Pro-Palestinian student protestors are disputing a Northeastern University statement suggesting they were behind antisemitic slurs that prompted the school to clear their encampment on campus.
Northeastern officers and State Police arrested about 100 people early Saturday morning on the university’s Centennial Common before a moving company removed dozens of tents and other student belongings.
In a statement, Northeastern spokesperson Renata Nyul said officials decided to clear the encampment after the use of “virulent antisemitic slurs, including ‘Kill the Jews.’” Nyul also stated that the student demonstration “was infiltrated by professional organizers with no affiliation to Northeastern.”
But the group that organized the encampment, Huskies For A Free Palestine, rejected those claims. The organizers said pro-Israel counter-protesters showed up at the encampment Friday night holding an Israeli flag and began mocking the pro-Palestinian organizers with antisemitic language.
“A Zionist counter-protester yelled, ‘Kill the Jews! Anybody on board? Anybody on board?’” said one student organizer, Alex, who asked that her last name not be used because she fears threats against pro-Palestinian activists.
“Not a single pro-Palestinian protestor repeated the disgusting hate speech,” she said. “The only people hurling antisemitic slurs last night were Zionist counter-protesters attempting to instigate our peaceful encampment.”
The organizers added that they were not infiltrated by “professional protestors” in any way. Rather, they said, students from nearby universities without their own encampments — including UMass-Boston and Berklee College of Music — visited Northeastern’s demonstration to show support.
“The conduct of Northeastern administration has been deplorable as they continue to defame their students and take away from the main cause of Huskies for a Free Palestine: to divest from Israeli Apartheid and call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire,” the group said in a statement.
In response to questions about who was responsible for using antisemitic language, Nyul, the university spokesperson, indicated it didn’t matter.
“Any suggestion that repulsive antisemitic comments are sometimes acceptable depending on the context is reprehensible,” Nyul said. “That language has no place on any university campus.”
It’s not clear if Northeastern officials received additional complaints or reports of hateful speech beyond what has been cited in their statements.
The arrests at Northeastern came as other local schools, including MIT and Tufts, have let pro-Palestinian encampments on their campuses remain.
The raid Saturday appeared to be more orderly than the chaotic scene near Emerson College Thursday. Protesters said they grabbed arms with each other and didn’t resist as officers began detaining them one-by-one. No significant injuries were reported.
The university said detained individuals who provided a Northeastern ID were released and will face internal discipline. Those without or unwilling to show school affiliation remained under arrest.
The protesters faced immediate opposition from the university when they set up their encampment on Thursday, saying it was in solidarity with similar encampments at Columbia, Harvard, MIT and dozens of other campuses around the country.
School officials said at the time that protesters were violating student codes of conduct, and at one point, Boston police officers showed up with riot gear and police wagons. They eventually left without incident.
After officers went forward with the sweep Saturday, second-year student Alina Caudle said the university’s intentions have been apparent since the first tent went up.
“They wanted to clear this out because there are students visiting the school for campus tours. There are parents visiting because graduation is next weekend,” Caudle said. “Northeastern did not want this visible on their campus, so they were going to use whatever excuse they could to tear this down.”
