At Monday's protest on the Green.
Wearing keffiyehs and mortarboards decorated with the colors of the Palestinian flag, a group of Yale students walked out of commencement and onto the Green to continue calling for the university to “disclose and divest” from weapons manufacturers implicated in Israel’s war in Gaza.
That walkout marked the latest pro-Palestinian student protest on or around Yale’s campus in recent weeks, including a hunger strike and two tent encampments.
Waving Palestinian flags and holding signs reading “No Grad In Gaza” and “Walkout For Gaza” — and even “Yale Parents Support Divestment Now!” — protesters took turns chanting “Free Free Palestine” and calling for Yale to stop pressing charges against arrested protesters, amid other demands.
The @OccupyYale Instagram account posted a video of dozens of students participating in the commencement walkout. They also sent out a press release stating that over 100 graduating seniors and dozens of other students and community members participated in the protest.
“As we become alumni, we know that Yale, a university so thoroughly concerned with profit and power, will begin to target us for donations. I and countless other graduates want to be very clear: we refuse to donate any money to an institution that is actively funding a genocide,” Yale College graduating senior Rebecca Wessel is quoted as saying in the press release.
A university spokesperson confirmed that, during Yale’s 323rd commencement on Monday, “a number of graduating students chose to peacefully walk out during the ceremony.” She wrote that university staff “helped guide these individuals to an area outside the event space, and the ceremony continued as scheduled.”
The spokesperson also reiterated Yale’s commitment to promoting free speech and expression, and quoted outgoing Yale President Peter Salovey as recently saying, “we do not agree on everything, but we all have a responsibility to do our part in fostering a community in which we can have open, civil discussions about any topic, no matter how complex and how difficult.”
Click here to watch part of Monday’s protest on the Green.
