WCAC

 

With tensions running high on campus, pro-Palestinian protestors were arrested by Brandeis Police on Friday afternoon after refusing to comply with multiple dispersal orders. Waltham Police assisted.

The Boston Globe reported that “Revolutionary Student Organization - Brandeis” promoted the rally on Instagram. The group demanded the university “end the repression of pro-Palestine voices on campus.”

”The protest lasted about an hour without any disturbances as nearly 100 people…gathered in front of the Shapiro Campus Center in the heart of campus to join the rally,” the newspaper said.

 

Tensions were running high this week after the university banned the Brandeis chapter of the National Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) over its support of the terrorist organization Hamas.

In a press statement November 8 entitled “A space for free speech, not hate speech,” Brandeis president Ron Liebowitz explained that the group’s support of Hamas violated the university’s principles of free speech and expression.

On Friday, demonstrators used language the university has deemed hate speech.

Brandeis Police surrounded the rally and repeatedly ordered protestors to disperse or face arrest, the Globe reported. Most eventually left amid pushback about free speech rights, but others remained and confronted police.

 

The Globe reported that “chaos…erupted as one person was seen being taken to the ground by multiple officers who worked to put him in handcuffs as he cried out. Two others close nearby were also forced on the ground by multiple officers and placed in handcuffs.”

A press release Saturday from Waltham Police said seven were arrested by Brandeis University Police and transported for booking at the Waltham Police station.

They face charges of disorderly conduct, unlawful assembly and assault & battery on a police officer.

“No major injuries occurred as a result of these arrests,” Waltham Police said.

Peter Lobo photos