Harvard undergrad council votes to fund Israeli Apartheid Week

Harvard University’s Undergraduate Council (UC) voted to allocate the Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) $2,050 to host Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) at Sunday’s general meeting.

According to student newspaper the Crimson, “the bill to fund IAW passed 21-13-4 and drew money from the UC’s Grant for an Open Harvard College, which subsidizes student initiatives that address one of the UC’s indicated ‘compelling interests’.”

The interests for the 2018-19 academic year are “mental health, race, culture, and faith relations, sexual assault and harassment prevention, social spaces, and financial accessibility.”

The report stated that “the PSC planned much of the programming of Harvard’s event, which began on March 30 and runs until April 4”, including “Palestinian speakers, a student panel, an unveiling of a physical Wall of Resistance, and a movie screening”.

The Crimson reported that “dozens of students who supported and opposed the Council’s funding of the event attended Sunday’s meeting.”

While “multiple Jewish students said the event makes them feel uncomfortable”, PSC supporters “said Harvard Hillel has also brought speakers to campus who contributed to military operations against Palestinian civilians.”

READ: Students at 30 UK campuses demand end to complicity in Israel apartheid