Protesters climb Johnston Gate to hang banners at Saturday’s ‘Global Day of Action for Gaza’ rally.
{shortcode-eb0d6593ebe4403de04601e30375a87d6f99a406}
More than 100 protesters gathered in Cambridge Common on Friday evening at a rally accusing Harvard of censoring pro-Palestine speech and scholarship even as it resists the Trump administration’s demands.
The protest, which was sponsored by several unrecognized student groups at Harvard, including Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine and Jews 4 Palestine, featured several speakers who argued that Harvard’s suppression of pro-Palestine views made it complicit with the Trump administration — despite its public defiance.
Talking over a group of counterprotesters who blasted loud music from three speakers throughout the protest, Violet T.M. Barron ’26 said Harvard’s investments in Israel aligned it with fascism in America.
“Why has the ongoing presidential showdown between Donald Trump and Harvard President Alan Garber been framed as one between opposing forces?” Barron said. “Harvard’s Zionism and Trump’s fascism are not at odds. They are two sides of the same coin.”
University spokespeople did not respond to a request for comment following the protest.
After roughly an hour of chants and speeches in Cambridge Common, the protesters marched across the street to gather outside Johnston Gate. Entry to the Yard was restricted to Harvard University ID holders throughout the evening, but four protesters climbed up Johnston Gate to hang up two large banners condemning Harvard.
“Harvard: you can’t be Zionist and Anti-Fascist,” one of them read.
Cambridge Police Department vehicles gathered around Cambridge Common, but neither police nor Securitas guards tried to stop the gate-climbing.
{shortcode-952ab25248ee9f6cacbdf7c778a1107d8aa3aade}
Protesters largely did not attempt to enter Harvard Yard. But several of the counterprotesters walked through a smaller side gate next to Johnston, and Securitas guards did not check their IDs.
One of the Trump administration’s demands — which Harvard has thus far refused — asked the University to ban masks at demonstrations. Protest organizers distributed face masks to attendees, some attendees concealed their faces with keffiyehs, and the counterprotester who operated the sound system wore a black balaclava.
Though the protest proceeded without direct confrontation, counterprotesters tried to drown out the demonstration, and protest leaders fired back in their speeches, sometimes using expletives.
Speakers at the protest had to yell to be heard over the counterprotesters’ sound system, which blasted the American national anthem and a soundtrack accusing the protesters’ chants of endorsing terrorism.
The counterprotesters followed the demonstration from Cambridge Common to Johnston Gate, carrying their speakers on a cart.
“I’m not sure who’s more obnoxious, the counterprotesters, the Trump administration, or the Harvard administration,” Christopher F. Malley, a Ph.D. student in Middle East Studies affiliated with the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, said in a speech at Johnston Gate.
Malley criticized Harvard’s dismissal of the CMES’ faculty leaders, History professors Cemal Kafadar and Rosie Bsheer, and read a statement in support of Kafadar and Bsheer.
Hannah Didehbani, a recent graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, celebrated the Trump administration’s Friday move to reactivate thousands of student visas as a victory for pro-Palestine organizing.
At least 1,500 student visas — including 12 belonging to Harvard affiliates — were revoked by the Trump administration in recent weeks, according to a New York Times analysis, in some cases because of pro-Palestine statements made by their holders.
Throughout the demonstration, the counterprotesters’ soundtrack accused the protesters of being misguided and refusing to engage in debate. The soundtrack disavowed the Trump administration’s methods but accused pro-Palestine activists of defending “Hamas activity on college campuses.” It argued that recent personnel shakeups at Harvard had targeted faculty for “betraying their job to educate students,” not because they criticized Israel per se.
{shortcode-cf7cfbefa60b5f2be66495b77938cf77e44e6ae2}
After leaving Johnston Gate, the protesters marched down Massachusetts Avenue and turned onto Brattle Street before recongregating outside of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Taubman Hall. Several CPD officers trailed the march, and traffic stopped briefly as protesters crossed streets in Harvard Square.
In front of the entrance to Taubman, protesters held a long banner filled with names of Palestinians killed in the war in Gaza and chanted “free, free Palestine.” They chalked several messages critical of Harvard’s commitment to academic freedom on the ground — such as “Harvard funds scholasticide” — before dispersing.
—Staff writer Graham W. Lee can be reached at graham.lee@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @grahamwonlee.
—Staff writer Cam N. Srivastava can be reached at cam.srivastava@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @camsrivastava.
