Police dismantle pro-Palestinian tent encampment at MIT

BOSTON — Police began dismantling a pro-Palestinian tent camp at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Friday morning.

People were detained and video showed police roaming the camp. Organizers said there were only about 10 people in the camp, but a crowd outside the camp began gathering and chanting pro-Palestinian slogans.

Tensions have risen following clashes with protesters on campuses in the United States and increasingly in Europe. Some colleges took immediate action, while others tolerated the demonstrations. Some are losing patience and turning to police over concerns about disruptions to campus life and safety.

The move at MIT comes just days after police first tried to clear the encampment only to see protesters storm past the barriers and restore the encampment, which includes about a dozen tents in the heart of the Cambridge campus.

Before the encampment was lifted, MIT had also begun suspending dozens of students involved in the encampment, meaning they would not be able to participate in or initiate academic activities.

Protesters insisted that this measure would not stop them from demanding that MIT end all ties with the Israeli military.

“This will only make us stronger. They can’t arrest the movement,” said Quinn Perian, a student at MIT and organizer of MIT Jews for Ceasefire. “We will press ahead and will not back down until MIT agrees to cut ties with the Israeli military. MIT would rather arrest and suspend some students than end their complicity in the genocide in Gaza.”