeared, holding a camera phone. It was two weeks after Hamas' attack on Israel, and tensions were high. The student with the camera was quickly surrounded. Protesters blocked his lens with scarves, yelling, "Shame." They formed a scrum and forced him to exit the area."

"Police at the scene did not interfere. But two years later, as Harvard University works to mitigate the impact of the Trump administration's assault on higher education, lingering disagreement over what happened - and who was harmed - illustrates how the national debate over the Israel-Hamas war continues to divide Americans, on campus and off. The protest has become a touchstone for broader debate over campus unrest, cited over and over again by Republican government officials questioning how Harvard responded to protests."

"A lawsuit filed against Harvard in July by Yoav Segev, the Israeli American student, accuses the university of conducting a "sham investigation" of his assault. It is the key remaining civil case pending against the university for its handling of protests. Segev's lawyer, Mark Pinkert, called the episode a "key inflection point in campus antisemitism" since Oct. 7, 2023, the day Hamas attacked Israel. He, along with Republicans in Congress, have argued that not"

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian students staged a die-in on the grass in front of Harvard Business School, with an Israeli American student appearing with a camera phone. Protesters surrounded him, blocked his lens with scarves, yelled "Shame," formed a scrum and forced him to exit while police did not interfere. The incident has become a recurring example in debates over campus unrest and antisemitism, cited by Republican officials and invoked by Justice Department and Health and Human Services lawyers. Yoav Segev filed a lawsuit in July accusing Harvard of conducting a "sham investigation" into his assault. Congressional committees threatened funding over the episode.

Read at Boston.com