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Harvard Students End Protest as University Agrees to Discuss Middle East Conflict

Tents and signs fill Harvard Yard by the John Harvard statue in the Pro-Palestinian encampment at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 5, 2024. (AFP)
Tents and signs fill Harvard Yard by the John Harvard statue in the Pro-Palestinian encampment at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 5, 2024. (AFP)
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Harvard Students End Protest as University Agrees to Discuss Middle East Conflict

Tents and signs fill Harvard Yard by the John Harvard statue in the Pro-Palestinian encampment at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 5, 2024. (AFP)
Tents and signs fill Harvard Yard by the John Harvard statue in the Pro-Palestinian encampment at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 5, 2024. (AFP)

Protesters against the war between Israel and Hamas were voluntarily taking down their tents in Harvard Yard on Tuesday after university officials agreed to discuss their questions about the endowment, bringing a peaceful end to the kinds of demonstrations that were broken up by police on other campuses.

The student protest group Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine said in a statement that the encampment “outlasted its utility with respect to our demands.” Meanwhile, Harvard University interim President Alan Garber agreed to pursue a meeting between protesters and university officials regarding the students’ questions.

Students at many college campuses this spring set up similar encampments, calling for their schools to cut ties with Israel and businesses that support it.

The latest Israel-Hamas war began when Hamas and other militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking an additional 250 hostage. Palestinian militants still hold about 100 captives, and Israel's military has killed more than 35,000 people in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants.

Harvard said its president and the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Hopi Hoekstra, will meet with the protesters to discuss the conflict in the Middle East.

The protesters said they worked out an agreement to meet with university officials including the Harvard Management Company, which oversees the world's largest academic endowment, valued at about $50 billion.

The protesters’ statement said the students will set an agenda including discussions on disclosure, divestment, and reinvestment, and the creation of a Center for Palestine Studies. The students also said that Harvard has offered to retract suspensions of more than 20 students and student workers and back down on disciplinary measures faced by 60 more.

“Since its establishment three weeks ago, the encampment has both broadened and deepened Palestine solidarity organizing on campus,” a spokesperson for the protesters said. “It has moved the needle on disclosure and divestment at Harvard."

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UN: Record 281 Aid Workers Killed in 2024

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees has seen more than 200 staff killed since the Gaza war began. Eyad BABA / AFP/File
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees has seen more than 200 staff killed since the Gaza war began. Eyad BABA / AFP/File
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UN: Record 281 Aid Workers Killed in 2024

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees has seen more than 200 staff killed since the Gaza war began. Eyad BABA / AFP/File
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees has seen more than 200 staff killed since the Gaza war began. Eyad BABA / AFP/File

A staggering 281 aid workers have been killed around the world so far this year, making 2024 the deadliest year for humanitarians, the UN aid chief said Friday.
"Humanitarian workers are being killed at an unprecedented rate, their courage and humanity being met with bullets and bombs," said Tom Fletcher, the United Nations' new under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator.
With more than a month left to go of 2024, the "grim milestone was reached", he said, after 280 humanitarians were killed across 33 countries during all of 2023.
"This violence is unconscionable and devastating to aid operations," Fletcher said.
Israel's devastating war in Gaza was driving up the numbers, his office said, with 333 aid workers killed there -- most from the UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees, UNRWA -- since Hamas's October 7, 2023 attacks, which sparked the war, AFP reported.
"States and parties to conflict must protect humanitarians, uphold international law, prosecute those responsible, and call time on this era of impunity," Fletcher said.
Aid workers were subject to kidnappings, injuries, harassment and arbitrary detention in a range of countries, his office said, including Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, and Ukraine.
The majority of deaths involve local staff working with non-governmental organizations, UN agencies and the Red Cross Red Crescent movement, Fletcher's office said.
"Violence against humanitarian personnel is part of a broader trend of harm to civilians in conflict zones," it warned.
"Last year, more than 33,000 civilian deaths were recorded in 14 armed conflicts -- a staggering 72 per cent increase from 2022."
The UN Security Council adopted a resolution last May in response to the surging violence and threats against aid workers.
The text called for recommendations from the UN chief -- set to be presented at a council meeting next week -- on measures to prevent and respond to such incidents and to increase protection for humanitarian staff and accountability for abuses.