October 17, 2023
“One of the Worst Weeks at Harvard I’ve Ever Experienced”: The Targeting of Campus Activists
By Peter Lucas
How a letter from the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee became an international news story.
(Joseph Prezioso / Getty)
At around 7 PM on Tuesday, October 10, an NBC Boston reporter and cameraman stood outside Harvard’s Science Center. A few steps away sat an agitated-looking middle-aged man, dressed in a zip-up, jeans, and Nike sneakers, holding the leash of a labrador with an Israeli flag tucked into its collar. “They can send all of them to Nantucket or Martha’s Vineyard,” he muttered.
This was the planned location of a vigil for Palestinian civilians killed by Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, but there were few students in sight. The event had been canceled due to threats against the organizing group, Harvard’s Palestine Solidarity Committee. In its stead, organizers had placed a whiteboard in the plaza, illuminated by electric candles, with a message: SOLIDARITY VIGIL POSTPONED.
Two students passed by, heading home from a nearby dining hall. “Excuse me, were you planning on attending tonight’s vigil?” The reporter asked. The students looked at her warily and continued walking. “Just doing my job,” the reporter murmured. She turned to her cameraman. “Do you think we should interview him?” she said, pointing to the middle-aged man sitting nearby.
