Letter to the Editor: Banned from Campus

The writer of the Letter to the Editor below is a May graduate of Emerson College. Although their “offense” –- briefly showing a sign of protest on the graduation stage-- was witnessed by thousands at Agganis Arena, they have chosen to remain anonymous here to avoid the harassment, doxing, and bullying that often follows comments on this issue. The opinions expressed are those of the author of the letter.

As the Israeli government prepares the whole of the Gazan population for extermination and relocation via concentration camps disguised as aid facilities in Rafah, Emerson (whose investments remain undisclosed) cling to their adherence to what is becoming a genocidal status quo by remaining ‘apolitical.’ Therefore, the only way Emerson’s politics on the matter are demonstrated is through their public actions: a growing administrative affiliation with the racist, Islamophobic, antisemitic hate group, the ADL,formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, and their continued repression of pro-Palestinian students, staff and faculty, demonstrated yet again at this years’ commencement.

The ability for the college to push a ten-year campus ban on me (threatening me with legal action for visiting my college, cutting me off from all potential alumni opportunities and restricting me from contacting my school community) was only possible because students did not stand up. If there had been a critical mass of disruption at commencement (like last year) the school would not cut off so many years of potential alumni funding by a large group of students, risking not only the loss of potential donations from the individuals but their friends and family as well. If students who watched me get kicked out were upset and inspired to act up as opposed to ignoring it, then the extent of this campus ban could not be maintained. These actions wouldn’t have freed Palestine but it would have made resistance more feasible on that day and in the future. This kind of solidarity is what Emersonians must go on learning in order to be effective.

Whether it is because people internalized fear, supported the repression, or focused on their own special moment, the result is the same: an endorsement of repression. When one grants a stamp of approval on material support for genocide in exchange for personal gain, this is a kind of assimilation into fascism. Without resistance, we are all made to be fascists.

After 20 months of open genocide with the support of college leadership, we have no choice but to disrupt spaces of privilege and complicity. In response, Emerson has developed an internal carceral system to instill fear and divide the student body. The basis of this divide is the contradiction between personal interests and their ability to denounce genocide. This strategy has been reflected around the country from the Trump admin to the workplace to higher ed.

We’ve clearly demonstrated before that a large number of students oppose Emerson’s complicity and thus the administration must either give in or use force to punish dissent. They’ve chosen the latter.

For nearly two years there hasn’t been a single day where Emerson has not had me under dragged out investigations for my speech and expression. Emerson College has inflicted a coordinated campaign of harassment, interrogation, fraudulent charges and evidence, entrapment,, firings, ,, arrests and brute force, all in order to maintain their grip on power and ties to the genocidal apartheid state of Israel. This continued behavior reveals the priorities of the Bernhardt administration. When Bernhardt gave the go ahead to the Boston Police Department, State police, and others to raid our encampment with militarized force,. I was violently restrained to the point of nearly dislocating my shoulder. I was strangled by a gaggle of police officers from the Boston Gang Unit only until they couldn’t escape the view of onlookers, and later, my head was slammed against police vehicles more times than I could count until I spat blood.

One year later, the stated crimes as cause for my campus ban were “brandishing a sign,” “shouting expletives” and “causing a disturbance”. If we trust the school’s narrative of events, these listed crimes are clearly not proportionate to the years of repression that Emerson has levied on myself and other anti-Zionist, anti-fascist students.

Why are people not upset or shocked by the violence of the state and of private actors? Why are they instead shocked by the disruption that it created in response? If Emerson didn’t want protesters at graduation they should have saved the money they spent on BU police, ECPD, and multiple private security firms and instead made their investments transparent. Similarly, in Palestine, the violence of the status quo is never questioned and only the actions of those resisting everyday violence are condemned. Authoritarians only respond to force -- as we saw when Jay Bernhardt swore he would never meet with students making demands, until he had no choice. The genocide will not end until the perpetrators  have no choice.

The Emerson community will either accept their role in proliferating fascism today or we will learn to take care of each other so our needs no longer have to be met by failing institutions. Only then will we have a backbone strong enough to meaningfully resist this material support for terrorism within our community.