“Pomona College in Claremont, California has vowed to discipline pro-Hamas activists who disrupted a campus memorial for victims of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 massacre in Israel,” reports Campus Reform:
Video shows masked demonstrators trying to storm the event while shouting slurs and slogans, before being blocked by attendees as campus security failed to intervene….four masked individuals forced entry through a locked fire door, shouting and interrupting the event….
The college is reviewing security footage, tightening event protocols, and urging witnesses to share evidence.
“Antisemitic hate cannot be tolerated here,” [College President] Starr said…“If the individuals involved are connected to Pomona, we will pursue every appropriate disciplinary action,” the statement continued. “If the individuals are not connected to Pomona, we will refer them to the appropriate entity.”
Last October, Pomona College disciplined students who vandalized and occupied Carnegie Hall during a destructive anti-Israel protest marking the Oct. 7 massacre’s anniversary.
The protesters, many masked, blocked entrances, zip-tied doors, and defaced walls with graffiti while destroying equipment and injuring a campus safety officer. Starr suspended 10 students and warned others could face expulsion or bans, declaring that such “unacceptable” acts would not be tolerated on campus.
Anti-Israel protests have continued on college campuses despite a Gaza ceasefire agreement. Student activists have stated they will not stop until universities fully divest from Israel.
At Case Western Reserve University, anti-Israel activists ended up paying $350,000 for acts of vandalism that inflicted $400,000 in damage. The activists “have taken on new debt and worked multiple jobs to help make payments, and are also fundraising online,” reports Axios.
In California, pro-Hamas radicals did over a million dollars worth of damage to a branch of California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly), temporarily shutting it down by taking over buildings and vandalizing equipment and structures.
Colleges have often let left-wing protesters get away with disruptive behavior and occupations of campus property they would never tolerate if conservatives did it. When Pro-Hamas protesters “shut down a Democratic” Congressman’s speech at the University of Maryland, the school’s president praised their action as an example of “democracy and free speech and academic freedom,” in comments he made to Capitol News Service.
