Harvard Students Accuse Obama of ‘Genocide’ in Pro-Palestine ‘Die-In’

Dan Ladden-Hall
Thu, October 19, 2023 

WCVB Channel 5 Boston/YouTube

Harvard students and others took part in a “die-in” protest outside the university’s business school on Wednesday afternoon demanding an end to the violence in Gaza.

According to The Harvard Crimson, the demonstrators marched to Klarman Hall at Harvard Business School, where former President Barack Obama had been invited to speak at a summit.

“Barry, Barry you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide,” and “Free, free Palestine,” protesters chanted during the demonstration. Obama did not appear for the planned event, however, after waking up with COVID-like symptoms on Wednesday morning, according to a statement.

The “die-in” was reportedly organized by Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee and Graduate Students 4 Palestine in response to Tuesday’s hospital bombing in Gaza, which Palestinian health officials said killed hundreds of people.

The undergraduate group reportedly authored the joint statement signed by Harvard student organizations that said it considered “the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence” in the wake of the Oct. 7 attacks that led to the deaths of 1,400 Israeli civilians and soldiers.

The letter, along with other statements from different American college student groups expressing solidarity with Palestinians after the attacks, triggered an angry backlash from employers, donors, and fellow students across the U.S., with some alleged signatories having job offers rescinded and even their personal information published in doxxing campaigns.

A spokesperson for the Palestinian Solidarity Committee wrote that the organization considers Obama “deeply implicated” in the “ongoing genocide” of Palestinians, the Crimson reports, on the grounds that he approved “billions of dollars” of military support to Israel.

“We invoked the names of American presidents in our speeches because these politicians have been instrumental in upholding the Israeli military occupation of Palestine, through arms and military aid, impunity under international law, and the enabling of the apartheid system,” the spokesperson added.