Anti-Israel students protested outside Harvard University's Hillel on Monday evening, shouting, "Zionists are not welcome here," as students walked into the Jewish community center.
The anti-Israel student group, Harvard Jews for Palestine, organized the protest against former Israel Defense Forces spokesman Ronen Manelis, who was speaking inside the Hillel. About a dozen agitators accused Israel of being a "terrorist state" and held banners with messages such as "Hillel Hosts War Criminals."
SHOCKING. PLEASE SHARE: Tonight, Harvard students yelled "Zionists are not welcomed here" outside the Harvard Hillel as Jewish students were entering. It’s simply shocking how normalized antisemitism and intimidation has become on college campuses. DEFUND HARVARD NOW! pic.twitter.com/nDaSPMOFtV
— Shabbos Kestenbaum (@ShabbosK) November 19, 2024
"Israel is solely responsible for the genocide it is committing. It always has been. There is no justification," Harvard Jews for Palestine wrote Monday on Instagram. "War crimes aren't 'Jewish life.' IOF off our campus out of Lebanon and out of Gaza."
"IOF," or "Israel Occupying Force," is an anti-Israel slur for the IDF.
Inside Hillel, Manelis was discussing how Iran's aggression toward Israel is reshaping the Middle East and the multi-front challenges the Jewish state faces in the evolving conflict. He told the Washington Free Beacon he condemned "the baseless accusations made by the protesters" and vowed to "continue to share Israel's voice around the world."
"It's surprising that at a place like Harvard, known for free speech and open debate, there's such ignorance and unwillingness to engage in real conversation," Manelis said. "Especially after the October 7th massacre, I believe students should be open to hearing different opinions instead of chanting empty slogans."
Harvard Hillel executive director Jason B. Rubenstein said there were five times as many participants at the event than protesters. He added that the Harvard University Police Department worked closely with Hillel to ensure that the event proceeded and that participants were not harassed.
"Zionism, the pursuit of Jewish self-determination in the land of Israel, is a central element of the religious identity of thousands of Jewish Harvard affiliates," Rubenstein told the Free Beacon. "'Zionists are not welcome here,' a call for discrimination against much of our community due to our sincerely held beliefs, is bigotry."
Violet Barron, an anti-Israel student organizer and Harvard Crimson editorial editor who has accused Israel of apartheid, told the student paper that she saw the "Zionists are not welcome here" chant as "kind of equivalent with 'Racists are not welcome here.'"
"Zionism is, first and foremost, a political ideology, and a genocidal one at that," she added.
Harvard did not respond to a request for comment.